Official Luthiers Forum!

Cleaning, Conditioning and Restringing

Section III

We’ve learned to adjust a truss rod properly with some metrics to shoot for. We’ve also checked out the instrument and made a mental plan of what needs to be addressed and we learned to cut the nut slots and the benefit of cutting the nut slots low.

We’ve also learned that this approach, my approach is sequential with certain steps in a certain order that all efficiently lead us to a desired end - a great set-up guitar, mando, bass or banjo.

Now it’s time to detune, cut the strings off and clean the instrument. For new construction you will have less to do.

When I clean a guitar which I include a basic cleaning and polish in our set-ups it’s really an opportunity for me to get eyes and hands on every inch of the instrument and find other issues if they exist. I check the pick-up if there is one even though servicing the pick-up is not requested I want to have awareness of the state of the instrument in our shop. If I find something simple I fix it and throw it in.

When I handle the instrument I will run my hands up and down the neck once or twice to feel for sharp fret ends. If I find them I fix them.

Our set-ups are a bit different. Early on we suffered from being located where a music store once was and since we don’t and won’t sell a thing we were constantly interrupted by people either thinking that we were a music store or wanting music store like… services such as a truss rod adjustment, only.

Be advised that what people ask for should never be assumed to be what they actually need. They don’t know just like when I go to the Doc I am not aware of the possibilities either, usually. For many people a “truss rod adjustment” is the remedy for everything from action problems to why it does not play in tune. This is why we exist to sort things out. Customers are very aware when they have a problem they are often not aware of the fix and we never assume that they are.

For us to put down the leveling beam and wait on someone only to send them away was not only distracting to us it made us lose money in opportunity costs because we were taken away from being able to accomplish billable hours.

So we decided to have a minimum service level and that is our set-ups which we do over 600 annually and people beat a path to our door for. We also decided that set-up should never compete with say a refret for when it gets done.

So I do and have done the set-ups and I do other work too I simply specialized in making set-ups a P&L center for our business. I prefer shorter jobs and then moving on to the next. Our set-ups are typically complete the next business day and with prior arrangement I will set-up an instrument by appointment and on the spot for someone. We have a number of Ohio clients, a few Florida folks, a Texas gigging musician and a builder from the Bahamas with RH issues every year who make appointments with us for while they wait, same day set-ups they like our work so much. Last week I did the annual servicing on the Custom Shop R8 given to a well known musician who has opened all over the world for the biggest names in the business. We see him every summer.

If you want new strings we won’t restring a guitar it’s below our minimum but we will restring your guitar if we have previously set it up because we know in advance that there won’t be scope creep from a plethora of unaddressed deficiencies and issues with the instrument.

Need a strap button installed, go to a music store but if you want a set-up too we will do both and throw in the strap button.

Yesterday a client who I had set-up his guitar last year needed a seasonal truss rod adjustment on a Blueridge now that the spring rains are in Michigan. No problem, did it on the spot for him and he’s a happy camper.

With this said our set-ups are the most comprehensive that I know of AND we will often throw in other services because someone met our minimum with a set-up.

You could say our set-up is a catch all for most things that are not structural in nature.

It’s worked great for all concerned and what has resulted is we are the trusted source for many of our customers who will bring us their instruments annually for set-ups (which they don’t need much if anything the second time), new strings and people seem to love getting back an instrument clean and shiny with conditioned fretboards and such.

Thought I would give you a view of my world and instill here that even though section III here is boring and about cleaning and prepping the instrument it is important to our customers and one of the reasons they return year after year. We also have a lot of busy professionals as clients and what is short for them is time so we fill a niche in keeping their instruments in top shape to enjoy.

I’m also aware that some reading this either do repair work or are considering same which I wholeheartedly encourage and want to be helpful with. So I’m giving you a view of one time tested, very successful model of someone who like many of you started with a StewMac or Blues Creek kit and the OLF and made the jump into professional Lutherie. I am an example of the possibilities and now I have the dream retirement gig that is also my beloved hobby. I could not be happier with this aspect of my life.

I also want to instill that if you start providing set-up services and I hope that you do that you learn what I learned and that is to take full responsibility for the instrument (and client) and become the trusted source for all of their Lutherie needs. This has to be earned but when it is earned everyone benefits.

Section IV will be where everything is pulled together and you do the final instrument set-up. This section is the boring one so please hang in there is value here and more to come.

Moving on…..

I detune and cut the strings off and pitch them. We don’t reuse strings unless it’s a bass guitar and the strings are still good.

When we set-up an instrument we want to use new strings AND the exact same strings that the client intends to use going forward.

Why? Because different brands of strings intonate in different places on the saddles and of course strings that have been detuned and tuned repeatedly are more prone to breaking.

When I detune I am sure to stop my turns of the tuner knobs with the knobs horizontal so they are easy to swipe clean in the next steps. Efficiencies my friends. Like wise if I pick up a tool to tighten something I use it everywhere it will be used on the instrument before putting it down. It just makes all of this go faster and easier.

If the instrument has locking tuners I stop the detuning with the holes in the tuner shafts in line with how I insert the new strings. Or, in other words these little things that save me time and effort really add up to time savings when you do 7 - 8 set-ups in a day. It also permits me the extra time if and when I need it on a problem job to make it right even if it takes longer.

Next I use Howards Feed-n-wax to clean and condition the board. If the board is really bad I will use a single edge razor blade not flexed but straight so I don’t create groves in the board and so I can butt right up to a fret with no gap and get the gunk in there. Two passes with the scraper and all the crud is removed.

Perhaps practice with the razor blade on a beater there is a chatter possibility that goes away with practice and holding it firmly and low.

If it is moderately bad I will take precautions and deploy the steel wool. I know some of you hate steel wool and there is some risk to it’s use, true. But we take precautions and have never had a steel wool contamination problem. I tape off electronics, shield the guitar top and use a vacuum before removing the tape.

For a clean or new fret board Howards is sufficient and will pop figure and make it look and feel great.

Howard’s does not seem to build-up over time either with repeated use. I’ve used it on my personal guitars for nearly 20 years with no build-up. It seems to penetrate the wood to the extent that it can and the excess is wiped off. If it can’t penetrate any further it won’t and can be wiped off.

For a maple board naphtha works great and be sure to let your paper towel completely dry before throwing it in the trash since naphtha is flammable. Naphtha will not harm finish.

So to review a board with a lot of finger jam and gunk it’s scraper, steel wool and Howards.

A moderately dirty board it’s Steel wool and Howards and a new or clean board it’s simply Howard’s unless it’s maple and then no Howard’s, scraper, steel wool, etc just naphtha.

Next I tighten the tuners meaning the posts and the knobs and the screws on the back if there are any. This goes very quickly, see video and I again try to not put the screw driver down until I have used it everywhere I intend to.

When you tighten the tuner shaft nuts topside only snug them up and don’t go for tight you can crack or delaminate finish on the headstock.

At some point I have felt and twisted both strap buttons and if they are loose I hit them with a number 2 screw driver if applicable.

If it has a bolt-on neck that number II screwdriver is also used before I put it down on the bolts to ensure the neck is both seated correctly and the bolts are snug.

Although the idea of using the tool everywhere one will use it on a guitar before putting it down may seem wrapped too tight for some who don’t mind any extra time there is one other justification. I work toward a clean bench meaning when I use a tool on a guitar because there is a scratch risk when I am done with the tool I put it away and do not leave it on my bench. If I use the tool everywhere once I put it away I do not have to get it out one more time and the guitar does not get damaged because I flipped it on my bench and did not see that screw driver….

https://youtu.be/5b_HMY283pg

https://youtu.be/Eg8tIhsxtk8

https://youtu.be/NricxxPPF9s

Next out comes the polish. I like Dunlap 65 and we can discuss silicon if you wish. I learned to have a zero tolerance for silicon in my polish on this forum.

In the real world though I learned that this is BS and not necessary and we have never had any silicon contamination in our shop from the use of polish.

I spray and clean the head stock face. We like Bounty paper towels and Dave actually used our microscope 15 years ago to test paper towels for scratches and found Bounty to be the most consistent, non scratching towel commonly available. See how detailed I am getting here and the lengths that we went to to find our own way with this stuff….

Next it’s flip the instrument to be face down and I spray and clean the back of the headstock and neck, then the back of the box. Next comes the sides and finally the front.

I service my saddles and that starts with pulling the saddle and noting what hoops I have to jump though to get it out. If it’s tight in the slot I sand the sides on my leveling beam with 220 cleaning them up and trial fitting until the saddle is snug in the slot but can be removed with fingers only. This is important especially if there is a under saddle transducer the saddle needs to be able to move up and down and not bind.

I inspect the string bearing surfaces of the saddle for groves and then use my well worn favorite file a OOO 1/2 round and then smooth out any groves.

Had a Guild 12 string yesterday with improper string spacing in the courses. Filed the saddle top flat again being mindful of the desired radius and the strings found their natural positions now that they were not in grooves in the wrong places. This is one of the benefits of servicing the saddle, proper string spacing and we don’t want any flat spots on our saddle string bearing surfaces.

With the saddle back in I restring the instrument with the new strings. We use power drills with tuner adapters and have always worked this way. It’s fast, efficient, you need a drill handy for pup installs anyway. I always feel like an Indy pit crew detuning with my drill.

I’ve included a picture of something I do not want to go into a lot of detail here and could be a separate tutorial but you would be surprised at how many people do not know how to restring a guitar….

So briefly a modern tuner post is tapered so the string winds when snugged up move upward to seize the string end coming out of the tuner post hole. NO KNOTS ARE NECESSARY and only serve to be a way to scratch your guitar and hurt yourself or whomever is restringing it. I don’t care if it’s 13’s and a heavy hitting bluegrass player the knots are not necessary your strings will not slip without tying it in knots with modern posts (last 40+ years). I’ll add that when you tie knots you encourage people to use metal tools to undo what you did and that increases the risk to the guitar of damage….

So again without the details of restringing such as how many winds and why, etc. we restring the instrument and tune to pitch.

This completes Section III and in Section IV we will set action, provide specs for same and why and then test it all out, play a tune, stretch the strings and call it a day in section IV the final section.

It all comes together in Section IV so stay tuned.

Thanks

Wanted to go more into detail about using Howards.

Be sure to shake it very well if it's a new bottle it tends to separate and get thick without regular use and shaking.

I apply a bead as per the video and then distribute it all over the board. For a darker board after distributing it you can take a break for 15 minutes or so and it will soak in and make things even darker. I tend to wipe it right off though because I'm really looking for cleaning and conditioning not just conditioning.

You can use it twice in a row I do that at times on a really pretty board that I want to pop the figure.

So it's wax on, wax off like the karate kid and you can see from my paper towels how much dirt it coming off.

Howards does not build up over time and it won't soak in and saturate the wood like oils will. Howards does have some oil in it but it is mostly a fine wax.

Again don't use on a maple board use naphtha instead to clean.

You can also use Howards on wooden bridges and it will condition them too to resist cracking with RH swings AND it makes them look very, very nice IMO.

Took some pics for you folks yesterday.

Section III of the tutorial is all about prepping the instrument for the final settings.

One of the things I like to do too for an acoustic steel string is pull the saddle and service it. I discussed how the saddle should interact with the saddle slot and not bind.

Here we see in the first pic a Martin saddle that has groves in it from string tension over time. These groves if they get deep enough can create radius mismatch issues with the fret board and they also can develop flat slots that like a flat nut slot can mute a note from ringing clearly and even pinch off a note making it sound dull.

So I like to take my favorite file and file back the top not in height or changing the radius, don't want to do that but to reduce or even eliminate the groves so I can make sure that the strings break cleanly on the saddle top with some back angle to avoid the string riding on a flat spot on the saddle top.

Again the benefit is clear ringing notes and heading off any problems that can and do emerge from time and string tension.

FYI if I also sand the saddle on my leveling beam so it goes in and out of the saddle slot with only finger pressure as mentioned and then address the saddle top surfaces with my favorite file this takes me maybe two minutes tops to do.

Yes, I've had a guitar in with a couple of buzzing strings (the plain ones) which proved to be from the strings cutting grooves in the nut.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Yep that happens and I see more often strings cutting into the saddle and you can even hear that the note is pinched off and not ringing and sounding rather dead.