WD40: Pros and Cons?

[bassicinstinct]

I'd be a bit dubious putting anything on Elxirs. I use them and think they are a great string and find they last loads longer than anything else I've tried but I'd be worried about putting any chemicals on them in case it damaged the "Polyweb" (or whatever it's called) coating. I think they're too expensive to experiment with. If you're thinking about trying them, run a set first and see if you even need to spray anything on them at all. My humble opinion is that you won't need to.

Good point well made - I'll have to save up. LOL

Meanwhile, anyone had any experience of this:

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Apparently, the g*****ist I mentioned at the head of this thread has now stopped using WD40 directly onto the fingerboard as it caused so much damage, He is now using the WD40 sprayed onto a FastFret stick and then wiped onto the strings after each song. Thoughts?

 

[eldave777]

WD-40 is an excellent cleaner, way moreso than a lubricant. The WD part stands for water displacement and the 40 is fourtieth attempt. I would absoulutely not use WD-40 on my neck. You should use lemon or orange oil if you have a rosewood fretboard and a regular guitar polish if you have a maple fretboard provided it has a finish on it. Wipe your strings off with a polish cloth and I suppose you could use fast fret to clean them.

 

[bassicinstinct]

WD-40 is an excellent cleaner, way moreso than a lubricant. The WD part stands for water displacement and the 40 is fourtieth attempt. I would absoulutely not use WD-40 on my neck. You should use lemon or orange oil if you have a rosewood fretboard and a regular guitar polish if you have a maple fretboard provided it has a finish on it. Wipe your strings off with a polish cloth and I suppose you could use fast fret to clean them.

Appreciate your comments and as I've said, I already do use FastFret.

What I'm really looking for is a solution I can use "on the fly" between songs during gigs and rehearsals to combat the rapid build up on my strings due to the factors I mentioned in my original post.

On the "neck" topic, I am a Warwick man through and through.

 

[travatron4000]

Hmm... you sure have an interesting delima. I've used that fingerase stuff before. I didn't like it. Resulted in too much gunk building up on the fingerboard. It did lube the strings ok though. Sounds like your best bet is to find a way to keep your hands dry as opposed to trying to lube things. If you're sweating, wristbands might help. It's hard to be sure just what will work for your body chemistry. everyone's skin is different.

my guitarist's strings/pups/bridge get coated in gunk from his skin. it's just they way his skin is.

 

[Ostinato]

Here's how you apply WD-40 without damaging the neck:

1. Get a small plastic bag and cut the sides with scissors, pull the sides apart to increase coverage.

2. Slide the plastic under the strings between the strings and the fingerboard.

3. Try to apply a thin even coat of WD-40 all along the complete length of the strings, moving the bag when necessary.

4. Wait 15-20 minutes. Remove the plastic.

5. I use a Fender style cotton polish cloth and clean each string by using a thorough twisting motion, following the string wind, and slowly going up each string all the way.

6. Viola' you now have well lubricated, new sounding strings.



I've been doing this for years at home (never on a gig though, would get funny looks from bandmates), and it's especially great for steel strings.

 

[bassicinstinct]

All noted but it is IN A GIG SITUATION that I am trying to solve the problem, rather than as a string maintenance issue.

travatron4000:

You may well have a point there. Perhaps that is the approach I need to take rather than the lubrication route for my strings.

 

[lemur821]

I am a certificated aircraft mechanic, and have been told that WD40 penetrates so well that your skin is permeable to some of the chemicals.

It does say on the can that you should wash your hands in case of contact, so it's probably not the best idea to slather it on your strings in excess.

 

[bassicinstinct]

Good point.

 

[billio]

All noted but it is IN A GIG SITUATION that I am trying to solve the problem, rather than as a string maintenance issue.

travatron4000:

You may well have a point there. Perhaps that is the approach I need to take rather than the lubrication route for my strings.

Try the elixirs. I think they're about $45 for a 5 string set from musiciansfriend.com

 

[bassicinstinct]

I lube the strings often during gigs, every song sometimes. I don't even wipe of the excess. It's very embarrassing when someone wants to shake hands.

With what???