(energetic rock guitar music)
- Hey everybody, Mike here with Fender.
Say, when's the last time you looked at your guitar
and thought, eh, could use a cleaning?
Do you know how to do it?
Maybe you do.
Then again, maybe you don't.
Well friends, you've come to the right place.
Today we're gonna show you how to get the job done,
and go over a few basic maintenance tips while we're at it.
Now the more you play,
the more likely it is
that you're going to start to notice buildup,
either on the frets or on the body,
just from the natural oils in your hands.
That could manifest as a grease,
or finger cheese is a technical term we use in the biz,
or fingerprints on the body.
Now when you have the strings off,
it's a good idea to just wipe all that away,
take care of it one go.
And while you're there,
maybe look out for some loose screws
or parts of the guitar
that might need to be tightened or maintained.
To keep your guitar in tip-top shape,
you're gonna need a couple things,
including polish cloth,
as well as your preferred
guitar cleaning products and polishes,
and it's also a good idea to have some tools on hand
in case you need to tighten a screw
or check your intonation.
Let's get started.
First things first, let's remove those strings.
Now that I've got the strings off,
it's time to take an inventory
of what's going on with this guitar.
I can see a few problems right from the onset.
I'm seeing that my high E saddle
is tilted from side to side.
One of the adjustment screws is out of whack.
Oh,
seeing a little bit of movement
on my five-way selector switch.
It looks like one of those screws is a little loose.
All of those things
I'll be able to take care of in short order,
so let's get to it.
Okay, I've got my tools here,
and first things first,
gonna get an Allen wrench out
and adjust that saddle.
This is something that I will check again later
when I've got the strings on,
but for now it's enough
to just kind of get it flush with the bridge plate.
As a note, your guitar should have come
with some of these Allen wrenches of its own,
so look for those in your case.
Second thing I'm gonna do here
is I'm gonna address that loose screw
in the five-way selector switch and just get that tight.
Don't wanna over-tighten it.
When it stops, then you should, too.
All right, let's have a look at the headstock here.
Now one thing I like to do
is just wiggle these tuning posts
just to make sure that, oh, yeah,
that bushing's loose.
That's exactly what I was looking for.
That happens sometimes,
but it's an easy thing to fix.
I'm gonna use this pair of pliers to just gently tighten,
well, do it with my thumb first,
and gently tighten that down.
Doesn't need to be gripping the headstock,
just needs to be tight.
And that's much better,
that'll keep that tuning post in position.
Looks like we're ready to clean this body.
For this demonstration, I'm going to be using
some of the Fender Quick Clean product here,
but any of your old favorites should do.
It should be noted that not all cleaners are safe
for nitrocellulose finishes,
so if you do have a guitar finished in nitro lacquer,
make sure that the product you use
is a suitable for the finish.
Let's give that guitar a little bit of a spritz.
(cap clicks)
(spray spritzing)
Should be plenty.
And what I'm gonna do is, with a circular motion,
just start wiping away
the grime, and make sure we get all those fingerprints.
Now I'm gonna switch to a dry side with my cloth
and polish away
the residue,
making sure to get in between all of the knobs and
in the bridge.
All right, let's move on to the neck.
I'm gonna start up here at the nut.
And while I'm looking here,
I'm seeing some grease and grime,
so I'm gonna use the same polish cloth as before,
although I am not going to spray any cleaner
on the maple here.
Just a little bit of vigorous polishing should
(cloth scratching)
do, yeah, should do the trick.
(cloth scratching)
It's a little persistent
gross stuff here, but I think we've got it, yeah.
And while I'm up here,
may as well take care of the headstock, too.
It's hard to get in between the strings
when they're on there,
so may as well.
Yeah, that's looking nice.
Now while I'm here,
I'm going to get the back of the neck,
just flip that over.
And then again, I'm not gonna spray it,
but I am gonna use that same cloth
just to clean away any dirt
that's left over from play.
But that seems pretty good.
Get that neck plate while I'm there.
But yeah, I'm not seeing too much
that needs to be addressed here.
So just a quick clean should do the trick.
Well, that about wraps it up.
The guitar is clean as a whistle and ready for strings.
I did wanna mention that it's a good idea
to wash your hands both before and after the procedure,
just to make sure that you're not gonna get
more fingerprints or what have you on the body.
Well, that about wraps it up for us.
Go to fender.com if you need more information
on cleaning your guitar, maintenance, what have you,
and stay tuned for more videos.
Thanks a lot.