cleaning the ovankol and brass fretts on my warwick

[myro255]

theres a slight residue on my fret board from years of use on my my Pro-M, im looking for a way to clean it without damaging the wood, as ovankol is extremely porous. also i want to find a way to get the tarnish off my bell brass frets and bridge without damage. sugestions?

[JazzyJames]

Dunlop deep fretboard cleaner.

[matthew.murray]

0000 steel wool. really, I promise it will be fine. The frets will look like gold. Just have a dry rag handy to wipe the tiny bits of steel off of the magnetic pickups. Finish with Lem Oil.

[bassteban]

If your bass is pre-98 it's most likely wenge- in fact I believe even after 98 the fretboard is still wenge; only the neck itself went to ovangkol after that. That said, I use an old toothbrush on the wood & fine synthetic steel wool(not actually metal so as not to sratch the brass). If you want to get all the way OCD you could mask the wood when you clean the frets so as to avoid scratching the fretboard.

[myro255]

Originally Posted by bassteban

If your bass is pre-98 it's most likely wenge- in fact I believe even after 98 the fretboard is still wenge; only the neck itself went to ovangkol after that. That said, I use an old toothbrush on the wood & fine synthetic steel wool(not actually metal so as not to sratch the brass). If you want to get all the way OCD you could mask the wood when you clean the frets so as to avoid scratching the fretboard.

i know for sure that the neck is Ovangkol and the fret board looks EXTREMELY similar to the neck so im not entirely sure. i dont know where ot do alot of the research on my bass :\

[The Dave]

Originally Posted by matthew.murray

0000 steel wool. really, I promise it will be fine. The frets will look like gold. Just have a dry rag handy to wipe the tiny bits of steel off of the magnetic pickups. Finish with Lem Oil.

Plus one on this. I've done it on my Taylor (I play guitar too) and everything comes out perfectly shiny and nice. Warwick frets are brass, aren't they? Shouldn't be any problems with the pickups, but if you're paranoid, you could cover them with low tack painter's tape.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by myro255

theres a slight residue on my fret board from years of use on my my Pro-M, im looking for a way to clean it without damaging the wood, as ovankol is extremely porous. also i want to find a way to get the tarnish off my bell brass frets and bridge without damage. sugestions?

I only use the Liberon brand of 0000 steel wool for fretboard cleaning. Much finer than domestic brands.

[ga_edwards]

I liberally use some lem-oil (the lemon scented alchohol stuff, not actual lemon oil) to soften up all the finger poo accumulated around the frets. Then use the edge of a credit card, or if you're feeling dangerous a sharp blade to scrape the gunk off from around the frets.

The next stage is to cover the fingerboard with low tack masking tape (even detacking it a little more on my jeans) and just leave the fret wire exposed. If you're planning on using wire wool, cover your pickups too, little bits of metal are a PITA to remove. I'll use wirewool if they are really bad and tarnished, if not, I'll skip this step and break out the duraglit (wadding type metal polish) and give them a good coating. I believe there's two kinds of wadding polish now, brass and silver, so use whatever's appropriate. Then buff to shine.

Remove all tape carefully and slowly. Pull it at an angle towards the middle. This will also help remove any dirt embedded in the wood grain. Lastly give it a good douse of proper lemon oil to feed. Job done.

[Mutato]

I prefer to use Flitz on my frets as opposed to steel wool. Flitz is non abrasive. Plus it saves the whole hassle of taping things off.

[WhiteKnuckles]

For frets, you can usually head to a graphics or office store and grab an eraser shield for a few cents....just use it to outline the fret and scrub away with your preferred abrasive.

It's not the absolute best method for cleaning, but it works for a quick shine.