Roach Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 What should i use to treat the fretboard, (other than Gibson stuff), and how often? Everytime i change strings? Also some people have told me many of the so called fretboard cleaners and even some oils damage the frets over time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinlander Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Cleaning and oiling fret board is overrated and abused in my opinion. Wood has natural oils and can take care of itself if kept in good relative humidity 40-50% The less you mess with any stuff on it the better. Clean your hand before playing and your strings and neck after and you might keep a good looking FB for a long time. Once a year I use a bit of naphta and an old toothbrush to get some DNA out (white dead cells can stuck in the rosewood). If I oil it will be only a very small amount of lemon oil that gets wiped immediately (not really soaked in) and that is for the color. Worst thing to do is to saturate the wood with excessive oiling (abused by so many people even guitar techs). Best conditioner for fret board in my opinion is good relative humidity at all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Cleaning and oiling fret board is overrated and abused in my opinion. Wood has natural oils and can take care of itself if kept in good relative humidity 40-50% The less you mess with any stuff on it the better. Clean your hand before playing and your strings and neck after and you might keep a good looking FB for a long time. Once a year I use a bit of naphta and an old toothbrush to get some DNA out (white dead cells can stuck in the rosewood). If I oil it will be only a very small amount of lemon oil that gets wiped immediately (not really soaked in) and that is for the color. Worst thing to do is to saturate the wood with excessive oiling (abused by so many people even guitar techs). Best conditioner for fret board in my opinion is good relative humidity at all time. +++1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Hello! When I notice that it's dry, - after good cleaning with a cotton rag and soapy water -, I apply raw, unbleached linseed oil with Q-tips. I rub it in with a clean cotton rag, immediately. I repeat it, as necessary. I don't think that it should be done regularly. Only, when it gets dry. Here, - with humidity being below 20% right now - I do it like twice a year. Cheers.... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 ... Also some people have told me many of the so called fretboard cleaners and even some oils damage the frets over time? I have heard rumors about lemon (-scented mineral) oil can dissolve the glue that holds the inlays. Probably, a myth, but quite wide-spread on the net. Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 It is important to consider that linseed oil is something you can't get back from. It cures and will result in a solid finish. There are three guitars of mine where I used it over the decades, and I guess I will never do it again to any fretboard. The guitar I regularly loan to and bandmate sometimes is in need of fretboard cleaning. I use Ballistol oil for that just to wipe off deposits, and the fretboard is like new afterwards. My guitars take a dry cleaning once a year or so. When about finishes, I breathe on them and wipe them with very soft facial tissues that don't scratch nitro finishes. Same as for human skin, use of soapy water or any detergents is not recommendable. It will leach the wood, from humidity as well as from its natural oil, same as with human skin, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 I have heard rumors about lemon (-scented mineral) oil can dissolve the glue that holds the inlays. Probably, a myth, but quite wide-spread on the net. Bence One can never be careful enough. No guitar manufacturer will take any responsibility for damages caused by guitar owners using "care" products! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Hello Capmaster! As You know, it is often very hard to find a reliable source of information if one is not familiar with a subject. As I am not familiar with wood care, I read about the topic from such reputable people like Dan Erlewine. What I posted above, is from His book, and worked out well for me so far. Also, worth mentioning, that linseed oil comes in various forms. Some of them are colored, boiled. What I have red, is to use cold-pressed, raw, unbleached oil. It has been used for decades, prior all these fancy instrument care products became available. I often wonder, whether the Brazilian rosewood fretboard on vintage Gibsons are appreciated so much due to their natural characteristics, or did they become so nicely smooth due to aging and the traditional way of care they received. Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Most I know about wood care is either from the periods in life I spent with chemistry, or from my ex-wife whose profession is restoration of antiques. I used bleached linseed stand oil then and perhaps would use it again for trying to save the fretboard of a long neglected guitar. The use of bleached oil minimizes the risk of self-ignition, in particular of contaminated cloths (and clothes!), and discolouration. (Unsaturated oils are prone to both.) However, most fretboards will appear darker after treatment. They don't after use of Ballistol for cleaning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted February 13, 2016 Share Posted February 13, 2016 Perhaps once a year for the fretboard but only if thought to be absolutely necessary. In the 24 years I used my old Strat I never once 'conditioned' the rosewood 'board - I didn't even know such a practice existed - and it was just fine, thank-you. "Shock! Horror!!" I know but a general light clean with high-grade wood polish worked perfectly well for me. In the eight or nine years of playing my current LPs I think I've used lemon oil once only on most and twice on one which had a very dry 'board when it was bought. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american cheez Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 just be sure to say supportive, nurturing things to it, and to not send mixed messages. it should be fine after that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 Give it a trophy, even when it loses. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 If you really want to take good care of a guitar, Play It, A Lot! And learn to do most of the "normal maintenance" things yourself. A good cleaning, once a year, or...as truly needed. (Time frame will be dictated by the amount you play it, and the environment it's played and housed in.) Most of it is just common sense! IMHO..as always. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted February 14, 2016 Author Share Posted February 14, 2016 I understand woods reasonably well. Rosewood fretboards will probably soon be a thing of the past, simply because the availability. Brazil has a ban on exporting the real stuff or cutting any up. I have been a drummer for most of my life and own some really nice african djembes. These drums are one solid hollowed out piece, not bent, but hand carverd out of solid tree. On those I use howards feed and wax which is a beeswax orange oil mixture, but i wouldnt dream of using that on a guitar. Thanks for the replies, I will leave it be until it becomes dry. I just do not want any crud to gather at the frets like i have seen in previous guitars i have owned. While on this subject (fretboard), should i ask in the repair forum category about my 2000 les paul that has a damaged fretboard at the body side? It is basically destroyed there, if i ever play a whole note past the 14 ftret. It happened when i trusted someone too much to refinish it and they sanded too much and rounded off the corners and i snatched back the guitar before they could even refinish it. Long story but thats the main part in short form. Oh thx again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golden Posted February 14, 2016 Share Posted February 14, 2016 While on this subject (fretboard), should i ask in the repair forum category about my 2000 les paul that has a damaged fretboard at the body side? It is basically destroyed there, if i ever play a whole note past the 14 ftret.It happened when i trusted someone too much to refinish it and they sanded too much and rounded off the corners and i snatched back the guitar before they could even refinish it. Long story but thats the main part in short form. Oh thx again By any chance do you have a photo, its hard to imagine what horrors befell the LP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted February 15, 2016 Author Share Posted February 15, 2016 i do however i have used 499.18k of my 500k upload quota and cannot upload it here. The horror started with a bad pickup which i didnt know was the problem until this so called tech guy i knew replaced the pots and everything else and caused the finish problems that led to this. i ended up with unmatched pickups when i got one later on. That is why i have a NEW Les Paul now 16 years later. Still would like to check my options and find out if this can be repaired cause i cant even sell this in this condition and look myself in the mirror the next day. I would like to keep it if i can fix it, i love the mini traps inlays. https://gyazo.com/5b5eeba41662fea2f2f863c506dcb7cd Sorry if posting that is bad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 15, 2016 Share Posted February 15, 2016 Ouch! Dirty job. Thanks God it didn't happen to a real Gibson. Bence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted February 18, 2016 Author Share Posted February 18, 2016 Ouch! Dirty job. Thanks God it didn't happen to a real Gibson. Bence. uhm this is a real gibson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 uhm this is a real gibson Hello Roach! Which model is it? Those fretboard inlays look strange to me. Do You have a picture of the complete guitar? Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted February 19, 2016 Author Share Posted February 19, 2016 Hello Roach! Which model is it? Those fretboard inlays look strange to me. Do You have a picture of the complete guitar? Cheers... Bence 2000 LP Jr Special w/humbuckers Cant find full pic right now, I made the pickgaurd out of a mirror type of material, originally it didnt have one. They are "mini trapezoids", which is what the ones they took to NAMM show in 2000 had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Oh, indeed! I forgot about those. Sad to see what happened to it. Probably, the entire fretboard needs to be replaced. Best wishes... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I don't know. I was really clean every time I played my EIR AJ, and after five years, You could see every spot that ZI played the same chords. E, A, C F Bflat, and a bunch of cowboy chords showed up when You looks at it. If You fly all over the board like Dave Mustaine, You'd be fine. If You play a lot of open chords and basic Barres, You should probably hit it with Lemon Oil every third or fourth string change. It can't hurt, and it'll probably help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I am one who doesn't worry much about the fretboard. I really didn't even look at it closely. I always wash my hands and forearms very well every time that I play. I noticed one day that I could tell on my acoustic fretboard that I could actually see which chords that I played the most. Lemon oil fixed it right up, but I was worried that my Advanced Jumbo would look like a Fretlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 I always wash my hands and forearms very well every time that I play. I haven't yet mastered my forearm technique. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted April 24, 2016 Author Share Posted April 24, 2016 I haven't yet mastered my forearm technique. :-) you have four arms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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