do you file down your fretboard?

[mac336]

one of my friends took a nail file and very lightly sanded down in between his frets on his MIM and MIA strats (he rubbed like once of twice he said) he avoided the dots and frets. Both the fretboards are pretty smooth feelings now and feels faster in a way. I definitely prefer how his fretboards feel, but I have the guts to do it to my strat

Is this common practice or is it bad for the fretboard?

any downsides?

[Doctor Morbius]

It's absolutely not common practice. Do it at your own risk.

[Metalrulez]

There is no limit to the destructive imagination of a teenager.

[tamader74]

^^^ No kidding Metalrulez,...To the OP,...I having years AND a ton of experience can say, by reading your post 3 times to make sure I understood fully what you were stating...can tell you, DO NOT leave your Strat. at your friends house alone...The only thing that I touch my fretboard with is 0000 steelwool LIGHTLY to clean frets when they are FILTHY (slowly and taking a clean cotton cloth to wipe off the excess about every 5 frets or so, and never against/ or touching the 'board itself, painters tape to cover p-ups)...and cleaner afterwards for Maple 'boards, and some HIGH quality oil (usually Duck oil) every other string change or so on R/W or ebony. If you have came across 'Fret sprout' issues, or uneven frets, etc., and you've NO EXPERIENCE on these matters...I don't care if the guitar was made in Timbucktoo, take it to a luthier OR someone that has knowledge and the tools...a nail file is for..'OH, Crap' nails, a fret file is for....you guessed it. Tom...Everybody's a set-up man...LOL

Me , Your buddy

[mac336]

Originally Posted by Metalrulez

There is no limit to the destructive imagination of a teenager.

lol

my post probably sounds exaggerated. he said he used a nail file scrapped backwards and forwards on the fretboard very lightly with only one swipe.

so i guess its not really "filed down," but more like smoothened out....i guess

[mac336]

Originally Posted by tamader74

^^^ No kidding Metalrulez,...To the OP,...I having years AND a ton of experience can say, by reading your post 3 times to make sure I understood fully what you were stating...can tell you, DO NOT leave your Strat. at your friends house alone...The only thing that I touch my fretboard with is 0000 steelwool LIGHTLY to clean frets when they are FILTHY (slowly and taking a clean cotton cloth to wipe off the excess about every 5 frets or so, and never against/ or touching the 'board itself)...and cleaner after ward for Maple 'boards, and some HIGH quality oil (usually Duck oil) every other string change or so on R/W or ebony. If you have came across 'Fret sprout' issues, or uneven frets, etc., and you've NO EXPERIENCE on these matters...I don't care if the guitar was made in Timbucktoo, take it to a luthier OR someone that has knowledge and the tools...a nail file is for..'OH, Crap' nails, a fret file is for....you guessed it. Tom...Everybody's a set-up man...LOL

so its not a good idea to clean the fretboard with water?

is it ok to use that finger-ease stuff on the fretboard/neck?

[Doctor Morbius]

Originally Posted by mac336

so its not a good idea to clean the fretboard with water?

[tamader74]

To me...Finger-ease is water waiting to happen (LOL), I use Fast Fret quite regularly on my strings and wipe off the excess and, Yes, I do use the product on the back of my neck. There is NO damaging materials/compounds in Fast Fret....Fast Fret and Finger-ease are two different products...I'm still worrying about the OP and the poor Strat.'s 'board,....I don't know how serious you were about the 'water' thing,...But, there is a process used primarily on old Maple 'boards, that requires soaking the neck to rid it of grime, sweat, and then the Instrument being put away that way unattended/unplayed for years....A close friend inherited a '68 Tele. from an Great Uncle and it just had to be taken to a Luthier, He called me about it, sent some pic.'s and I had to tell him it was Beyond me...Long story short, He found a shop in Ohio that took care of the guitar and brought it back without any intrusive problems,...But, described what they did to the neck and soaking it was part of the process. Tom

[Wag]

Use that file on your nails, not your guitar. Your neck will appreciate it.

[Blix]

Yes I do.

[shooto]

I've sanded my Tele CV 50s neck to get rid of the sticky, glossy layer it comes with over it....no problem-

easy to do and the effect is a nice, fast neck-

usually 0000 steel wool is recommended, I used VERY fine sandpaper and just did it lightly enough to take the gloss out, down to a satin look-

did not damage anything...neck or fretboard...in fact, the result was just the opposite like I stated, no more stickiness and the neck is fast-

I did tape off the frets and polished them back up though as well

[fossilfuel]

This could be error...

[birillo]

Yes I do.

maybe you need to use a finer grain next time

I don't file freboards, but i do sand them with 0000 steel wool, it's one of the first things i do if i buy a used guitar.

After that, i'll do it rarely, i try to keep my babies clean as i can

Cheers

[mac336]

Originally Posted by shooto

I've sanded my Tele CV 50s neck to get rid of the sticky, glossy layer it comes with over it....no problem-

easy to do and the effect is a nice, fast neck-

usually 0000 steel wool is recommended, I used VERY fine sandpaper and just did it lightly enough to take the gloss out, down to a satin look-

did not damage anything...neck or fretboard...in fact, the result was just the opposite like I stated, no more stickiness and the neck is fast-

I did tape off the frets and polished them back up though as well

that is pretty much what he did. he just used the nail file to do it instead


as far as cleaning the fretboard with water goes, i typically use a damp cloth to wipe the dirt off the fretboard. I dont see how that can hurt it

[shooto]

Originally Posted by mac336

that is pretty much what he did. he just used the nail file to do it instead


as far as cleaning the fretboard with water goes, i typically use a damp cloth to wipe the dirt off the fretboard. I dont see how that can hurt it

^ yeah...but there are ways to do things...I wouldn't use a nail file....did it turn out all right?