Guitar Maintenance tips: String change, cleaning fretboard, pre-bending

[delpuckett]

My string winder is not as fast as yours. Should I replace the batteries?

[mpalin11]

@delpuckett :D

[delpuckett]

@mpalin11 - drop in and have a look around :-)

[reyn1r]

Great video! just cleaned one of my guitars fretboard following your instructions :)

[mpalin11]

@reyn1r Thank you! :) These are the type of comments for which I make these videos in the first place!

[midknightbluez]

The back of my neck gets kinda cruddy and drags sometimes. The fretboard itself is Ebony. But I'm looking for something I can use for the back of the neck, which is hard maple with a satin finish.

[DigitalDyk]

I don't mean to nitpick, but you are definitely not supposed to remove all of your strings at once, especially on a guitar that has a floating bridge. They are supposed to be removed and replaced one at a time to maintain the proper tension on your neck.

[midknightbluez]

@DigitalDyk

Yeah, unless you block the bridge removing all the strings at once is a no-no.

[MatKiller1197]

clean it once a year wow i clean it everytime i change string and i make this gunk in 5 hours cause i play 6 hours a day how long do you play a day 5 min?

[Diowizard15]

can you get fret board cleaner at any music store or what?

[mpalin11]

@Diowizard15

What kinda question is that :D I do not know all the stores in the world ... But yes, I did get it from MY local store. Go to your store and find out :D

[Diowizard15]

@mpalin11 thanks anyways

[Diowizard15]

when you say clean the guitar do you use polish or just a cloth?

[damon323]

Good video, thanks!!

[valdivia562]

do you have to bend the thinner ones? cause ive done it before and snapped 2 strings

[mpalin11]

@valdivia562

Wow, that sounds odd! I do bend all the strings (like I show in the video) and I actually bend 'em pretty hard! It sounds odd to me that the strings should snap like that. My experience with Ernie Ball strings, at least, is that they don't snap unless they are very worn. I can kill them pretty hard and they haven't snapped in me...

[valdivia562]

@mpalin11 i wish that was the case for me, every since that i dont stretch the high e anymore

[Jasaxos]

It won't damage the inlays right?

[mpalin11]

@Jasaxos

Hasn't damaged mine. Been doing this for quite a long time, now.

[stiehlreddog]

nice video.Is this a floyd Rose?Just curious,because I know if you take all the strings off at once.It sucks trying to get it back to the same hieght the strings were originally at.Don`t you normally wedge something under the bridge 1st?

[mpalin11]

@stiehlreddog

No, I do it the "hard" way. I've done it so many times that I know how to do it pretty quickly. Surely, positioning the bridge is the trickiest part (and the most time consuming) but if I keep the same string gauge and the same tuning, it isn't an impossible task.

[Gooshgooshasdqwe123]

Best maintence video on youtube hands down.

[mpalin11]

@Gooshgooshasdqwe123

Really? Wow, that's really nice to hear, thank you! I did aim for something like that, indeed, because I hadn't seen any good ones ...

[Gooshgooshasdqwe123]

@mpalin11 Yes i mean it. My guitar hasnt been cleaner. :)

[MsSkip60]

i think you should use jim dunlop care kit productions 'cause toothbrush may harm your guitar and jim dunlop fretboard productions have special header to spread solution

[EnforcedFXS]

Thank you vr very very much for this interesting learnful video, my guitar feels better than ever, thankyou! :D

[MeryllPearl]

thanks! =)

[devaggos]

awesome vid man, thanks a lot ;)

[GuitarRazze]

Mikä kamera sul on?

Niin hieno kuvanlaatu :D

[nahro316]

@GuitarRazze

haha huomaa heti ku suomalaine puhuu enkkuu ;D

[GuitarRazze]

@nahro316 niin huomaa :P

[jsantis91]

@parkour2009bmx haha yeah thanks...I actually tried it a while back...looks brand new :P...

[meatballllll]

Does anyone know the difference between using lemon oil and a fretboard conditioner?

[jsantis91]

what else can i use if i dont have the fretboard juice/conditioner product ? any alternatives i could have laying around the house ?

[mpalin11]

@jsantis91 I don't know, sorry,..

[bchamorro]

@mpalin11

naptha (lighter fluid) for cleaning, 0000 steel wool for cleaning

for conditioning I don't know.

[Tanmanshredstar666]

@jsantis91 lemon oil.

[LowLanding]

@jsantis91 Never put any other type of material on your guitar fretboard other than a fretboard conditioner. And you should NEVER apply the conditioner directly to the fretboard, always on a microfiber cloth.

[chibihuntersareus]

Thanks for the video!

[guitartit1]

thanx for this video man its really useful, but i have to be honest i wasn't looking for a video for cleaning my guitar but now im glad i did haha, keep rocking man ;D

[z3us18]

hi..

can i use the big bends fret board on mapel ...in a cort hbs2??¿?¿

tnx

[mpalin11]

@z3us18 I don't see any reason why not.

[hyperliteBo]

I also used a toothbrush and I made scratches on the fretboard of my Gibson Les Paul :s...

[mpalin11]

@hyperliteBo Oho, sounds odd! I was especially recommended to use a toothbrush ... I guess a pretty light toothbrush would be best.

[petroskidrock]

thanks dude

[TheDime4life]

string gauge do u use?

[mpalin11]

@TheDime4life

(Why is everyone posting comments, for which an answer can be SEEN in the video?) You can see it in this video, I use Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings, 10-56's. And by the way, "string gauge do u use?" isn't really good English...

[mpalin11]

@TheDime4life

(Why is everyone posting comments, for which an answer can be SEEN in the video?) You can see it in this video, I use Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings, 10-46's. And by the way, "string gauge do u use?" isn't really good English...

[Gibsongoblin]

to prevent this dirt i usually just wipe down the neck after i finnish playing helps alot

[BoothyBoy93]

Thanks for the tips. Love the smile at the end =]

[cstottsb]

is it true if you take all the strings off at the same time, the neck can warp, due to it not have the same effect as the strings pulling on it..?

[mpalin11]

@cstottsb I believe yes, it is a possibility. However, I have done this several times and I haven't experienced any problems. I would still avoid longer periods of "stringless" time. Here, too, I didn't have it without strings for more than 10 minutes or so.

[mogul04]

well done my friend, that really was how to take good care of your baby

[ProBuNdi]

Hi dude ! Do you still have your LTD M-1000 ? great guitar I'm considering to buy one :D (with his FR 1000 series on thomann brand new). Is that your ESP eclipse is a way much better than your LTD M-1000 deluxe ?

About your tips ! the bend of the new strings is only to strech the strings mechanics on the head in order to that rotations are tight. It's useless to strech all the string as you're doing ! it could even deforming the string and the vibration of the string :) Great guitar thanks :D

[mpalin11]

@ProBuNdi Of course I have my M-1000, I just posted a video with it :D Compared to the Eclipse, these are two quite different guitars: the M-1000 is really meant for soloing, it's great for shred-sweep-tap-solos, yaknowhatimsayin' ... and the Eclipse is perfect for rhythms and chords (and of course the Eclipse is an ESP Standard Series so it's really well made and sounds absolutely beutiful). Thanks for the comment!

[timster5]

once a year :O i clean mine every time i change my strings thats normally every 2 weeks on all me guitars and ur ruining ur neck u have to go with the grain of the wood in other words go up and down not side to side u scratch the wood if u do it with a tooth brush befor hand use a fine steel wool and then use a couple drops just to moisten the wood not soak it and rub it down with a gentle cloth nice guitar tho

[mpalin11]

@timster5 Okay, thanks for the advice! Again: I did exactly how I was told at the music store, so .... Hmm and one tip back at you: I recommend using punctuation, it will make your text more understandable (I do not mean to offend ...)

[skadooshcovers]

hey man i have an LTD mh-103 my strings are rubbing on the frets and buzzing when i play this is my first ESP how can i lift my sting off the neck a litttle bit?

[mpalin11]

@skadooshcovers The LTD MH-103 has a Floyd Rose-type bridge, am I right? You should adjust the action by turning the small knobs on the sides of the bridge. I recommend doing this without the strings on (because if the strings are on, they are creating a force -> friction to the knob which you don't want). I suggest searching some videos about this matter...

[BT71guitar]

You should use some #0000 steel wool to polish the frets and fretboard before applying the conditioner. You also used too much of it. A few drops on the cloth is all it takes. You don't want the fretboard soaked in that shit. You should only go up and down the neck with your cleaning motion. Never side to side. I don't think the toothbrush is a good idea. Lemon oil is the best. A can of compressed air is useful. Just some advice from someone who's been setting up guitars for the last 10 years.

[mpalin11]

@BT71guitar Oho, well this is a surprise, because here I'm following the tips they gave me at the guitar store. Thank you for this!

[MrYourKilled]

cool deal, thanks for the tips on pre-bending

[ryansiew1]

hello, what if i cant get any fret board juice, could i use lemon oil?

[mpalin11]

@ryansiew1 One word: Google.

[ProBuNdi]

@ryansiew1 lemon oil is great too ( dunlop)