New 80's Superstrat build project (Non-PBG Kit).

[DrNomis_44]

What would be a good product to use to get all the brown stains off the fretboard and clean it up a bit?, I was thinking of giving some household Spray N Wipe a try, but though it would be better to check first.

[Andyxlh]

Is it a finished neck? I presume so. I don't know the answer, sorry, but a closer inspection should reveal what has happened. A look at the pic seems to show a neck with a lot of wear, I can see wear marks on the frets even on that scale. What are they like? If they are very worn you will be up for a refret.
I wonder if the stain is where the original finish has worn through, allowing the players fingers to mark the fretboard with sweat and dirt. I'd avoid using anything with water in that case, as you don't want damp in the wood. Although maple is very dense so the water penetration would be low.
I have no idea. I might try wax and grease remover. But I'd guess you will have to remove all of the finish from the fretboard, possibly lightly sand it and reclear it for it to be gone.
I'd be interested to hear what people in the know might say.....
Last word... I like the aged look of the neck as it is!

[Simon Barden]

If it were me, I'd leave it as it is. Other people would pay good money to have a neck relicked so well! Otherwise, I'd first try turps and/or lemon oil, just to get any surface dirt off the wood. Avoid water-based cleaners if possible, as they could make the grain swell up and possibly even loosen the frets if you got it wet enough. If you have to use them, then apply on a damp rag only - not enough to soak the wood.

Looks like a lot of fret wear to go with the fingerboard wear. It really would benefit from a fret levelling and re-profiling. The associated fret files, notched straight-edge and fingerboard protectors are probably some of the best luthier tools to invest in as almost any guitar can be improved by a good fret job at some point in its life. A good set of nut files is very useful too, though expensive. Get those, and you can set up almost any guitar. You could also make some money on the side by doing set-ups for other people.

Just avoid charging for levelling stainless steel frets at the normal rate!

[Simon Barden]

After applying some turps or lemon oil, scraping the neck with an old-style single-sided razor-blade or flat craft knife blade is a good way to quickly get built-up surface dirt off.

[DrNomis_44]

Is it a finished neck? I presume so. I don't know the answer, sorry, but a closer inspection should reveal what has happened. A look at the pic seems to show a neck with a lot of wear, I can see wear marks on the frets even on that scale. What are they like? If they are very worn you will be up for a refret.
I wonder if the stain is where the original finish has worn through, allowing the players fingers to mark the fretboard with sweat and dirt. I'd avoid using anything with water in that case, as you don't want damp in the wood. Although maple is very dense so the water penetration would be low.
I have no idea. I might try wax and grease remover. But I'd guess you will have to remove all of the finish from the fretboard, possibly lightly sand it and reclear it for it to be gone.
I'd be interested to hear what people in the know might say.....
Last word... I like the aged look of the neck as it is!

The fretboard doesn't feel like it has any finish on it, on the other hand, the back of the neck might have been finished in a Satin Clear-Coat, but it has been worn through, the tops of some of the frets look like they have some wear, and pretty much all the frets hve had their crowns flattened, I personally think that they could do with a good fret-leveling and re-crowning.


Cheers Simon, looks like I'm going to have to have a serious debate to myself about whether to get rid of the brown stains or leave it as is and call it custom relicing, even though it is genuine relicing.

[Simon Barden]

There's nothing stopping you from spraying a clear satin finish on the back of the neck - though you'd probably need to stick with poly rather than acrylic or nitro. Test on an area like the heel first for compatibility where it won't matter too much if it starts to bubble or pucker.

You could apply some Danish Oil to the fretboard to give it some protection but also leave a more natural feeling finish. It won't go shiny like TruOil or Tung Oil, but you may like that feel better.

[wazkelly]

Hi Doc, just caught up with this thread.

One of my mates has a EVH Wolfgang and they have unfinished maple fret boards which has to lemon oil quite regularly. Maybe this neck is the same and therefore just the light Stanley knife blade or razor blade scrape might be all you need to use to remove any crud.

Tend to agree about trying to retain the relic look as that is priceless and gives the guitar some character.

[DrNomis_44]

So, the general consensus is that I should leave the neck alone, except for sorting out some minor issues, like the fretboard separation at the nut end, and doweling of the mounting-screw holes, no worries, what about fixing up the lacquering on the headstock?, the original lacquering is flaking-off.

I will definitely be sorting out the Frets though, some of them are displaying some fret-wear, and the crowns are a bit flat, so some re-crowning work is definitely needed, looks like I'll be doing a big order from Stewmac sometime next year, the other possibility is to have a yarn with Dingobass and see if he can sort it all out for me, it needs a new nut installed too anyway.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:


Since we have been getting a fair bit of rain lately, I haven't really done very much work on my current build projects, I'm going to wait till the weather dries up a bit before continuing on.

[Simon Barden]

We've been having a spell of sunny weather with clear skies. However, as result of the clear skies, it's gone midday and the outside air temperature is still only -3°C.