There is a big difference between rosewood (dark fretboards) and maple (light fretboards) when it comes to maintenance. In this lesson, James and Chris walk you through how to approach cleaning a maple fretboard properly.
Compared to how we clean rosewood necks, the main thing, and a crucial point to note, is that we don't want to use wire wool on maple fretboards. Instead, you should use just the scotch shop towel (as we looked at in the first video) and a pump polish.
Pump polish is a non harmful polish that is made specifically for guitars. There are a lot of brands out there that you can choose from as well as the Gibson pump polish. The important thing here is that you do not use household cleaners and polishes as they may contain silicon which could damage the finish.
IMPORTANT!
If you have a maple board that has a cracked finish (common on more vintage instruments), we would recommend not using any sort of pump polish. If the polish gets into the crack, it can stain the wood. Instead of using the polish, simply use the towel to wipe over the board. Cracks will be fairly obvious, and if you are unsure, simply take it to a professional guitar tech.
The process of cleaning is then very similar to the rosewood board, so here is the checklist to follow as you clean:
Ready to move on? Remember to check out every lesson in this unit first – then try the next unit...
With the fretboard clean up done and the frets looking good, it's time to make them look and feel great! This process is identical to the rosewood neck, except these frets are in better condition, so we approach it a little differently.