Advice for cleaning neck?

[fingerstile]

My SCGC dread just celebrated its 15th birthday. Like most teenagers, it’s a little greasy and grimy. The back of the neck in particular is starting to get a little gummy, and the fretboard is starting to show a little buildup around the frets.

I don’t use anything other than a wet cloth to wipe the guitar down, but that doesn’t help the areas mentioned above. Anyone know of a product that will spruce up the neck a bit?

[Godfather]

Virtuoso makes a great cleaner and a polish that should clean the neck grunge and polish it right up. I have used these on satin finished necks, but very gently as to not polish the finish to a gloss.
As for the fret/finger board, I use 0000 steel wool... (ONLY with the grain) It will polish up the frets as well as clean the skin oils and dirt from the wood. I follow that up with a very light coat of F-ONE oil.

YMMV

[ascotia]

I use a slightly-moistened, non-metal abrasive pad from the paint section at the hardware store to clean my fretboard. The water should be so sparse that it won't drip when light pressure is applied. This material can pick up the residue better than a fine grit sandpaper without much fear of removing any wood, and it's far less risky than something like a razor blade (which I've seen used before). It will also leave a nice polish on the frets.

While working up and down the fretboard, use only enough pressure to remove the grime and pay close attention to the areas adjacent to the frets without going against the grain. Towel off any remnants, and then apply your choice of fretboard oil to a rag and dab it onto each individual fret rather than directly from the bottle to the fretboard (I'm partial to "Music Nomad F-One Oil").

It's really easy to use too much of the stuff and the oil will repeatedly bleed out from the tiny gaps on either side of the frets if you overdo it. Dab it on, use a dry part of the the rag to get an even coating, let it sit for a few minutes and lastly, brush off any excess.

After that, you will marvel at its beauty and it'll be ready for strings!

[gfa]

If a cleaner/polish doesn't take care of the back of the neck try some very fine steel wool.

[Gee Man]

A fresh Scotch Brite green scrubby will do wonders for the back of the neck. As for fretboard and frets, I love this stuff, http://www.gorgomyte.com/

[Mattface]

I use a single edge razor blade at a 90º angle to the surface and scrape with the grain to clean up the fretboard. I first saw Jerry Rosa do this on some of his lutherie youtube videos. It removes residual oils and waxes and smoothes minor divots. I would not do this frequently, but once every 15 tears or so should be OK.

Polishing compound on the back of the neck will remove the gunk, and also help buff out minor scratches.

[ljguitar]

Hi all

Naptha (Ronsonol lighter fluid) is great for everything except french polished instruments.

I use it for cleaning all my guitars (any surface) including the fingerboards, and back of necks, tuners etc.

It evaporates without leaving residue.

The difference between me and my luthier is he buys it by the gallon and a single container of lighter fluid has lasted me a decade.