PRS Cleaner, polish and fretboard conditioner

[Raymond]

Has anyone tried any of these and are they any good?

 

[andy474x]

The cleaner is the only one I've tried... it's awesome though! A bottle lasts forever and gets your axe squeaky clean, be sure to use a microfiber cloth and not on nitro!

 

[Raymond]

The cleaner is the only one I've tried... it's awesome though! A bottle lasts forever and gets your axe squeaky clean, be sure to use a microfiber cloth and not on nitro!

I have a V12 finish i think, is that okay ?

 

[László]

All are good products. The cleaner is fine and safe on nitro. It's the polish that isn't nitro safe. Both are fine with the V12.

The cleaner does a great job and leaves a nice gloss. You don't need to use a lot, nor do you need to use it often unless you leave behind a lot of goo (hey, some folks do).

 

[Gnal]

I have one guitar that I bought used and it appears that the seller added polishing compound and buffed the guitar...

Do you guys know of anything I can do to get my neck slick again permanently?

I have used the PRS cleaner and some older (washburn I think) polish. Every time I use the cleaner its smooth but after a day or so of use the neck feels sticky (not like gum sticky more like the thumb hits non-slick areas). I've got four other PRS that I play just as much/often and those always seem smooth.

 

[Bill SAS 513]

Looks like the polish is a winner with the answers above...and I concur!! I also use the FB conditioner about once a year when I change the strings on my RW fingerboards. I subscribe to the "change one string at a time" camp, except for the one time a year I take them all off and clean and condition the rosewood.

 

[beas]

I use the fretboard conditioner on rosewood boards about once/year and love it.

 

[Raymond]

I use the fretboard conditioner on rosewood boards about once/year and love it.

Do you apply anything to the fretboard afterwoods? I read somewhere that you apply furniture polish or something?

 

[CantankerousCarl]

+1 on the fretboard conditioner. Haven't used it in conjunction with any other things like furniture polish, first I have heard of it. Nor have I used it on anything like BRW, or on newer guitars.

It is part of my ritual when bringing a used guitar into the stable. Smells nice too lol...

 

[Sekunda]

I use the cleaner and the polish… they both do an excellent job and work better than anything else I have tried before. They are very slick afterwards...

 

[jbird]

Yep, cleaner and polish here! Good stuff!

 

[László]

Lemon oil like the PRS fretboard conditioner is for cleaning gunk off the board (and frets). It isn't something to somehow "add" oil to the surface, which is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Use it for cleaning, then wipe off the excess.

Lemon oil is usually naphtha. Great for cleaning, and in fact Naphtha is the primary chemical in dry cleaning your suit when you dribble pizza on it. PRS recommends you clean, then seal the wood surface (different than oiling it) with a furniture polish, which is a wax, not an oil.

Leaving oils on the surface of wood just softens up the wood (not desirable) and attracts more dirt (not desirable).

 

[jbird]

I like Gerlitz Guitar Honey to clean and condition my fretboards!

 

[László]

I like Gerlitz Guitar Honey to clean and condition my fretboards!

The only issue I have with this product is that while they won't reveal the formula, they say it's "mineral oil based." Generally, mineral oils soften wood fibers if left on the wood to soak in, become more gooey, and attract more goo.

Folks put this stuff on, it looks all glistening and pretty, and think they've done themselves a good turn. But that may not be the case.

Sure, mineral oil makes wood look pretty, and it's great on cutting boards that are thick wood designed for a knife to dig into. But a guitar fingerboard isn't thick wood designed for knives, it's pretty thin wood and it should resist abrasion from strings scraping against it, fingernails, etc. That's why hard woods are chosen for the purpose in most cases - maple (usually finished), ebony (a heavy, naturally oily wood) and rosewood (again, oily and hard). But the natural oils in ebony and rosewood don't break down the wood fibers.

From what I've read over the years, mineral oils do.

So if you soften the fingerboard's wood fibers to make it look pretty, are you doing the guitar and its tone any favor?

I don't know for sure, so I stay away from stuff like this that isn't manufacturer-tested and recommended. Maybe it's fine, maybe it's not, but it's mostly a "feel good" thing and not something that really enhances the guitar.

YMMV.

 

[BlueSky]

How about the Gibson guitar care kit?
http://store.gibson.com/guitar-care-kit/

 

[Raymond]

Lemon oil like the PRS fretboard conditioner is for cleaning gunk off the board (and frets). It isn't something to somehow "add" oil to the surface, which is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Use it for cleaning, then wipe off the excess.

Lemon oil is usually naphtha. Great for cleaning, and in fact Naphtha is the primary chemical in dry cleaning your suit when you dribble pizza on it. PRS recommends you clean, then seal the wood surface (different than oiling it) with a furniture polish, which is a wax, not an oil.

Leaving oils on the surface of wood just softens up the wood (not desirable) and attracts more dirt (not desirable).

Furniture polish, I guess like Bees wax?

 

[László]

Furniture polish, I guess like Bees wax?

Believe it or not, I have heard that the factory uses Behold on the ebony fingerboards after cleaning. At one point, PRS recommended Pledge for sealing the rosewood necks after cleaning with lemon oil, so this seems pretty consistent.

I don't think it has to be a "natural" product like beeswax that can leave a pretty heavy coating, something that kind of defeats the purpose.

PRS also says somewhere on the site that the oils from our fingers usually do enough. I'm a firm believer in "Do No Harm," so I use all this cleaning stuff very sparingly.

 

[Raymond]

I am getting my guitar a full set up and strings changed shortly by a guitar tech, so i am inclined to get it to tip top condition right away. If PRS says "oils from fingers" is fine then i'll leave it at that. As long as its not grease from fries after lunch kind of oils lol

 

[beas]

Straight from the PRS site:

For the cleaning and conditioning of a rosewood fretboard or a solid rosewood neck, we recommend the use of PRS Fretboard Conditioner. This will also clean tarnished frets as well as dirt built up on your fretboard if used with a toothbrush. After the conditioner is applied, thoroughly wipe down all of the surfaces with a soft, clean, dry cloth and seal it with a quality furniture polish. The natural oils in your hands, over time, should seal and treat the rosewood as well. Do not oil the headstock of your rosewood neck, as it may cause the headstock logo to lift.

So, the oils from our hands can serve to treat and seal the rosewood. The conditioner is designed to clean and condition the wood.

 

[Raymond]

Lemon oil like the PRS fretboard conditioner is for cleaning gunk off the board (and frets). It isn't something to somehow "add" oil to the surface, which is a bad idea for a number of reasons. Use it for cleaning, then wipe off the excess.

Lemon oil is usually naphtha. Great for cleaning, and in fact Naphtha is the primary chemical in dry cleaning your suit when you dribble pizza on it. PRS recommends you clean, then seal the wood surface (different than oiling it) with a furniture polish, which is a wax, not an oil.

Leaving oils on the surface of wood just softens up the wood (not desirable) and attracts more dirt (not desirable).

Just done this tonight, put the oil onto the fabric then wipe the fretboard, amazing how much stuff it comes out. Now it is looking awesome !