No need to cut off the tendrils as new growth should cover any that remain from last year. Guernsey Cream is a Prune 2 plant so pruning should be done after the first blooms of the year have faded unless you are just shaping your plant.

How old is your plant? Suggestions on this forum generally have been to prune hard all newly planted clematis for one to two years to give roots a chance to establish. Prune hard means to cut back vines to 6-12 inches above the crown.

mnwsgal4MN, thanks for your reply. My guernsey cream is about 2 or 3 years old now. The only reason I asked about removing the dried up tendrils is because the vine was all tangled up and it seemed easier to unravel the stems by clipping off some of the tendrils. I never cut it back too short. The vines are about 3' tall now. Should I cut shorter? It is budding out all over the place now. Thanks so much for your help.

No, unless there are only one or two vines coming from the base I would let it grow and cut back after the first flush of blooms have faded. Then if it is still a mess you can cut it low and then keep moving vines as they grow to spread them out a bit.

If your vines are still alive they need those tendrils to cling to the support unless you weave them through the support yourself. If the vines are a tangled mess you could selectively prune a few vines now and move new vines as they grow to spread them out. I do that on the chain link fence.

I pull off vines when I prune and also pull off any
tendrils because I don't like the messy look on the fence and trellis
during the winter. Certainly not necessary.

Okay, great! I have several long stems on my clematis. I spread them out evenly yesterday on my trellis/fence. I only removed a few tendrils to help me untangle the vines. Those tendrils were brown and dried up from last year. I hope that is okay. I won't prune it any shorter now. Thank you sooooo much for helping me with this. I certainly have learned something valuable from you.