"Cloudy" Frets

[jonsebass]

Afternoon,

Ive got a lovely Squier VM Jazz Bass (the Sunburst 70's Jazz Bass).

Its a lovely looking, and sounding guitar, and ive always cared for it since ive had it new.

Now then,

I changed the strings yesterday and the frets didnt look as "shiny" as they did the time before, and certainly looked a lot less "shiny" as they did before.

They arent rusty, but they look clouded - almost like condensation would be the best way of describing it.

Its the first time ive ever come across a bass thats "done this" and im not sure what to do. For the record, ive tried wirewool and a touch of silver cleaner but with it being a maple neck, im not sure on what to do next!

Cheers

[icastle]

The frets on a maple neck are in place when the fingerboard is laquered.

I think what you're seeing is the laquer has worn off the frets - perfectly normal and nothing to worry about.

[jonsebass]

I hope so!

Thanks for the reply!

[BigRedX]

I always thought the final part of finishing a maple board was to clean the lacquer off the frets.

[icastle]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1343496899' post='1751480']
I always thought the final part of finishing a maple board was to clean the lacquer off the frets.
[/quote]

I think that's probably true of higher end instruments but, as it's going to wear off anyway, I'm pretty sure that the frets are just given a quick wipe between coats to reduce the amount of laquer.
Trying to remove the laquer from the frets has the potential to damage the finish of the fingerboard, and you don't want to be refinishing components on a price driven product.

I could be wrong of course.

[jonsebass]

Well, it still sounds ok, and fingers as good as it always has (ooh matron) so I think i might leave it for now and see

[BOD2]

You can polish the fres with a very fine grade wire wool but you'll need to mask off the fretboard first. You can do this with masking tape between the frets. Line up the edge of the tape with one fret and stick it on, then line up a second bit (overlapping the first) with the next fret and so on. Once the frets get too close together to fit a singe piece of masking tape in between, stick the tape over the fret then use a craft knife to carefully remove the part over the fret. Run the craft knife at an angle into the bottom of the fret so thar you're not touching the board with the knife at all.

Once the fretboard is all masked off and protected you can polish the frets with wire wool. Make sure it's a fine grade wire wool - you just want to polish the fret and not change the profile at all ! Once you've done that finish off with "Brasso" (or "T-Cut" or any other mildly abrasive polish) to bring a shine up.

I've done this periodically with all my guitars and basses over the years and it works a treat.

[jonsebass]

hmm...interesting reading here.

I have tried very quickly with wire wool (not masking the frets off) and havent had any success - i suppose I should stick with it and see

[Al Heeley]

Easiest way to polish frets is method showed to me by Patrick Eggle on a setup course a few years back. Get an old t-shirt, wrap tightly round a cork sanding block, apply a bit of metal buffing crayon or jewellers rouge, then polish up and down the board and across the frets. Within a minute you have a set of gleaming frets, and just a little gunk to clean off the fretboard.