Electric Guitar Cleaning

The correct way to clean an electric guitar? 10 pts *experienced guitarists suggested**?

Hey, so I am new at the guitar cleaning thing and have heard of many different methods for this, but i don’t know what one to use. What is the best thing to use and why? I heard i need to use guitar polish, while others are saying just to use a cloth. What is the purpose of guitar polish?
**I would like to know cleaning methods from the fret board down**
Thank You for your help

Guitar polish is wonderful, but you certainly don’t need to use it frequently. A microfiber cloth (the kind you can get at any dollar store) is just fine for removing dirt, lint, dog hair or fingerprints on a regular basis.

There are special oils and cleaners for rosewood fretboards, as well, that are designed to keep the wood moisturized. Honestly, I’ve never found the need, but I’m partial to maple fretboards. I do have a 30-year-old bass, though, that has a maple fretboard and I’ve never had to do anything but give it a good rub with a cloth when I change the strings to remove the grime from the frets.

Guitar polish restores the super-glossy sheen your guitar had when it was brand new. Most brands don’t leave any waxy residue, so they can be used as often as you like. I’ve been using Gibson guitar polish for probably 25 years on all of my fretted instruments and it’s fantastic (and a bottle lasts years, since you only need a little). Basically, I’ll spray a lint-free cloth (I use microfiber ones) with a little bit of polish and give my entire guitar a good rub down. If I get any on the chrome parts, I just wipe those clean with another cloth. Once you’ve got your guitar polished, daily or weekly wipe-downs with a clean microfiber cloth will be all you need to keep your guitar clean.

There’s an insane number of guitar cleaning and maintenance products on the market, but most of them appeal strictly to those obsessive guitar people who won’t let you look at, much let touch, their guitars. If you’re running a guitar museum, maybe you’ll find them all essential. But I’ve worked with loads of guitarists over the years and many of them never owned so much as a bottle of guitar polish. They’d just use a slightly damp cloth to clean their guitars. But I definitely see the advantage to occasionally (every few months, in my case) getting out the guitar polish — usually when I’m doing a string change. My guitars look showroom new when I’m finished.

Here’s a link to the polish I use, in case you want to read reviews:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/gibson-pump-polish-for-guitars-banjos-mandolins/420150000000000

Cleaning Your Electric Guitar

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