Welcome to one of the most active flamenco sites on the Internet. Guests can read most posts but if you want to participate click here to register.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Paco de Lucía, Ron Mitchell, Guy Williams, Linda Elvira, Philip John Lee, Craig Eros, Ben Woods, David Serva and Tom Blackshear who went ahead of us.
We receive 12,200 visitors a month from 200 countries and 1.7 million page impressions a year. To advertise on this site please contact us.
Lately my guitar has started to look in need of a clean, and I wanted some advice from a reliable source Whilst it might only be a Yamaha CG172SF, it is my only flamenco guitar and after reading some horror stories online about certain products/methods of cleaning, I thought I'd be better safe than sorry. So here goes:
What are some good, and "safe", cleaning products to use on a guitar's body and fretboard? (I assume they differ..?) What's the best way to remove the residue of sweat and dead skin on the fretboard? (I've read all sorts; from wire wool to scraping with an old credit card)
Apologies if this seems like a no-brainer, but I've only had experience with electric guitars prior to starting to learn flamenco.
windex and a soft cotton cloth for the finish. A very light coating of lemon oil (walnut oil, olive oil, whatever) can be applied to the fingerboard and scrubbed with a cotton cloth. Back and forth not lengthwise.
For the body I use a soft cloth and just buff it up a bit. I've used windex too and it works well. For the fretboard I use 0000 steel wool. This will really polish the frets and remove the junk that collects on the fingerboard. I then apply a small amount of boiled linseed oil. This helps seal the fingerboard and gives it a nice clean finish.
Some might cringe, but I've had really good luck using automotive detailing sprays ... Yes that's right - Automotive. I use Meguiar's Ultimate Detailer on my plane to clean it after flight, so I always have it on hand. One day I tried it on the guitar, and have been using it ever since ... So far four different guitar's and nothing but good results. It's a very thin film synthetic, and it really shines nicely.
For Lacquer it's perfectly fine - Not sure how it would work on French Polish though, so if you tried it on that ... You might have a bad experience.
I was liking the Martin polish except it leaves an oily film that doesn't polish off. The dunlop 65 doesn't, and rubs off nicely. on lacquer, that is. dunno about french polish.
With furniture polish I had the feeling as if it could be penetrating the finish. At least I fancied how the guitar would be dulling a tad.
My sister uses windex ( that would be the glass cleaning spray right?) for all laquered surfaces, but in a way I suspect that it could brittle finishes over time by polymerisation, thus don´t use it for such.
I find a damp sponge with dish soap solution and rubbing dry right afterwards to work well for cleaning the finish.
- While doing this with an aquired 40 year old guitar you could tell by a nasty smell that was coming up with the damp how needed a cleaning can be at times.
Windex normally contains ammonia for cutting grease and film on windows, probably not the best best thing to be spraying on a finished wood surface.
Jeff
I've been using it for many years and never seen any damage to lacquer or any of the synthetic finishes commonly used on factory guitars. He was asking how to clean his Yamaha.
RE: Cleaning your guitar (in reply to jshelton5040)
quote:
I've been using it for many years and never seen any damage to lacquer or any of the synthetic finishes commonly used on factory guitars. He was asking how to clean his Yamaha.
Yeah Jeff.
I've actually used some Mcguire's and 3M products as well on lacquered finished and it's worked fine.
I use bees wax on my french polished anders. Any thoughts?
I remember asking Anders how to clean it shortly after collecting it from him. He replied "don't clean it, play it". If ever I lack inspiration I think of those words Guess doitsujin you feel the same
ps I posted elsewhere on the foro to find a former teacher in Madrid called Ricardo. I note the thread got over 170 hits. Thinking about it on this foro I now realise why. Sorry
_____________________________
nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
i have heard one should oil the fretboard about once a year. following this recommendation i would be a little careful about oiling the fretboard in the winter time in a northern climate. in the winter time the big worry is the lack of humidity and, as we know, oil will repel water and therefore the fretboard may not get adequate moisture. if i were to oil the fretboard i would do it just before summer when too much humidity will become an issue in the upcoming months.
for cleaning the fretboard, as it was mentioned, 0000 steelwool works great--just cover the sound hole as micro shredding of the steelwood occurs. micromesh 1500 then 4000 then 6000 works great--cleans and really polishes up the wood for a smooth, fast surface.
I remember asking Anders how to clean it shortly after collecting it from him. He replied "don't clean it, play it". If ever I lack inspiration I think of those words
Printable Version
Whilst it might only be a Yamaha CG172SF, it is my only flamenco guitar and after reading some horror stories online about certain products/methods of cleaning, I thought I'd be better safe than sorry. So here goes: 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread