@@DemnRaig80 3:00 he likes to use lemon oil or fretboard finishing oil. You mean, like furniture polish? lol. I've used Olde English for years. Works great. You're right, he basically plugged a lot of their own products.
I always do a general clean up (including checking the electronics and wiring too) everytime i change my strings, it helps to maintain your sound too.. Stay clean ♥️
Any time y'all use a steel or brass wire wheel or brush make sure to wear glasses. As unlikely as it may sound, the wires will sling out while using. They seem to have an almost uncanny ability to zero in and go right in your eye. I've worked in the ER for over 20 years and we get several patients a year with wire bristles from wire wheels and even hand wire brushes impaled in their eye.
I have been cleaning LOTS of dirty guitars over the past few months and appreciate this video. 👍🏻 I use a warm water/vinegar mix to wipe down the guitar. Seems to work great to neutralize funky odors and remove dirt.
Great video This will be so helpful to so many people I like to brush off the dust first with a shaving brush instead of using a cloth It prevents you from making fine scratches in the finish due to rubbing dust particles into the finish
An pleidhce Éireannach - 100% agree, do the same here! I just use a different brush, never thought of a shaving brush but that sounds like a great idea! It’s the tiny one for an electric shaver yeah? I personally use anything that’s really ‘fine’ with a light-moderate bristle strength and it works great too. But I use different sized brushes (some small semi-stiff but fine painters brushes work well for tight spaces) for cleaning different areas! Just gotta alllllllways be careful not to ever *bear down* or put too much pressure into the guitar! Cheers
Always have a cloth to wipe strings from above and below. Whenever I do it, the strings remain shiny, and when I don't the strings corrode pretty fast. I have sweaty palms.
I hate watching people who cut guitar strings when they could give them to the the poor, homeless and buskers. Bad move. Else this is one of the better ones about guitar maintenance that I've watched today. Thanks
@@AedanBlackheart grime is more likely it. Previous owner, I'm guessing, sweated into cracks in the finish. Don't have the guitar anymore but wouldn't mind knowing a solution if you have one, aside from repainting
Thanks for the video, i was looking to clean a guitar i haven't used in one year. The body has some kinda film on it, probably cigarette smoke? I think i'll try warm water and micro-fiber towel first
What if I want to clean the decorative tape on the side of a Danelectro? I have a 60s Silvertone 1448 body, and I don't want to accidentally remove the tape with water. Then again, I already got it pretty wet; it was painted over, and I sanded the non-original paint off.
I will never mess with the body whatsoever. Last time i cleaned the body it lost its character on my 62 reissue. Ill rub out major issues but will never polish that guitar again. Plus I like the look and feel. I know I'm wrong but I don't care. And hey... what about PLEDGE on a fingerboard? Asking a question...don't try and sell me a product unless you can give me pros and cons. After 25 years of playing and owning and still own damn near every guitar I have I just don't feel comfortable taking advice from someone whos probably younger than my newest guitar. No offense. Im stubborn in my ways. Thank you.
Have strings in a box from thirty plus years ago. never throw strings away. Use Gibson Guitar polish, use your deep method on old basket case guitars. After every use, focus on the fret board and neck, strings and pickups and bridge. I just make a lot of racket, organized noise within the scale..........Thanks.
When u play a very long concert live such as Nightwish live in End of An Era. the band get really sweaty and that sweat could land on their instrument making them very dirty and messy. So I always wondering how do u clean up instruments? Like the Guitar. it has an inside that u not really get access to, and if u want to clean the guitar how do u get inside of it? Are u forced to get off all the strings and use some spray or vaccum, coz I dont think u can fit ur fist inside the guitar in order to clean it. It feels it needs some kinda technic and skill to do that. And then what about the other instrument. A piano may take a long time coz its very big. Drums may take times coz there so many stuff on it u have to take off and clean from inside out.
Help! I have a 25 year old Takamine guitar with a cedar top and I think a satin finish. I haven’t cleaned it for about 20 years and the top has a thick layer of smudge. What is the best way to clean off the smudge and restore the finish?
If you need just a tiny bit of a gentle but effective solvent to remove a bit or grime or adhesive from a label or something, here's what you do? Rub your finger in that little corner where the side of your nose meets your cheek. It will pick up a bit of oil which seems to be similarly effective to naptha. Then use that finger to rub out what's bothering you.
Same here. Dave sez, steel wool should NEVER get anywhere near any guitar, acoustic or electric. I only use it to polish frets with fret shields and pickups sealed in low-tack tape.
Brass is softer than steel, nickel or chromium, so theoretically it is not SUPPOSED to scratch, but if the metal surface is pitted, it does not remove the pits.
Murphy's Oil Soap is mostly water. In small amounts it works great to clean oil finished necks and works well on oily woods like rosewood that don't absorb moisture quickly, but generally speaking it should not be used on unfinished wood and it says so right on the label.
Folks, don't let this video fool you. I dare anyone to find a dedicated brand name guitar polish these days that contains silicones. Virtually every Guitar Polish on the market say on the bottle "Does Not Contain Silicones" or "Silicone Free". It's practically a mantra for a polish maker to quote this somewhere on the bottle, even though silicones haven't been used in good, brand name guitar polishes for decades now. This SM Preservation Polish is very good for certain instances where normal guitar polish isn't doing the job on a delicate nitro finish, but it's undoubtedly overpriced for most applications. Consider the StewMac Clean & Shine for most general cleaning or better yet, Tone G' Wax (virtually impossible to get) Aerosol Polish. A can of G'Wax will literally last you many years. It is the last aerosol guitar polish available in the USA. It is made by the same company, ChemPak, that unfortunately brings you Finger Ease (crap), but the poilish is truly excellent. I have used it on literally thousands of guitars over 4 decades. It's great polish that when used with a COTTON polish cloth, like the StewMac cloths (NOT Microfiber) works incrediblly well. I buy it buy the case! Guitartec Repair.
I think the warning about silicone is to keep people from using things like that famous lemon-scented home furniture polish we all pledge not to use. There are so many great dedicated guitar polishes on the market today we are truly spoiled for choice.
@@test1two You're being much too kind. The "No Silicones" warning is more likely used to scare the unknowing into using their product with a side benefit of keeping people from using furniture polish. That's my take anyway.
I had a luthier tell me to use nu finish scratch remover, to remove swirl marks on my guitar, after using it I found out it had silicone in it. The finish is super smudgy now and thick, I have no idea how to get rid of it. I tried vinegar, didnt work. Any tips? this is my favorite guitar and there was no info on the ingredients before I bought it online. I havent used it in months since im worried the silicon will spread over my clothes and to other guitars, none of which have any real finish aside from my sg which is nitro. I feel the oily substance on my hands after playing. I have no idea how to get rid of it and not further spread it in the process
@@heythere6983 Is it a poly finish? Try denatured alcohol or even naptha followed by a good guitar polish. Even so, the silicone from the nu finish shouldn't be something to worry about unless you try to do finish repair work on the guitar. That's why silicones are frowned upon.
@@guitartec it is a Gibson nitro finished , there are some tiny dents in it where the paint is cracked so I figured it might spread over time because I can rub my finger on the guitar and you see the substance leaving a trail of glaze behind my finger, its very prominent, to the point the play on the neck is sluggish feeling
He says he wants to give it a shot making buff & polish videos to put on RUclips. I told him, I can't subscribe to that. What will the neighbors think?
Pure carnuba wax is ok but car waxes, cleaner waxes, floor waxes and the like should be avoided. And even pure carnuba wax is largely unnecessary and will eventually leave a residue. There are so many great and affordable guitar polishes out there that I can't see any reason to reach for wax.
I would never use modern lemon oil on a fretboard as its a petroleum based product. Linseed oil is fine and is far better for the environment and the instrument than synthetic oils.
Why the hell did he think including saliva was a good idea for pro instructional video. If spit is all you have, you better just wait till you can find water and not be a gross savage. That guitar is so beat it needs a paint job not just a cleaning and polishing.
Dan Erlewine Saliva in 2 oz bottles: $76.82
I will add that to my order of Stew-Mac Elbow Grease.
Lol I just saw this vid and thought the same thing.
Worth it.
Lite Gamer Girl bath water
I vomited in my mouth a little, when I read that... Hahaha!
Thanks for debunking the pine-sol myth and making a simple guide for beginners as well as tried and tested methods for experienced players.
They didnt debunk anything. They just said use their product.
@@DemnRaig80 3:00 he likes to use lemon oil or fretboard finishing oil. You mean, like furniture polish? lol. I've used Olde English for years. Works great.
You're right, he basically plugged a lot of their own products.
my dudeski went from talking about the life of the strings to cutting them off
I always do a general clean up (including checking the electronics and wiring too) everytime i change my strings, it helps to maintain your sound too.. Stay clean ♥️
Any time y'all use a steel or brass wire wheel or brush make sure to wear glasses. As unlikely as it may sound, the wires will sling out while using. They seem to have an almost uncanny ability to zero in and go right in your eye. I've worked in the ER for over 20 years and we get several patients a year with wire bristles from wire wheels and even hand wire brushes impaled in their eye.
I have been cleaning LOTS of dirty guitars over the past few months and appreciate this video. 👍🏻 I use a warm water/vinegar mix to wipe down the guitar. Seems to work great to neutralize funky odors and remove dirt.
Melissa I add just a drop of dish soap to a half gallon of the mix, and wipe dry immediately.
Good tip!
He did a good job. He summarized an entire book chapter in a 5 minute free video. Please fix your butt if it hurts
Great video
This will be so helpful to so many people
I like to brush off the dust first with a shaving brush instead of using a cloth
It prevents you from making fine scratches in the finish due to rubbing dust particles into the finish
An pleidhce Éireannach - 100% agree, do the same here! I just use a different brush, never thought of a shaving brush but that sounds like a great idea! It’s the tiny one for an electric shaver yeah?
I personally use anything that’s really ‘fine’ with a light-moderate bristle strength and it works great too. But I use different sized brushes (some small semi-stiff but fine painters brushes work well for tight spaces) for cleaning different areas! Just gotta alllllllways be careful not to ever *bear down* or put too much pressure into the guitar!
Cheers
U shave with a brush? What?
Where can I get some "Elbow Grease"?
John Katz from your elbow
right next to the headlight fluid section
@@cposey lol I was waiting for a Red vs Blue reference
from the stew Mac store, comes in 1.75 oz bottles
Where can i get a guitar
Haha
Helpful tips! And a good reminder that I should probably clean my guitars...
I love Stew Mac. I just bought a gallon of saliva and a 10 pack of used credit cards from these guys
i’m just trying to find a video about cleaning my guitar and this beautiful ass dude shows up wtf
Nice cowboy bebop prfp
Thank you for taking the time to share this .. much appreciated 👍🎸
Did that red one even have a finish?
Thank you! I’m changing my ways and this has a lot of great information ☺️
Always have a cloth to wipe strings from above and below. Whenever I do it, the strings remain shiny, and when I don't the strings corrode pretty fast. I have sweaty palms.
I hate watching people who cut guitar strings when they could give them to the the poor, homeless and buskers. Bad move. Else this is one of the better ones about guitar maintenance that I've watched today. Thanks
So Ok to use a small amount of water on a sponge to clean the fretboard?
Best guitar polish? Spit and elbow grease. Maybe bit of boiled linseed oil on fretboard very occasionally.
dog milk gives it a good shine
What is the best way to clean gold plated pickups without taking the plating off?
What about cleaning deep dirt in the cracks in the finish? How do you get those out without further making the situation worse?
Why do you have deep dirt on your guitar?
@@AedanBlackheart grime is more likely it. Previous owner, I'm guessing, sweated into cracks in the finish. Don't have the guitar anymore but wouldn't mind knowing a solution if you have one, aside from repainting
Thanks for the video, i was looking to clean a guitar i haven't used in one year. The body has some kinda film on it, probably cigarette smoke? I think i'll try warm water and micro-fiber towel first
Oh boy! The question mark tone!
drives me nuts
This young man did a fantastic job!
Well shit, glad I watched this video *after* I wiped down my guitar with Windex lol
Lol I did the same thing haha
What if I want to clean the decorative tape on the side of a Danelectro? I have a 60s Silvertone 1448 body, and I don't want to accidentally remove the tape with water. Then again, I already got it pretty wet; it was painted over, and I sanded the non-original paint off.
A new 4” paint/chip brush does wonders for cleaning and dusting.
Only a machinist would say paint/ chip brush.
Great video Steve!
I will never mess with the body whatsoever. Last time i cleaned the body it lost its character on my 62 reissue. Ill rub out major issues but will never polish that guitar again. Plus I like the look and feel. I know I'm wrong but I don't care.
And hey... what about PLEDGE on a fingerboard? Asking a question...don't try and sell me a product unless you can give me pros and cons. After 25 years of playing and owning and still own damn near every guitar I have I just don't feel comfortable taking advice from someone whos probably younger than my newest guitar. No offense. Im stubborn in my ways. Thank you.
That Electra was a wonderful surprise!
Spit is a good cleaner. Nice electra, BTW
Hommie said spit on it!! 😂
Have strings in a box from thirty plus years ago. never throw strings away.
Use Gibson Guitar polish, use your deep method on old basket case guitars.
After every use, focus on the fret board and neck, strings and pickups and bridge.
I just make a lot of racket, organized noise within the scale..........Thanks.
Excellent!!! 🌟
Thanks for the tips .
Excellent video 👍
Never hurts to put some latex gloves on so no prints get on the guitty.
I always wear latex gloves when I play guitar so as not to leave fingerprints.
When u play a very long concert live such as Nightwish live in End of An Era. the band get really sweaty and that sweat could land on their instrument making them very dirty and messy. So I always wondering how do u clean up instruments? Like the Guitar. it has an inside that u not really get access to, and if u want to clean the guitar how do u get inside of it? Are u forced to get off all the strings and use some spray or vaccum, coz I dont think u can fit ur fist inside the guitar in order to clean it. It feels it needs some kinda technic and skill to do that. And then what about the other instrument. A piano may take a long time coz its very big. Drums may take times coz there so many stuff on it u have to take off and clean from inside out.
Help! I have a 25 year old Takamine guitar with a cedar top
and I think a satin finish. I haven’t cleaned it for about 20 years and the top
has a thick layer of smudge. What is the best way to clean off the smudge and
restore the finish?
This is very good advice!
If you need just a tiny bit of a gentle but effective solvent to remove a bit or grime or adhesive from a label or something, here's what you do? Rub your finger in that little corner where the side of your nose meets your cheek. It will pick up a bit of oil which seems to be similarly effective to naptha. Then use that finger to rub out what's bothering you.
Wow! Great tips!
my strings are coated in dirt and grime and my pickup where I palm mute is absolutely coated as well rip
If you're a little low on spit, will snot do in a pinch?
Great video
Please be my guitar-tech but no saliva use haha 🤣
Thank you soooo much for this!!
Haha! It sometimes really is the best cleaner for the job!
hey man i like your hair
Anyone knows which guitars were used in the video?
Hey what guitar is that at 0:26? It's beautiful
Can I use surgical spirit and/or witch hazel to clean guitars with?
Seems like an add for cleaning agents
I cringed when he started rubbing the steel wool directly on the rosewood. D:
Same here. Dave sez, steel wool should NEVER get anywhere near any guitar, acoustic or electric. I only use it to polish frets with fret shields and pickups sealed in low-tack tape.
What would you use?
Do one on how to tune a guitar.
Tuner
Anyone know the most effective way to clean dark discoloration on binding? This question was asked on the Les Paul Forum.
Silly question, can you use the credit card method on a maple fretboard? I'm assuming no, because it's abrasive.
Go for it
On the dremel, will the bras brush leave scratches?
Brass is softer than steel, nickel or chromium, so theoretically it is not SUPPOSED to scratch, but if the metal surface is pitted, it does not remove the pits.
I dont play in smoky clubs, im not good enough.
This guys looks like James Blunt and Andy Samberg had a child haha
Yeah, a real Steve Miller type 😘
@@dominiquekiefer4945 So funny & handsome 🥰
I wasn't really reday for that Sal-lai-va
How about Murphy Oil on an unfinished neck?
Murphy's Oil Soap is mostly water. In small amounts it works great to clean oil finished necks and works well on oily woods like rosewood that don't absorb moisture quickly, but generally speaking it should not be used on unfinished wood and it says so right on the label.
Folks, don't let this video fool you. I dare anyone to find a dedicated brand name guitar polish these days that contains silicones. Virtually every Guitar Polish on the market say on the bottle "Does Not Contain Silicones" or "Silicone Free". It's practically a mantra for a polish maker to quote this somewhere on the bottle, even though silicones haven't been used in good, brand name guitar polishes for decades now. This SM Preservation Polish is very good for certain instances where normal guitar polish isn't doing the job on a delicate nitro finish, but it's undoubtedly overpriced for most applications. Consider the StewMac Clean & Shine for most general cleaning or better yet, Tone G' Wax (virtually impossible to get) Aerosol Polish. A can of G'Wax will literally last you many years. It is the last aerosol guitar polish available in the USA. It is made by the same company, ChemPak, that unfortunately brings you Finger Ease (crap), but the poilish is truly excellent. I have used it on literally thousands of guitars over 4 decades. It's great polish that when used with a COTTON polish cloth, like the StewMac cloths (NOT Microfiber) works incrediblly well. I buy it buy the case! Guitartec Repair.
I think the warning about silicone is to keep people from using things like that famous lemon-scented home furniture polish we all pledge not to use. There are so many great dedicated guitar polishes on the market today we are truly spoiled for choice.
@@test1two You're being much too kind. The "No Silicones" warning is more likely used to scare the unknowing into using their product with a side benefit of keeping people from using furniture polish. That's my take anyway.
I had a luthier tell me to use nu finish scratch remover, to remove swirl marks on my guitar, after using it I found out it had silicone in it. The finish is super smudgy now and thick, I have no idea how to get rid of it. I tried vinegar, didnt work. Any tips? this is my favorite guitar and there was no info on the ingredients before I bought it online. I havent used it in months since im worried the silicon will spread over my clothes and to other guitars, none of which have any real finish aside from my sg which is nitro.
I feel the oily substance on my hands after playing. I have no idea how to get rid of it and not further spread it in the process
@@heythere6983 Is it a poly finish? Try denatured alcohol or even naptha followed by a good guitar polish. Even so, the silicone from the nu finish shouldn't be something to worry about unless you try to do finish repair work on the guitar. That's why silicones are frowned upon.
@@guitartec it is a Gibson nitro finished , there are some tiny dents in it where the paint is cracked so I figured it might spread over time because I can rub my finger on the guitar and you see the substance leaving a trail of glaze behind my finger, its very prominent, to the point the play on the neck is sluggish feeling
Can you use naphtha on ebony fingerboard?
@XpErIEnCeD_ViRgIn _ cheers thank you
let me guess you have some product to sell about cleaning a guitar
What do you expect? Selling products is how they make the money to produce all of these great videos.
Saliva
Saliva? Haha
He says he wants to give it a shot making buff & polish videos to put on RUclips.
I told him, I can't subscribe to that. What will the neighbors think?
I’m never the guy who dislikes a video but cleaning your guitar with saliva is disgusting I rather leave my guitar build dust for 5 years
Whoops, i havent cleaned my guittar in 2 years :$
Mine sounds LOTS better with 30 years of crud and grime.
15 years
Deoxit
How to properly clean your wood guitar.
So no carbunaea wax?
Pure carnuba wax is ok but car waxes, cleaner waxes, floor waxes and the like should be avoided. And even pure carnuba wax is largely unnecessary and will eventually leave a residue. There are so many great and affordable guitar polishes out there that I can't see any reason to reach for wax.
@@test1two any recommendations?
dont use lemon oil
1:51 wtf?
I almost always wash my hands before playing even at the guitar shop and wipe the guitar down after I play
But do you always remember to wash them after you go potty?
1:52 Uh....
Need to vacuum that guitar good before anything else lol
Where i can get a saliva
I would never use modern lemon oil on a fretboard as its a petroleum based product. Linseed oil is fine and is far better for the environment and the instrument than synthetic oils.
With those awkward gestures I wonder if the lad dropped out of mime-class :D
Ookayyy..?
Erick Coleman son?
His name is Steve Miller. I know, right?
Who the fuck is Erick Coleman?
Erick is Dan's sidekick. Erick lost some weight and grew his hair longer, probably to appeal to some of the young female apprentices Dan has hired.
saliva, seriously? disgusting. I use rubbing alcohol, but always cautious with different surfaces
#neverclean
Dont use spit.
I never play without washing my hands first. 😑
good video but , i don’t leave my guitars outside so there isn’t any dirt on them
He cut the strings!!!!
This kid looks like he smokes to much smoke
Stomach
You need another guitar to clean urs lol
Saliva?????????????!!!!!!!!
I'm sad that this video had to be made.
Come on dude please dont use lighter fluid
Why the hell did he think including saliva was a good idea for pro instructional video. If spit is all you have, you better just wait till you can find water and not be a gross savage.
That guitar is so beat it needs a paint job not just a cleaning and polishing.
Hush child
That 'finish' on that red guitar is hella ugly. It looks like it was stripped from an old leather couch after being farted on for a few decades.
And the patina is enhanced by the number of sexual acts performed on it!!
👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼👊🏼🥋