Guitar maintenance is fiercely overlooked by players around the world. We spend a lot of time with and a lot of money on our guitars. Let’s keep them clean.
Guitar Maintenance Products: Guitar Maintenance & How to Keep Your Axe CleanFingerboard CleanerLemon OilKeeping Your Nut CleanBody Care
Guitar Maintenance & How to Keep Your Axe Clean
Keeping your guitar clean helps improve playability. Regular guitar maintenance removes dirt, sweat, and grime that can wear down frets and shorten string life.
Use the right gear for the right part of your guitar. Microfibre cleaning cloths, fretboard cleaner, lemon oil and nut lubricant all help to protect your instrument without causing damage.
Taking a few minutes to clean vital components could reduce bigger and more expensive setup costs with your guitar tech.
A great place to start! Cleaning cloths, be they cotton or microfibre, are an essential part of my guitar care toolkit.
Guitar Maintenance – Cloths · Source: Thomann
We like to hang our guitars on the wall, or have them sit proudly on a guitar stand. This is great. However, over time, dust likes to build up and collect on the flat surfaces of your guitar. I don’t know about you, but I hate playing on a dusty neck.
Therefore, we should all have a couple of cloths lying around to keep on top of debris and dust. Moreover, gross flakes of skin like to live on your pickguard. A cloth will happily get rid of this potential biohazard for you.
Affiliate Links
Thomann Polishing Cloth
Customer rating: (1502)
$5.70 / £5.20 / 5.90€ at
Ernie Ball Microfiber Polish Cloth
Customer rating: (110)
£7.70 / 8.90€ at
Thomann Polishing Cloth Grey
Customer rating: (1104)
$3.33 / £2.99 / 3.50€ at
Ernie Ball EB4219 Ultra-Plush Microfiber Polish Cloth – 12 x 12 inch
$9.99 at
MusicNomad Super Soft Microfiber Suede Polishing Cloth (3-pack)
$10.99 at
Fingerboard Cleaner
Microfibre cloths are good for quick wipes of the body and neck of the guitar. But what if you want to give your guitar a proper, deep clean? The best time to do that is during a string change. From here, you’ll want some *fingerboard cleaner.
Guitar Maintenance – Fingerboard Cleaner · Source: Thomann
Having the strings off the guitar will really help to address years of hard playing and neglect. Fretboard cleaner hopes to address stubborn and ingrained marks that are left on your neck after all of those hard practice sessions.
Simply spray your desired product of choice onto your fingerboard, and rub into the wood with the aforementioned cloth. How’s that for joined-up thinking? Overall, this creates a new, clean surface, ready for more playing time.
Affiliate Links
Dunlop Fingerboard Cleaner 01
Customer rating: (41)
$8.50 / £7.70 / 8.90€ at
Fender Fingerboard Remedy
Customer rating: (111)
$6.60 / £5.90 / 6.90€ at
Nature Works Fingerboard Care
Customer rating: (3)
$15.90 / £14.70 / 16.90€ at
Dunlop Formula 65 Fingerboard 01 Cleaner & Prep
$9.44 at
Fender Custom Shop Fingerboard Remedy – 2-oz. Bottle
$10.99 at
New Stringjoy Fretboard Conditioner
$13.99 at
Lemon Oil
Once you’ve given your fretboard a jolly good rubbing down, it’s time to look after that precious wood. *Lemon oil removes the dirt and grease from your fingers and the fingerboard cleaner. Overall, preventing your untreated fretboard from drying out.
Guitar Maintenance – Lemon Oil · Source: Thomann
I consider lemon oil to be a win-win when it comes to guitar maintenance. Firstly, it’ll prolong the life of your guitar. Secondly, it appears to last forever! You only need a few tiny drops of the product to thoroughly coat your fretboard. I’ve still got some *D’Addario stuff that I bought in 2019…
Unlike the fingerboard cleaner, I’d advise against using a microfibre cloth to apply this. Something like a disposable paper kitchen towel works really well. Moreover, you’ll see years of dirt and grime come off that paper towel as you apply the product to the fretboard.
Conclusively, lemon oil is about cleaning, protecting and maintaining your fretboard. Plus, it smells divine. Just make sure you give it a few minutes to dry before reapplying your strings.
Affiliate Links
Daddario PW-LMN
Customer rating: (531)
$5.30 / £4.77 / 5.50€ at
Dunlop Lemon Oil
Customer rating: (4801)
$9.40 / £8.60 / 9.90€ at
dAndrea Lemon Oil
Customer rating: (2061)
$7.30 / £6.60 / 7.60€ at
D’Addario Lemon Oil Cleaner and Conditioner
$4.99 at
Dunlop Formula 65 Fretboard Ultimate Lemon Oil – 4-oz. Bottle
$9.00 at
PRS Fretboard Conditioner ACC-3130
$7.00 at
Maple Boards
A lot of people advise against using lemon oil for maple fretboards. This is because the lemon oil sits on top of the maple finish, rather than conditioning the wood. As far as guitar maintenance goes, I’ve been applying a yearly coat of lemon oil on my 2005 Telecaster with a maple board for years.
Conclusions? Nothing bad has happened, and I like the glossy, smooth finish after a fresh set of strings.
Keeping Your Nut Clean
Now that we’ve been rubbing the wood on our fretboard, it’s time to clean our nuts. Steady. Your strings are held in place at two junctions. The saddles/bridge and the nut. The aim of the game here is to reduce tension.
Guitar Maintenance – Nut Sauce · Source: Thomann
Now, this could be an old wives’ tale, but I genuinely subscribe to the idea that a well-lubricated nut on a guitar makes for a better playing instrument. By lubricating the gaps in the nut where the strings sit, you’re reducing tension. Why is this important?
When you bend a string, that string bends upwards on the neck, but doesn’t really have anywhere to go in the nut. Therefore, if you provide some lubrication to the nut, it allows the string to move more freely. Overall, helping to keep that string in tune.
There are, of course, specialist products over at *Thomann. However, if you’re stuck, the graphite from a sharp pencil can also act as a reasonable nut lubricant. Again, this should be done during a string change.
Affiliate Links
Big Bends Nut Sauce 0.5 cc
Customer rating: (610)
$11.90 / £10.90 / 12.50€ at
Big Bends Nut Sauce 1.5 cc
Customer rating: (148)
$23.80 / £21.60 / 24.90€ at
Rene Martinez Graphit All Guitar Lube Set
Customer rating: (221)
$18.90 / £18.20 / 20.90€ at
MusicNomad Lubricant MN 106
Customer rating: (124)
$9.40 / £8.60 / 9.90€ at
Big Bends Nut Sauce Lil Luber Tuning Lubricant – 0.5 cc
$9.98 at
Big Bends Nut Sauce Groove Luber Tuning Lubricant – 1.5 cc
$13.95 at
MusicNomad TUNE-IT Lubricant for Nut, Saddle, Bridge, String Guides
$9.99 at
Body Care
To conclude our look at guitar maintenance, as far as cleaning is concerned, it’s time to put some love and attention into the body of our guitars. Arguably, it’s the most visually striking thing that we see on the guitar. Easily susceptible to finger marks, pick and skin debris, and god knows what else.
Guitar Maintenance – Body Care · Source: Thomann
With various products on the market, it’s important to know what to use and in what order. If you’re thinking of cleaning the body of your guitar, be very careful! Certain products could damage the lacquer or other finishes.
Firstly, ensure that the paintwork is dry and free from loose debris. The last thing we want to do is engrain dirt into the paint and scratch it. From here, use a dedicated cleaner to clean the surface first. After a clean, it’s time to polish.
Polishing the top shiny surface of your guitar makes it both look great and keeps it protected against contaminants. Again, be sure to check if that product is suitable for your guitar. Such as with gloss vs satin finishes. Once again, another reason to have a microfibre cloth handy.
Affiliate Links
Dunlop Carnauba Wax
Customer rating: (526)
$10.40 / £9.50 / 10.90€ at
Dunlop Formula 65 Polish
Customer rating: (2013)
$9.40 / £8.60 / 9.90€ at
Dunlop Formula No. 65/16 oz
Customer rating: (130)
$23.80 / £21.70 / 24.90€ at
MusicNomad Guitar Polish MN101
Customer rating: (64)
$9.40 / £8.60 / 9.90€ at
Taylor Satin Guitar Cleaner
Customer rating: (99)
$11.00 / £9.90 / 11.50€ at
Gibson Pump Polish AIGG-910
Customer rating: (516)
$6.70 / £6.00 / 6.90€ at
Dunlop Formula No. 65 Guitar Polish & Cleaner – 4-oz. Bottle
$9.44 at
MusicNomad Guitar Polish – Pro Strength Formula
$9.99 at
Taylor Satin Finish Guitar Cleaner – 4-oz. Bottle
$9.99 at
Gibson Accessories Guitar Polish – 4 oz. Bottle
$6.99 at
Conclusion
I would always prioritise guitar maintenance products over new gear. Having a clean guitar means that you can play at your best without damaging you, or the instrument. We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into learning the guitar. So, it’s about time we cleaned it all off.
Videos
Further Information
Guitar Case Guide
Best Guitar Stands
Are Budget Guitars Worth It?
*This post contains affiliate links and/or widgets. When you buy a product via our affiliate partner, we receive a small commission that helps support what we do. Don’t worry, you pay the same price. Thanks for your support!
The post Guitar Maintenance: 5 Essential Tips for Keeping Your Guitar in Shape appeared first on gearnews.com.
