Cleaning dark stains from maple neck

[assMan]

That's a great looking top you've got there kimono. I've had mine for a few years now and I still sometimes just stare at it. It is just a great aesthetic design from top to bottom, from the dots to the top to the placement of knobs and switches. And boy is it a great guitar to play. I understand that this was an anniversary guitar and MM wanted it to stand out, and this it does. But I think that if MM had offered the quilt or flame top, the reflex would have sold better. That said, enjoy! My guess is that you'll get that board nice and dirty again in no time.

 

[DrKev]

Hey Kimonostereo, any way we can get the pictures back? Even just two or three important ones?

 

[kimonostereo]

Hey Kimonostereo, any way we can get the pictures back? Even just two or three important ones?

Let me fix them when I get to my computer. Forgot about the fact that PB broke everything.

 

[kimonostereo]

OK! Fixed the images!

 

[Jamie M]

I personally like the look of used dirty maple fretboards... adds mojo
Nice guitar btw.

+1 on that.

 

[Robert Lone]

New guy (me). I use whiting on RG's. Much easier than sanding or scrubbing.

BROWNELLS OLD FASHIONED WHITING | Brownells

And no, I am not affiliated with this product or the company that sells it.

 

[tbonesullivan]

That stuff REALLY does help with the oil. The dirt though can be more difficult. Also, I know some people have used gorgomyte, and it is great stuff, but it will get all the oxides from the frets all over the fretboard, so I don't recommend it for oiled maple boards.

 

[Robert Lone]

I've seen whiting pull cosmolene (sp?) Out of nos Mauser stock with only 2-3 applications.

Want a tough job, get that crap out of wood after a nice 100 yr soak. lol

 

[danielbravo]

I used the method on one of my axis and boom! fantastic. Basically the Bartenders stuff made a big difference after cleaning the neck with the steel wood OOO. Excellent result and then oiled the neck. There is no better method than this. Thanks Kimonostereo!

 

[kimonostereo]

Glad to see this still helping folks!

 

[jayjayjay]

Somewhat related question - what are you using to buff scratches out? I have a bottle of Stew Mac's Scratch Remover, which works - sort of. It will get rid of scratches, but it's a polish, so it's slightly abrasive (or I was using a dirty rag w/ grit), and you can tell where the scratch remover was used vs. factory finish (I tested it on the back of one of my cheaper guitars to see how it would work before I try it on the front of a more expensive model).

I was thinking maybe I need to follow with a carnuba wax and buff with a rag. Or should I find a buffing pad and pull out my angle grinder?

 

[kimonostereo]

It really depends. If the scratch is deep, evaluate if it's fixable with buffing and chemicals. You may want to just leave it alone. Scratches rarely affect playability or sound. Drop filling deep scratches is possible, but best left to a pro.

If it's just light scratches, I'll use a light cleaner wax like Meguiar's Cleaner Wax with a little elbow grease first. If that doesn't work, you can try applying some compound by hand or with a foam pad. For medium scratches that are in just the clearcoat, you can use varying grades of sandpaper to smooth the surface out, then follow up with a compound, then swirl remover/glaze, then a wax. If you've never done this before, I'd suggest practicing on an instrument that isn't valuable to you or to just take it to a pro.

 

[jayjayjay]

Thanks! Mostly I'm looking at light scratches, like from a pick, or this one spot where I accidentally let a fret polishing wipe brush against my guitar body. The StewMac scratch remover works, but leaves swirl marks, basically.

I was considering Music Nomad's Carnuba Wax (see here: Amazon.com: MusicNomad MN102 Premium White Brazilian Carnauba Guitar Wax, 4 oz: Musical Instruments), but I may try that Meguiar's. That, and a foam pad into my cordless drill. I have any number of cheaper instruments to try.

 

[kimonostereo]

You're welcome! I think sometimes it gets confusing between what is a wax and what is a polish. If you're trying to protect a finish, you want a "wax" or sealant/protector type chemical. If you're trying to get scratches out, you'll want something with abrasives in it. Depending on how badly damaged the finish is, the more abrasive material you'll want in the stuff you're using. I suggested the Meguiar's cleaner wax as it has a small bit of abrasive that can clean up finishes as well as carnauba wax.

 

[Spudmurphy]

For swirl marks I recommend this product. I dealt with a slightly deeper scratch using this product too. AMAZING product.
Guitar Scratch Remover Polish – GuitarScratchRemover by Eternashine

 

[johndough247]

Can this be fixed?

Is there any hope for a neck like this? The 1st fret is what it looks like after several scrubbings with Murphy's Oil soap as well as sanding once with 2000 grit. The 2nd and 3rd fret was what it looked like before.

Was gigging and teaching quite a bit before COVID hit last year and never got around to maintenance...so it was in my gigbag for quite awhile with gunk on it (not my finest hour). When I finally got around to changing strings and started removing the gunk, it (of course) already stained the fingerboard. Can oxalic acid (or anything else) fix something this bad?

 

[tbonesullivan]

Is there any hope for a neck like this? The 1st fret is what it looks like after several scrubbings with Murphy's Oil soap as well as sanding once with 2000 grit. The 2nd and 3rd fret was what it looked like before.

Was gigging and teaching quite a bit before COVID hit last year and never got around to maintenance...so it was in my gigbag for quite awhile with gunk on it (not my finest hour). When I finally got around to changing strings and started removing the gunk, it (of course) already stained the fingerboard. Can oxalic acid (or anything else) fix something this bad?

That doesn't appear to be an oiled neck and fretboard, so any of the advice in this thread is not really going to apply. That looks like a satin poly finished neck where you wore through the finish, and now have stained bare maple, which has started to oxidize as well. That may be as good as you can get it.

 

[Astrofreq]

I think it looks AWESOME as is. I understand to desire to keep it looking new, but it has character as it is now.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I use bar keepers friend on my stainless steel car ;-) .
Will have to try some on one of my balls !

 

[danielbravo]

Hello, I share here my experience with one of my guitars. In this case the neck was literally very, very dark, I had never cleaned it (just a superficial cleaning and then lemon oil, which ended up making it literally dark I thought there was no solution for this, really

I did not make prevision to take previous images (I offer my apologies for this omission) but I will share how I did it and the final results.

Follow the same process as Kimono Stereo basically even though I don't use Murphy's Soap

1-I started with the removal of the neck and initial cleaning with steel wood 00000, (both on the freatboard and on the back (the entire neck)
With this I managed to remove all the stain and oiled residues accumulated for years (literally 15 years)
On the fretboard I followed my clean process following the frets direction (gently until I removed some of the dirt and stains) With this I corrected some marks in the wood from years of use and abuse. Of course there was not much progress but I was able to remove some stain...

2-I followed the same process with the rest of the neck trying to achieve an uniform and careful cleaning. I must admit that it took me a while to do it and to do it with successive change of steel wool 00000

3-Then I went directly with the oxalic acid (Bar Keepers Friend) making a paste and then applying it all over the neck until I achieve a uniform cleanliness and appearance, removing all the dirt and stains that of course had not been removed with the steel wool.

Actually this is the essential step to achieve the expected cleaning IMO

I did a second cleaning with the steel wool and a cotton rag to remove the traces of oxalic acid, something that took me little effort.


4-Then oil and polish with Birchwood Casey Gun Oil and Wax respectively.




And thank you, thank you very much to "Kimonostereo" for sharing your experience here. I had cleaned another guitar with his method but it didn't have the unfortunate aspect of this one that I put here. It was much easier with the other axis.
I think he must be credited with creating the "ideal method" for cleaning an unfinished maple neck. Yes sir !
Thanks, again ! peace


Allow me to show you the final result... I had a long time without seeing the bird's eyes and the wooden drawings on the neck. It was deep dark brown and full of dirt and grease accumulated over the years.