how to care for unfinished woods.

[blue313]

What does he recommend for cleaning frets encrusted with sweat and gunk from a month of playing?

A combo of cleaning with naphtha and scrubbing with 0000 steel wool always does the trick for me.

 

[simple]

So I asked Ken about what he would recommend and he feels the safest with finishes that have a polymerizer in them so they harden up. Even that can be a problem depending on what the actual product formula is, how you apply it,  what type of fingerboard you have, climate where you live, etc. That's why the whole issue is so subjective; too many exceptions to the many rules. Even putting oil on your fingerboard in dry climates has issues. Your fingerboard is going to dry out period, and your fret ends are probably going to stick out too. You can't really avoid it unless you saturate your board with so much oil that it ends up having as much resonance as a stump. In the end, your climate will adjust your neck as it sees fit.

More problems occur from people trying to put different ointments on exotic woods rather than just leaving them alone, so that is what Ken ultimately suggests, just leave them alone and  arty07:

 

[Rick]

Gregg,
Thank you for posting Ken's opinions.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Scenario:
So ... a friend stops over that has a genetic case of "dirt finger" ... and they pick up my raw neck ... and of course the instant they touch it the strings are obviously trashed ... but what can I do about that tacky feeling that now infests the back of my once very clean feeling padouk neck?
Wipe it wih a damp rag?
... a rag with naptha?

Seriously ... it's gonna get stickey sooner or later ... what do I do about it?

I just wipe my maple / ebony  ...(the back is finished with Mater-Gel)...wipe the back of it with a damp rag and all is good to go for months, but I really would like to know how to deal with my new and yet unplayed padouk neck when the need occurs.

Thanks!

oh and P.S.   if you've never met anyone that really has "dirt finger" then count yourself lucky. They do exist!

 

[Watershed]

oh and P.S.  if you've never met anyone that really has "dirt finger" then count yourself lucky. They do exist!

LOL
It is amazing, and defies reason. 
I have seen a few necks where I really can't comprehend how that much crud was able to accumulate in such a short period of time.

 

[stubhead]

I have a friend (excellent guitarist) and no one in town will let him touch any of their guitars, if he wants to sit in he has to bring one of his own. He has "acid body" I guess you call it - he can peel the plating off of pickups, bridges, wristwatches, dissolve leather, etc. not to mention ruining whatever strings are on any guitar in five minutes. I asked his wife about it and she said, I quote, "Yes but he smells so good...." :icon_scratch:

 

[Max Webster]

I have a bass with a ebony/maple neck and the finish is worn off the maple. I just lightly sand it with super fine sand paper or steel wool if it starts to get sticky. It shines like crazy and is super fast. I also lightly hit my finished necks with the finest steel wool to get them nice and smoooooth.

I have an old friend with acid sweat. His Ken Smith 6-string is all corroded and gross. He kills bass strings just by buying them. I only let him play my basses before I change strings. Sucks.

 

[NLD09]

I have acid fingers. I buy strings by the dozens. lol definately not as bad as the guy who wears through leather though.