The picture above shows the fretboard of a Fender Jazz Bass I bought off ebay. Notice the rust on the frets and the finger grease that’s accumulated on the fretboard.

What I did was:

Remove the strings.

Spray liberally with “Guitar Honey” and leave for a few minutes.

Rub with 000 wire wool to remove the finger grease. Take care to try and follow the grain of the fingerboard as much as possible.

You may need to tape the wood to protect it, or use a fret guide (a thin oblong of aluminium with a fret sized hole in it) if the damage is really bad.

Finished with the wire wool, wipe the fingerboard with an old cloth, to remove all the residue of the wire wool.

Respray with guitar honey – I usually leave it to soak in for a few minutes, or even overnight if the fingerboard was really dry.

Then… ….WITH A CLEAN CLOTH – polish the frets and fingerboard.

Admire the result!

Tags: cleaning, guitar maintenance