14 replies to this topic

[bassplayer45459]

I have an ebony fret board on my guitar and bass. Over the years it has got a good amount of "gunk" build up on the board. Anyone have any tips or cleaning solutions they make to get rid of this without damaging the fret board?Thanks

[Pot Odds RAC]

Sell it as a relic. People pay good money for guitars with gunk on them!Spray it with some Orange Oil and use a little XXXX Fine Steel Wool then wipe with a clean dry cloth and you're done.

[Mercury69]

It's probably the same deal with rosewood fretboards. My Tele copy has a maple board, so it's a little simpler to clean. Just rub it!

[AmScray]

bassplayer45459, on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011, 2:21 PM, said:

I have an ebony fret board on my guitar and bass. Over the years it has got a good amount of "gunk" build up on the board. Anyone have any tips or cleaning solutions they make to get rid of this without damaging the fret board?Thanks

Lemon oil they say, but I just use warm water with vinegar to clean, then very easy olive oil on a paper towel to dress.Topical tangent: Just got done dressing an ebony fretboard on my favorite instrument- a Geronmo Amzcua Classical made in 1987. There's virtually no English language information about the better guitar makers of Paracho, but they used all solid hardwoods (including some ridiculous solid figured wood for the back and sides), the best Schaller machines, etc... Execution is 100% handmade to the point of insanity (they use virtually no power tools whatsoever- it's all scrapers and knives for shaping and hand sanding to finish...)It's kinda weird. Shorter scale neck, FAT body. Has the best voice of any nylon I own, and I own some pretty good ones (Godin Multiac, La Patrie Concert and a couple higher end classicals). CNC delivers reliably repeatable specification, but handmade delivers something else... You know it the moment you hold it and play it. Here's a couple English language articles about them.http://goo.gl/Jt9p7http://www.csmonitor...07s02-woam.htmlhttp://articles.lati...gazine/tm-56934I'm definitely flying in next year and having an instrument or two made.

[Pot Odds RAC]

AmScray, on Thursday, August 4th, 2011, 12:54 PM, said:

Lemon oil they say, but I just use warm water with vinegar to clean, then very easy olive oil on a paper towel to dress.Topical tangent: Just got done dressing an ebony fretboard on my favorite instrument- a Geronimo Amezcua Classical made in 1987. There's virtually no English language information about the better guitar makers of Paracho, but they used all solid hardwoods (including some ridiculous solid figured wood for the back and sides), the best Schaller machines, etc... Execution is 100% handmade to the point of insanity (they use virtually no power tools whatsoever- it's all scrapers and knives for shaping and hand sanding to finish...)It's kinda weird. Shorter scale neck, FAT body. Has the best voice of any nylon I own, and I own some pretty good ones (Godin Multiac, La Patrie Concert and a couple higher end classicals). CNC delivers reliably repeatable specification, but handmade delivers something else... You know it the moment you hold it and play it. Here's a couple English language articles about them.http://goo.gl/Jt9p7http://www.csmonitor...07s02-woam.htmlhttp://articles.lati...gazine/tm-56934I'm definitely flying in next year and having an instrument or two made.

Very cool stuff. Thanks for sharing. Would love to make a trip.

[AmScray]

I'll look for my USB cord and try to get some pictures of it. I guess the luthiers there are going bust left and right due to the Asian imports and the public really not caring much about 'quality' in the entry level end of things. Kenny Hill wound up ditching his guitar making operation in Paracho and moved to China since the Mexican Luthiers were just so totally averse to adopting modern manufacturing techniques and insisted on hand crafting components that machines could make faster, cheaper and more uniform in appearance (although not necessarily 'better', arguably, worse). From what I gather, a lot of the independent operators in Paracho make their bread and butter via inexpensive guitars (still, totally handmade), then hoping to land a whale a few times a year who contracts for a concert grade instrument. Still, the economics of handmade products versus the garbage China makes is putting most of them out of business. I want to see "The Guitar Town" before it dies off (which it probably will in my lifetime) I stumbled into mine by total chance. Dumb ****ing luck. Scanning craigslist for classicals, saw the ad for it. Didn't even fully realize what it was, but had a hunch it was 'special'. The ad mentioned about how he bought it in Mexico 20+ years ago in person from Geronmo himself but was desperate for cash. He was selling it *VERY* cheap, but even noted in his ad that he paid Gernimo $800 for it in 1987. Did as much internet research as I could, but there just isn't a lot of info out there on it. I call the guy up, you could hear the resigned regret in his voice about having to sell it. Make an hour and a half drive up to see him, way on the Northside. By the time I arrived, I guess a number of other people had called in the meantime, desperate to buy it, but he honored his commitment to hold it for me. Arrived, it was just like a cheezy Hollywood storyline. Poor dude (older Hispanic man) was living in a SRO hotel, had all his stuff packed up and looked like he was about to be put out. The last thing he had to sell was the guitar. Gave it a look over, it was clearly worth his price. I actually felt like shit buying it, but that's how life goes sometimes. I did promise him that if I ever decide to sell it, I'd sell it back to him for what I paid. After getting it home and playing on it for a while, though, it's now probably the last guitar I'd ever sell. Here's a link to a parade at the guitar festival in Paracho with them carrying a banner of Geronimo (you can see it starting at 0:19)

[chrozzo]

windex. fixes everything...

[AmScray]

Found the cord, I'll post pics tomorrow...Restrung it with a set of D'Addario Pro Artes. Brilliant tone, but THREE FUCKING DAYS LATER and the goddamn things are still stretching, to the point of making playing impossible (not 'little stretching'. Like, it's immediately and drastically out of tune in 3 minutes). Jesus harold christ. Yes, I did the manual stretching. Apparently, per research, these things take forever to set in. Tuned all strings sharp for a full turn, will let them sit that way overnight.

[Mercury69]

Paracho appears to be about 300k WSW from Puerto Vallarta. That's probably a two day trip just to get there lol.Just as probably well worth the trip to see the place.

[AmScray]

Here's a pic of it in-situ an hour after I got it. THe Mexican I got it from had been using it with a pick, so you can see the pick wear in the expected spot. Next to a La Patrie Concert for comparison (both solid cedar tops)Fat body, hugely resonant toneSame Schaller machines on the Amezcua as the La PatrieFigured solid wood back and sides (don't know what kind of wood it is- almost kinda quilted maple'ish- but it's definitely solid wood and not veneer. The exact same fancy grain is on the interior, unfinished side)

[Pot Odds RAC]

Awesome guitar porn.

[AmScray]

Add to the above... I have a feeling handmade Chinese instruments like this...http://cgi.ebay.com/...=item336a2bc482... are going to be the gold standard in terms of cost/quality ratios, though. A friend of mine bought a 'concert grade' classical guitar from that guy for like $300 and it was REEEEEEEEEtarded good. The same instrument from a boutique maker in the US or Europe would've easily been $3000+. I'm probably going to order one of his Weissenborn's.

[AmScray]

Forgot to mention- the nut and saddle on the Amezcua are elephant ivory.

[GeneralGeeWhiz]

how i clean my guild and les paul is i take a very small amount of simple green and mix it with warm water. then i lightly get a fine sheet of silk (or something else, just not any material that's too abrasive or you will scratch the guitar), and clean the guitar very lightly and let it dry out. dont put too much on each time or you can have problems. has worked every time for me over the past 12 years.

[AmScray]

One thing that should be noted is that ebony is 'different' from other woods in terms of treating it. It's very dry and very dense- considerably less porous than say a rosewood. Dressing a board is something that should be done *maybe* once a year. Too much cleaning and oiling can do way more harm than good; there are some kooks who go through the entire scrub-down and dress process after every string change. They don't realize they're ****ing up their guitars. With ebony, there are certain characteristics in play, but not too drastically different than what's expected with a rosewood board. People tend to think of that oil 'soaking in' relative to the entire thickness of the board plank. Really, it only 'soaks in' to a very, very shallow depth. Keeping that thin surface nourished is usually all that's needed to prevent cracking- you don't have to go overboard. Light oil on a rag or paper towel, rub it on so the wood gets that dark 'wet' look then rub it all back off. If you're rubbing on oil to the point where you can hold up the board to the light and see streaks or puddles of oil on the fretboard, you're putting on WAY too muchLick your thumb so it's just lightly wet, then swipe it across the fretboard. That's about how much oil you should be using to dress the fretboard surface after cleaning.