Care And Cleaning Of Guitar Strings & Fretboards

Care And Cleaning Of Guitar Strings & Fretboards

Cleaning your strings and fretboard is one of the easiest and most overlooked areas of guitar maintenance. Take a good look at your strings. Are they accumulating a film? (You may need to look on the underside to see all the dirt you have on them.) There are a handful of products designed to extend the life of your strings, but if you want to go the economy route, simply wiping them down with a slightly damp cloth will be better than nothing, and you’ll find you won’t have to change your strings as much.

Do you see dirt and grime building up on the fretboard? You might as well clean this surface during string changes. Use a slightly damp cloth or a good guitar cleaner. Some people recommend using the finest grade of steel wool to abrade extra tough dirt off your fretboard. I haven’t had to go this far yet, and would urge caution. Go easy on the elbow grease as to not scratch the finish on the wood. Long sweat and dirt buildup can eventually damage glue joints and warp your instrument (this would be after a long period of exposure without any maintenance). An occasional cleaning of the fretboard will extend its life and keep your solos blazing.