Cleaning Strings/Frets.

You should renew the strings ,the ones on just now sound as though they are pretty minging. Go to your local guitar shop and buy a cleaning kit along with your new strings, if your not sure about what to buy ,take the guitar with you and ask for their advise.And find out anything else thats important to your axe. good luck.

Simple, quick route is to take your guitar to a small independent guitar shop. They will usually change strings for a few dollars ontop of the string pack price. Usually while they're at it they'll give the fingerboard a clean with lemon oil or similar.

The longer, harder route is to just buy the strings and a product like 'Fast Fret'. Look up an online guide to changing strings and have a go yourself. Make sure you allow plenty of time, I usually give myself an afternoon, change a few strings have a cup of tea, change some more etc. Pace yourself cos it can be be frustrating and fiddly. If you've never done it before you might want to take the shop route and watch what they do (assuming they don't disappear into a backroom workshop).

Another essential purchase - a contact tuner. Intellisense make a great 'bone' tuner. It clips on to anything acoustic, electric, bass even and will save you from over-tightening if you DIY (providing you don't go up a whole octave, then the strings will be really tight, real hard to play).

I agree with all of the previous postings...take it to a shop or dealer and see if they will let you watch while they change the strings. It's not difficult but needs to be done right. The shop can also check the set-up and playability of your guitar and offer advice and adjustment if needed. They should also have some product for cleaning and maintenance...here's a link from the Martin guitar company of care, cleaning, and changing strings on an acoustic guitar...    http://www.martinguitar.com/catalog/PDF … eeding.pdf   

I'm one of those people with a high salt content in my sweat so I frequently wipe down the guitar and strings after playing...you can even use a damp cloth of warm soapy water to clean and then thoroughly dry when done...then lightly oil the metal tuning parts, etc...

Hope this helps! Happy playing...

most of the dirt or crud you see on your fretboard and strings is caused by the oil in your skin and dust and dirt in the air. I always wash my hands before playing and wipe the string and fretboard down afterward. I've used some different cleaners in the past and found that Windex or a similar cleaner works well. I would suggest you change out the strings and wipe the fretboard down,apply a light coat of Pledge or a similar product and restring. Dirty strings will affect the sound of your guitar and a dirty fretboard will affect how easily your guitar plays(not to mention the black streaks on your fingers). After you get used to doing this it becomes automatic and your strings will last longer. And don't be intimidated about changing strings, after you do it a few times you should be able to have it done in 15 minutes or so