The Electra Forums

Hey Gang,
Two of my guitars (Elvin+X510) are showing a strange stain/rust on the frets under the bass side strings. I don't think that I have seen this on any other guitar, acoustic or electric. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this on their guitars? If so, is it just rust or tarnish that can/should be cleaned up on the next re-string/clean. Or, is this 'patina' that should never be removed? The X-510 was owned by a pro and might have some vintage value, but the Elvin is a player and I'm not too worried about polishing up the frets on that one. I've just never experienced this type of strange stain on the frets.
Thanks.

Alright, it looks like it's just simple light oxidation. I detailed the Elvin and was able to easily remove the oxidation, condition the fret board, carnuba wax the rest and set 'er up with new strings. I wasn't sure if this was something to do with the binding 'de-gassing' and creating the oxidation or something else. It's strange that it was on the bass side only. The low E string also looked oxidized (dull finish) compared with the others. So now I'm going to tackle the X-510 as I'm not worried about this being 'patina' that should be left alone. Happy New Year folks!