Sticky Neck, Washing Hands, Cleaning Frets?
For the most part, I consider myself a relatively clean dude. Trading and reselling aren't exactly dirty jobs. I wash my hands several times a day, before meals, after bathroom breaks or blowing my nose. I guess I'm trying to say that I felt as though I had relatively clean hands. I never really gave much consideration to cleaning my hands before playing. I also tend to play low end guitars, so again, I wasn't even concerned about a little grime getting on my guitars. A friend of mine owned a Gibson and religiously washed his hands before playing and wouldn't allow anyone else to touch his guitar unless they washed first. I got it, it was like a $6000 guitar but thought it was a little overboard and anal if I'm being truthful.
As many of you know I buy and sell guitars and always have a small collection sitting around. The other day I noticed the neck of my classical guitar getting a little sticky for lack of a better word. My hand wasn't sliding up and down the neck smoothly and it almost felt like there was resistance. I set it down and grabbed my parlor guitar and it also had that sort of sticky feel to the strings and neck. I then checked the new electric guitar I got earlier in the year, and you guessed it, same thing. It obviously didn't happen over night, but overtime the 3 main guitars I play daily, all had STICKY NECK!
I began researching sticky necks and came across several articles about how to fix the issue. Almost every article said the same thing, WASH YOUR DAMN HANDS BEFORE PLAYING. I also found several Reddit posts saying the same thing.
From what I researched even our natural oils can begin to accumulate on the neck and give it that sticky feel. The common fix was to use Naptha to clean the back of the neck. I didn't have any on hand so I did what many sites said not to do and grabbed some rubbing alcohol and a soft rag to clean the back of the necks. I started with my cheap $120 IYV electric. I figured I'd test it on the most inexpensive guitar I had. It worked great. I wiped down the back of the neck and the strings. It took a little rubbing and some effort but after a couple minutes the stickiness disappeared. Everything appeared fine with the paint and finish so I did my other guitars as well, an Ibanez classical and a Samick Parlor.
I also cleaned the strings with Music Nomad String Fuel, and use D'Addario Hydrate to clean the fretboard each time I change the strings. I've used String Fuel since I started playing again and love the product. I just started using Hydrate when I got my IYV, the neck was incredibly dry when they shipped it to me. I also read several posts where people considered the possibility that these string and neck cleaners could cause a bad case of sticky neck. Any thoughts?
Ever since I cleaned the back of my necks with rubbing alcohol, I've washed my hands almost every time I play my guitar and even between practice breaks. The problem hasn't returned. I've also been super sparing on using String Fuel. Have any of you used these products? If so, did you have any adverse affects?
Also, I'm more than a little curious. Ever have a guitar with an annoyingly sticky neck? Do you wash your hands each time before you play? Do you have any neck and fret cleaning suggestions?
Sincerly,
Sticky Fingers
I've never had any serious issues with sticky necks, but in my old house people would smoke inside so guitars would get dusty, really quickly. Me and a friend were having a few drinks one night and decided to clean my acoustic guitar with some linseed oil my dad had. Man, it was like new. We had the intention of cleaning my bass - my main instrument - but it got late.
My dad has a couple of Gibson SGs but doesn't go too over the top with only playing them with clean hands, he does clean them often enough, usually when re-stringing, and he's pretty heavy-handed so that happens pretty often.
The only problem with linseed oil is it can spontaneously combust, so that's something to be careful of when disposing of your rags afterward.
I've read linseed oil is great for guitar cleaning. I may have to try that in the future.
I purchased a 1960s Egmond parlor guitar over the summer at a garage sale. It needed some new machine heads and had at least 2 decades of dust covering it. I used some furniture polish on it (I KNOW BAD IDEA) but man it turned out to be a beautiful guitar. I couldn't believe the woodwork. I may need to stock up on linseed oil for this reason. It's got a little dust on it right now.
Striggule with the same on my martin. Don’t want to clean too often to mess up the wood. But boy does is feel smooth right after cleaning with some fresh strings on it 👌
I can imagine. Nothing like some fresh strings and a clean neck!
For sure it does!
I've not had that issue, but it can depend on the finish of the neck and also one what sweat and oil you give off. I think people can vary in that. I have heard that you need to be careful if you've been using sun cream as that can affect the guitar finish. I do sometimes wipe down the guitar after playing, but I'm not religious about it.
I have a real glossy finish on the IYV and thought I might have an issue. The Ibanez has I think they call it a satin finish but has gotten shiny and polished from play. The Samick seems to have a normal acoustic guitar finish I guess. IDK.
I rarely use it, but can imagine it could be an issue.
I need to get a little more proactive with doing this. That could be another part of my issue. It's not a bad idea to wipe down the neck and body real quick when you're done playing. I need to be more regular in doing that.
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#hive #posh
Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you :)
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