Give Your Guitar a Year-End Cleaning

The year is almost over before we even realize it.
While household cleaning can be quite a task, your guitar also accumulates a lot of grime!
“Clean this year’s dirt this year!” So, why not give your precious guitar a thorough cleaning at the end of the year? You might find yourself playing even better next year!

This time, I’m introducing some handy tools for thorough guitar cleaning and maintenance.
Let’s start with this!

ESP / MS-10 Multi SpannerR

After a year of heavy guitar use, you might find that the pegs and jack nuts have loosened without you noticing.
If you leave a loose jack nut, there’s a chance it could cause a short circuit.
That’s where the Multi Spanner comes in handy!
This tool can tighten a variety of nuts, ranging from 8 to 18mm, including the grooved nuts of a Les Paul toggle switch.
It’s incredibly versatile!
Just having one on hand can help you avoid many crises lol!

Next up is this!

Fernandes / Fingerboard Guard 3P

This tool might make many people go, “What’s this?” due to its surreal appearance, but it’s straightforward to use!
Simply place it on the fingerboard so the fret sticks out of the hole in the middle, then polish the frets with a scratch mender or similar abrasive!
It’s incredibly convenient!
This tool eliminates the tedious task of masking the fingerboard before every fret polish!
If you find yourself taking care of your fingerboard during string changes but neglecting the frets, definitely use the Fingerboard Guard 3P to make your frets shine!

After caring for the fingerboard, polishing the frets, putting on new strings, and tuning, you might hear a sound from the nut.
This often happens because the string grooves in the nut become less smooth over time, causing the strings to get stuck.
This condition can make the tuner overly sensitive, making tuning difficult. Additionally, for guitars with a tremolo system, it can cause significant tuning instability every time you use the tremolo.
Even if your guitar looks clean, this can ruin everything.
But don’t worry, there’s a solution for this!

Super Vee / Super Glide

Big Bends / Nut Sauce Bench-Luber

These are lubricants to improve the sliding of the string grooves.
Using these can often resolve tuning issues caused by string snags. When I first used it, I was amazed at how smoothly the tuning went after application!
Lightly remove debris from the grooves with fine sandpaper (such as 1500 grit) from a hardware store before application for even better results!
These lubricants can also be used on bridge saddles and last quite a long time despite their small appearance, so you won’t regret having one!

The list goes on!

ALLPARTS / LT-1400-023 Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener

This tool is similar in purpose to the Multi Spanner but is specifically designed for jacks. When tightening a loose jack, it can be challenging to hold the jack itself steady, often causing the nut and jack to turn together and potentially sever the wiring. The LT-1400-023 Bullet Guitar Jack Tightener can push the grip into the jack and allow you to turn only the nut by turning the socket, enabling stress-free maintenance without causing any issues.

Otsuka Brush Manufacturing Co. Ltd. / Puragure Brush 30mm

This is a brush! This may look like an ordinary brush, but it’s very flexible and can clean your guitar without leaving scratches. Look at your guitar or bass around its pickups, bridge saddles, and head pegs. Dust often accumulates in these areas where you can’t reach while the strings are on. If left, this dust can promote rust on metal parts and stick to the finish, potentially causing damage depending on the type of paint. You may even end up needing extra repairs because of this! Not only at the end of the year, but it might be a good idea to use this brush regularly to remove excess dust!

SHINYMAN / Shiny Man

It might be hard to tell what this is for just by looking at it lol.
Let’s take a peek at the product page for more information!

Yes! It’s a cleaner for plated hardware!

It’s super easy to use!

Yes!
Just apply it to a cloth and wipe!
If you use guitars or basses with gold-plated hardware, you know how much dirt stands out on gold plating compared to chrome or black plating. It’s hard to get it clean with just a dry cloth, and using a compound can cause the plating to wear off.
Gold plating is cool, but it’s a hassle to care for...
This Shiny Man will solve those problems!

The last one is this!

ALLPARTS / LT-1401-023 Knob Puller Tool

It’s not immediately obvious what this tool is for, either lol.
Here’s how it works!

It’s a tool for removing control knobs!
Control knobs can get in the way when polishing the guitar body.
But removing the knobs can be a hassle.
Is it just me or have you ever broken or scratched the guitar’s finish when you were trying to remove the knobs?
It’s like a dream to have this tool that makes that task much easier lol.
Many of you have probably been waiting for something like this!?

Now you can get your guitar shiny and ready for the new year!
That concludes my introduction to some handy tools!