Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

[Pierre]

I picked up some 800 and 1,000 grit sandpaper since there isn't ANY 000 or 0000 grade steel wool in town. Mostly it's for some nut work but I figured, eh, if the 1,000 is fine enough to polish a rosewood fingerboard without messing it up...


So....do you guys think it is?

Thanks!

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

it will leave more of a dull finnish on the frets then fine steel wool....

 

[Pierre]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

Yeah... for the frets I managed to pickup a fret cleaning kit that came in those D'addario packs so that'll do for now. Mostly it'd be to clean up the fingerboard though. I'd love to find fine steel wool but no shops in town sell any.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

I use 4-ought steel wool and sometimes on frets I will use 1500 grit sandpaper to smooth up any rough edges. The 1000 grit should work on the frets although as someone said it will degloss a fingerboard.

 

[Pierre]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

Mhmm seems I have no choice... the finest sandpaper I could find was 1,200. I don't know why I didn't get a couple of sheets actually.

You mentioned it removing the shine... well that poor accoustic had never had its fingerboard cleaned so it's not very shiny Mostly I'm looking for the most efficient way to clean up the fingerboard basically. I also got told toothbrush + lemon oil works ok (even though lemon oil is mostly a conditioner...). Either way, I normally just do it with lemon oil, it's just that this guitar requires A LOT MORE work than others.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

Lemon oil and a guitar pick or credit card type piece of plastic is what I use.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

Lemon oil and a guitar pick or credit card type piece of plastic is what I use.

I use steel wool to polish the frets on student's guitars when I work on them, but when I need to clean a filthy fingerboard, I use the credit card scrape method, followed by a lot of rubbing with a cotton cloth barely damp with naptha (lighter fluid), followed by lemon oil to treat it and return some moisture to the wood.

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

ive been using a fairly easy solution sugested by carvin.

- clean up the fretboard by scrubbing windex with amonia-d on it, scrub really hard with just any type of fabric that doesnt fall appart. the whole fabric thing will be brown by the time your done with it from all the finger grease. the fretboard will look very dry and light.

- apply a thin coat of vaseline on top of the whole thing, let it sit for 10 minutes, and remove thoroughly. this will nourish and bring back the shine and darkness in the wood.

this is of course IF you dont have anything better on hand. ive been using this technique for a long time now on my lp, and acoustics, and it works like a charm.

 

[Redmist]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

If you try 1000 grit straight off to clean a dirty board, you'll be there forever and go through alot of paper. Sure 1000 is great for final prep but 600 grit used lightly first will really sort it out after you clean off gunk with whatever.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

ive been using a fairly easy solution sugested by carvin.

- clean up the fretboard by scrubbing windex with amonia-d on it, scrub really hard with just any type of fabric that doesnt fall appart. the whole fabric thing will be brown by the time your done with it from all the finger grease. the fretboard will look very dry and light.

- apply a thin coat of vaseline on top of the whole thing, let it sit for 10 minutes, and remove thoroughly. this will nourish and bring back the shine and darkness in the wood.

this is of course IF you dont have anything better on hand. ive been using this technique for a long time now on my lp, and acoustics, and it works like a charm.

Just curious as to when Carvin started recommending this, because the used to recommend lemon oil and this is a "Home Depot Luthierie" solution that´s just begging for future issues IMO...

 

[theodie]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

I picked up some 800 and 1,000 grit sandpaper since there isn't ANY 000 or 0000 grade steel wool in town. Mostly it's for some nut work but I figured, eh, if the 1,000 is fine enough to polish a rosewood fingerboard without messing it up...


So....do you guys think it is?

Thanks!

....do you need a brotha to send you some supplies? 1000,1200,1500,2000 grit and 00, 000, and 0000 wool??

 

[theodie]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

Just curious as to when Carvin started recommending this, because the used to recommend lemon oil and this is a "Home Depot Luthierie" solution that´s just begging for future issues IMO...

:smack: oh no, not again. :smack:

 

[Pierre]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

Let it forever be known that Odie is DA MAN!

 

[ginormous]

Re: Sandpaper to clean up fretboard and frets?

I saw a documentary that detailed the assembly of an electric at the Godin factory in Montreal -- they used mineral oil with cotton balls. (Baby oil is OK; it's the same thing with fragrance added.) Of course, someone's gonna make a "balls" joke, so I'll leave it there.