Guitar cleaning tips

Hey guys,

Just ordered a clear blue G&L Legacy through a local dealer and couldn't be more excited (other than the remaining 5 weeks I have to wait until it gets here).

In preparation for it getting here, I'm trying to learn a little more about guitar maintenance so that I can get the most out of my new investment. I currently have a mexican Strat and haven't exactly been very good about cleaning it and maintaining over the last couple years. I know about the importance of keeping it up, but I've always been hamstrung by the problem that the floating bridge on it keeps me from completely unstringing it and giving it a thorough cleaning. Since I can really only remove one string at a time to keep the bridge from "floating" too far for me to get the new strings up through the bridge, I can't polish the whole fretboard or even easily do maintenance on or replace the pickups.

Does anyone have advice on this? I know this is probably a common problem that people know how to deal with but I was having trouble finding any reasonably trustworthy advice on the interwebs.

Thanks in advance,

Joe

To clean a floating bridge, the easier way to do it is to block it with something, on my floyd I throw a battery under it, on a strat style trem, or G&Ls dual fulcrum people here use a toothbrush. Can also remove the back panel and get at the bridge if it moves too far (no issue on a floyd albeit as it doesn't string through). The whole 'one string at a time' changing string thing is really silly, it doesn't make it much faster, you might have to tune 3x instead of 5. You can also block the bridge in the back cavity while working on it if you are concerned. Best thing to do is dig in and get to it, get familiar with the ins and outs of the guitar instead of being worried about the small things.

Just clean/oil your fretboard 2-3 x a year, my necks need the same (as they are oil finished). A soft cloth of the neck, strings, body to remove grime before it happens after playing. I like Dunlop guitar polish on the poly finishes, helps get the gunk off, use it every couple play sessions usually.

Thanks! I think I'm going to get down and dirty with my strat this weekend...maybe even throw some new pups in there if I can find some I like over the weekend.

Anything to pass the time until my clear blue legacy standard gets here woooooweeee

Best thing you can do to keep a guitar clean is just to dampen a rag with warm water, and wipe it on and then buff it dry. On the poly finishes I use a bit of Carnauba wax, but you can use Turtle Wax if you like. (That's what Taylor recommends for their UV cured finishes.)

I like the Dunlop 65 Carnauba and their spritz. I'll use Virtuoso Cleaner and Polish on my NCL finished Gibsons. The Virtuoso did wonders on my VOS Les Pauls, leaving a glossy finish with a beautiful patina, and also removed all of the stickiness from the necks.

I'll use Gerlitz Guitar Honey for rosewood fingerboards as needed, or the Dunlop 65 Fingerboard Cleaner and Fingerboard Conditioner.

Clean is good!

Bill