I did a stupid thing!

Quattroste

Hi All,

When in a music shop I asked the attendant how I would go about cleaning my fret board as there was a slight amount of guber deposited there over the years as does happen!!. Now he suggested that I give a light cleaning with steel wool. (The fretboard is ebony buy the way!) Being inexperienced I thought great, want home with my new strings and Lem Oil, and took the steel wool from the garage to my fret board. :eek: :mad:

So needless to say I now need proper advise on how to go about getting my fretboard back to its original smooth, fast state. What I have now is a scratched fretboard that hinders slides, bends and feels pretty crap(imagine a concrete fretboard).

Suggestions?

Doctor J

Suggestion #1

Bring it to a pro to fix. No disrespect intended, but trying to make it better could do more harm than good if you're unsure of what to do.

Guitar Repair in Dublin (Marlay Park)
Danvel Musical Instruments - Derrick Nelson
01 4942741

kennier

How would a pro fix it? Presumably by just sanding it back to an undamaged finish? You'd have to do the whole thing though right? Sounds like a right pain in the ar*e...

Quattroste

Thanks Dr J! I didn't have any contact for guitar repairs anywhere in the country.

Maybe this is something that should be a sticky on the baord or something. Recommended Luthiers(Spelling!!) in Ireland!

Doctor J

It is. Instrument Resources

Ancient1

Quattroste wrote:

When in a music shop I asked the attendant how

That was your first mistake right there. There are millions of "how-to" articles floating around on the web - read read read!

Kenny_D

Please tell me it wasnt the Tokai. Pleaseeeee

Quattroste

Not the Tokai GS! but it was my 93 Patrick Eggle Berlin.

Doctor J

That's even ****ing worse :eek:

Ancient1

Guitars don't like steel wool!

The only application for steel wool i can think of now is to properly "finish" the frets if you have "squeaky" frets (or refinishing jobs)- but steel wool for cleaning grime?

Ouch

Quattroste

"Guitars don't like steel wool" I f**king know that!

Dr J. Now you know how I feel. Its the Luthiers for this repair then!

Ancient1

Bummer, man.....let us know how it works out.

fitz

Tbh, I'd think about complaining to the manager of the shop that told you steel wool is what you need to clean your fretboard. Not cause it's their fault, common sense should have prevailed, but so they don't give the same advice again!

Karl Hungus

Christ! What utter goober told you to use steel wool!? That idiot should never be working in a guitar shop.

Quattroste

Jasus lads your making me feel thicker by the minute

With regards to the lad in the shop!! It was the owner of the shop! Not a young guy at all. His advise was to rub lightly with fine steel wool. I may have overdone it on the lightly bit and not too sure if the steel wool was fine grade. I don't know WTF I was thinking. I just seemed to follow the advise without thinking at all. :mad:

Anyway I am sure it can be repaired quite easily and restored to its former beauty.

I'll stick to changing the strings only!!!

Karl Hungus

In fairness, if there's some gick on the fretboard you should probably just use an old toothbrush and some lemon oil. Even a quick use of that Fast Fret would do the trick.

feylya

What grade of steel wool did you use? I hope it wasn't the crap that you use to clean pans with. It should have been 0000 or 000000, the super fine stuff.

Quattroste

Feylya, I don't know what grade I used but it take rust off my kids bike's really well. :eek:

Karl, if he'd said use some lemon oil and a tootbrush then thats what I would have done.

OK, so just to end this thread. Thanks all for your advise. I know I did something stupid and I don't need anymore reminders. I have a sick baby at home that needs professional help and thats where she's goin!

Karl Hungus

Alright, sorry if I'm rubbing it in man. Just next time, ask us.

feylya

Now for the good news. In order to get rid of all the scratches on the fretboard, the guitar will have to be defretted, reradiused, buffed, refretted and buffed again.

I hope you have a big wallet.



Or just sell that guitar to me for a fiver and a bag of crisps...

Doctor J

I think you should qualify that statement with "Worst Case Scenario", Fey, no need for scaremongering.


Just get the guitar down to Derrick and hope for the best. It may be simple for a man of his skill to undo or it may be a big repair job. Either way, don't start fearing the worst until you get his opinion. He's a top man and I'm sure can help you out.

Quattroste

Its not that bad fey. I'd imagine it could be repaired and Derrick will probably give me a large slap aswell.

With regards to selling..... no way! I have had quite a few guitars but I always come back to this guitar. Its a lifer this one!

feylya

Can you take a picture of it?

I had my hands on a 20+ year old Jazz bass the other day. Needed a total refinish. The fretboard had loads of scratches on it too.

Quattroste

My digi camara was stolen on hols in March this year and I haven't replaced it yet. I'll see if I can borrow one.

feylya

Jesus man, you really don't have any luck, do ya.