The frets and fretboard of your guitar will get dirty over time. To make your fretboard look like new (often better than new) is a simple procedure and shouldn’t take too long.

You will need a cloth, some Masking Tape, 0000 Grade Wire Wool and some Lemon Oil or Fretboard oil.

Mask the area around the pickups. If you don’t pieces of the wire wool will stick to the pickup and possibly get inside causing potential damage.

Rub the fretboard with the 0000 grade wire wool to remove the gunk that has built up and bring the frets up to a nice shine. You need to rub across the fretboard, not up and down.

Rub off and dust with a clean, dry cloth.

Apply some lemon or fretboard oil onto a cloth and rub it up and down the fretboard. This will condition the fretboard and leave it looking much nicer than it did before.

Rub off any excess oil with your cloth, carefully remove the masking tape from around the pickups and restring your guitar.

This method works with rosewood and ebony fretboards. Maple fretboards do not need to be oiled. You should use your tape to mask the areas of the fretboard between the frets, rub the frets with the 0000 grade wire wool across the neck. Remove the masking tape and wipe away any dust with a cloth and restring.

If you have any doubts about your ability to do this job yourself take your guitar to a local tech.