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Posted by: mattacuk May 23 2008, 07:57 PM

Ok so my fretboard is absolutely filthy And i havent had it long - at leat that proves i been practicing hard right?

Ideally id like to take all the strings off and clean the freatboard with some wipes, and around the pickup area where the dust settles.

In reality I know you shouldnt just take all the strings off as the neck is under tension.....

So my question is to all you lovely gmc gear geeks, whats the best way to go about cleaning?


thanks!

Posted by: black and white May 23 2008, 08:04 PM

Ditto

Absolutely have the exact same question. I am sitting here with Fretboard conditioning asking myself.....do i apply this over the strings? Will that hurt the strings? Do I take the strings off? I feel like a youngling ready to ask master Yoda how to turn on his lightsaber.

Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only help.

Posted by: mattacuk May 23 2008, 08:08 PM

I read in the Ibanez prestige book you could cock up the inotation or the neck or something if you take all the strings off, so im baffled !

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 23 2008, 08:16 PM

Well I don't know about that particular guitar , but you should not have problems taking off all strings and cleaning the instrument..Truss rod will get back in its position when you reinstall new strings..

Posted by: skennington May 23 2008, 08:16 PM

Hey Matt, I have taken all of mine off on another guitar that I don't use often and did'nt seem to hurt anything. Conditioned and cleaned the fretboard with lemon oil and restrung. Seems to be fine. If you think about it, the truss rod is maintaining the posture of the neck. You see them for sell all the time with no strings. Hopefully sombody more in the know will chime in.

By the way,off subject, caught any fish lately?

Posted by: mattacuk May 23 2008, 08:24 PM

Cool thanks for the input guys - I will just take em all of then ! Lemon Oil, is that literally oil of Lemon?


No no fish for me, i went on a fishing date last week and didnt get a nibble

Posted by: kevin-riff-after-riff May 23 2008, 08:26 PM

what you do is you leave the strings on and give it a dip in the good old bath

but honestly, i thought you could take all the strings off without breaking your guitar? i just swapsied my tc-90 for a rg2570e (couldnt resist!! it was just up for swaps and all!) anyway, the booklet dont say anything about if you take all the strings off the guitar breaks. Infact it says "Loosen the string stopper bolt of the locking-nut, completely loosen the string at the tuning machine, use an allen wrench to loosen the string stopper bold of the bridge saddle, and remove the old string. etc etc" so yeah i think itll be fine.

Posted by: skennington May 23 2008, 08:30 PM

Best I've found.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Dunlop-Fretboard-65-Ultimate-Lemon-Oil?sku=425264

Not even a bite? man, you gotta find some new spots!

Posted by: Smells May 23 2008, 08:39 PM

all my guitars I take all the strings off, when cleaning, when changing strings, never once had a problem mate

Posted by: DeepRoots May 23 2008, 08:40 PM

I've never had problems taking all the strings off!

Posted by: mattacuk May 23 2008, 08:40 PM

This is very encouraging! Im going to order some new strings and some wipes

Posted by: Hisham Al-Sanea May 23 2008, 10:17 PM

free to take all the strings off no problem in that

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic May 23 2008, 10:21 PM

Me too are taking the strings all at once. Never heard anyone that I know had problems with the neck.

Posted by: mattacuk May 23 2008, 10:49 PM

Next question!!


I know my PGM is set up for 9's but which one of these do I go for?


http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/products/674-_ernie_ball_slinkys


Hybrids? I wish there was a Guitar tech in my area!!

Posted by: Tuubsu May 23 2008, 11:11 PM

I believe the standard 9's are 9 - 42, that would be the super slinky, the hybrid slinky is a mix of 9 and 10 set, as you can notice if you check those gauges 9 and 10.

Posted by: Smells May 23 2008, 11:27 PM

Tuubsu is spot on mate, personally I use a straight set of 9`s (9-42) , I dont really like the hybrid sets, just what I`m used to I guess, I`d have thought that your guitar would have been set up with a standard set of 9`s also, so there may be some tweaking required if you go for the Hybrids.

Posted by: Scott Gentzen May 24 2008, 12:43 AM

I take all of the strings off my guitars when I do the change specifically so I can do a good job cleaning it up while they're off. One of them is 24 years old and the other's around 10. No problems that I can find.

I wouldn't think it's a good idea to keep the strings off for a long time but short periods I think are OK.

Posted by: mattacuk May 24 2008, 08:19 AM

Spot on Tuubsu,Smells and Scott!!

I wanted to to be sure because I know its set up for a specific size. Right id better place my order with Mr ball

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic May 24 2008, 03:27 PM

I use ernie ball strings too, they are very good But I don't recommend trying out my gauge

Posted by: Scott Gentzen May 24 2008, 03:56 PM

I use Ernie Ball 9's. I didn't know what my guitars were set up for when I got them. Gonna try 10's on my next change and see if I have to get them set up again or not.

Posted by: mattacuk May 24 2008, 04:09 PM

No I dont think ill try it

Posted by: Casper May 29 2008, 05:52 AM

why clean it? the FILTHiER the BETTER!!

Posted by: kaznie_NL Jun 20 2008, 02:57 PM

Ooooh.... not just lemon oil... no the Ultimate-Lemon-Oil!!!

Posted by: Mark. Jun 20 2008, 03:39 PM

Darn I thought this was a new thread with pics of your Pgm, but it's an old topic Dx

Posted by: MickeM Jun 20 2008, 03:49 PM

I see you got plenty of replies already but I want to raise a warning finger, just like when you turn the frequency selector on a radio, install something new over the good old Windows 95, pull out a USB cable without a prior safe remove or driver fast than 70km/h on the second gear of a car - the guitar will, if you remove all strings, explode in your face.
I just got to think of old people who are so scared of the technique they don't dare to use f.ex. a remote control but rather walk up to the TV to change channels.

On a serious note, no problem removing the strings. The neck will get back to normal when you put the new strings on.
I usually detune them until they are all loose before I put the pliers to work cutting.

Clean all the dirt away. I use a cloth and mild wood polish for mine. I also tape the wood around the frets and I use a zero wool to polish the frets. I use paraffine oil on the fretboard, I apply twice since I belive that makes it go a bit deeper. Lemon juice is a classic.


About strings... you should ask Marcus about Elixir