Strings, sales, and a new brand

If you already have the strings off, that is the moment to deal with the fretboard, because MusicRadar says a string change gives you the cleanest access to the wood and D’Addario says unfinished boards should be cleaned and conditioned at least every string change. (musicradar.com) (daddario.com) The catch is that not every fretboard gets the same treatment, because MusicRadar splits them into finished boards and unfinished boards. Maple is often finished with lacquer, so it usually needs cleaning only, while rosewood, ebony, pau ferro, laurel, and walnut are common unfinished woods that can need conditioning. (musicradar.com) (daddario.com) MusicRadar says the first pass on an unfinished board is cleaning, not oil, and it specifically points to naphtha, better known as lighter fluid, as a cleaner that breaks down finger oils and then evaporates. That can make dark wood look chalky for a moment, because the cleaner is stripping grime before any conditioner goes on. (musicradar.com) That maintenance advice landed just as Guitar Center’s 2026 Guitar-A-Thon page went live with sale prices across guitars, amps, pedals, and basses, so the same weekend can turn into both a cleanup job and a shopping trip. Guitar Center’s current event page shows discounts on models like a Fender Player II Stratocaster at $699.99 from $929.99 and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Widow at $639 from $799. (guitarcenter.com) The sale is not just cheap starter gear, because MusicRadar’s roundup says some Gibson discounts run as high as $700. Guitar Center’s event page also ties the promotion to in-store workshops on April 18, 2026 for pedals and April 25, 2026 for guitar mods, which turns the sale into a little more than a coupon page. (musicradar.com) (guitarcenter.com) Then the story gets stranger: on April 8, 2026, Premier Guitar reported that Guitar Center is not just selling other people’s guitars anymore and is building its own guitar brand from scratch. Chief Executive Officer Gabe Dalporto said the company wants to build a “revolutionary” guitar and share prototypes publicly as the project develops. (premierguitar.com) Dalporto is asking players for ideas on Instagram and Reddit, and Premier Guitar says the company is collecting answers to three questions: what frustrates players about current guitars, what they love in the best guitar they have played, and what uncommon feature they wish existed more often. That is closer to open product design than the usual “new finish, same model” launch. (premierguitar.com) The early wish list already sounds like a mid-price buyer’s dream sheet, because Premier Guitar says players are suggesting hot-swappable pickups, onboard effects modules, better tremolo systems, piezo systems, carbon-fiber neck reinforcement, sustainable materials, and prices aimed at working musicians instead of boutique collectors. Guitar World says the pitch from Guitar Center is to work with customers “in public” and iterate in the open. (premierguitar.com) (guitarworld.com) There is a sting in the fine print, because Premier Guitar says the Reddit submission terms make user ideas Guitar Center’s property, with no payment or attribution required. Guitar World also notes that some players are already pushing back on the idea of free community design work feeding a for-profit house brand. (premierguitar.com) (guitarworld.com) So this week’s guitar-shop news comes in one neat chain: take the strings off, clean the unfinished board, browse the Guitar-A-Thon discounts, and watch whether the biggest guitar retailer in the United States can turn customer comments into a real mid-range instrument people actually want to gig with. Guitar Center has not yet announced manufacturing plans, pricing, or a release date, so for now the prototype stage is the part to watch. (musicradar.com) (guitarcenter.com) (premierguitar.com)