Granadillo and Oil

[Zentar]

Anybody know if Granadillo is more porous and accepting of oil such as Linseed? Is there a "good" oil to use for the fret board? Is there certain oils that can darken the light Granadillo? Is Granadillo different than Rosewood? Same? Any of you out there care to pontificate what you know about Granadillo wood care?

[btoth76]

Hello Zentar.

 

I use pure, raw (unboiled, unbleached) linseed oil exclusively on the fretboards of my guitars. On rosewood and baked maple too.

 

Granadillo is a Central-American type of rosewood. So, linseed oil of the proper kind will work well with it.

 

Linseed oil darkens the fretboard very well. However, - please note - many will suggest not to use it on any fretboard. Some people complained about fretboard that was threated with linseed oil becoming sticky. It also stinks like fish. In my very own experience, the proper linseed oil product leaves a nice, shiny film on the fretboard, that is joy to play. It also protects the frets from oxidation, unlike lemon oil products. But, You will see it's a product that divides players pretty much.

 

This is how it makes the Brazilian rosewood look like:

 

 

It's effect on baked maple:

 

 

Bence.

[kidblast]

Anybody know if Granadillo is more porous and accepting of oil such as Linseed? Is there a "good" oil to use for the fret board? Is there certain oils that can darken the light Granadillo? Is Granadillo different than Rosewood? Same? Any of you out there care to pontificate what you know about Granadillo wood care?

 

everyone has their "Favorites", but there's this stuff: Gerlitz Guitar Honey is made just for treating rosewood, ebony (etc) fret boards. I've been using it for a long time now, about twice a year usually. I've also used it on my baked maple SG fret board.

 

Since you don't use a lot so a bottle should last you quite a while, (unless you have like 50 guitars..)

[Pesh]

How come baked maple needs the oil, when regular maple doesn't? Does baking it make the timber more porous?

[kidblast]

How come baked maple needs the oil, when regular maple doesn't? Does baking it make the timber more porous?

 

actually with maple, I don't know that it really does. I've only done it once or twice in the time I've owned my SG (2012).

 

I don't see that it seems to need anything to be completely honest..

 

(Ebony too for that fact.)

[Pesh]

actually with maple, I don't know that it really does. I've only done it once or twice in the time I've owned my SG (2012).

 

I don't see that it seems to need anything to be completely honest..

 

(Ebony too for that fact.)

 

Always good to know these things. Cheers fella.

[btoth76]

Hello Pesh.

 

Torrefaction (baking) completely changes maple into something else. The result of this process is a timber that looks very close, and feels the same as ebony. Plus, the baked maple fretboard doesn't receives lacquer coating as the natural maple fretboards do.

 

 

It needs the same treatment as ebony and rosewood fretboards.

 

Best wishes... Bence

[kidblast]

good point Bence!

[merciful-evans]

In 45 years I've never used any oils on fingerboards. I do periodically clean them with a clean cloth. I have cleaned 2nd hand buys with a toothbrush.

 

The ebonys look fine. The rosewoods wear but that will happen with or without oil treatment.

 

I have checked out oils in the past & have retained the following 'advice' from different sources. Here are 2 links and a full article/post. They contradict each other here & there, and its the main reason I have continued to use nothing at all.

 

http://www.muzique.com/schem/fret.htm?_sm_au_=iVV6Z1RnVZDJj7F0

 

http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile533.html/?cf03388EF1=108EFF1A1!MTA4MDA5NDc3OmNvcnByYWRpdXNzc286PCMDKbEGGEJNrFhKPh4tWA

 

 

> Please tell me the best oil for the fretboard. Thanks.

> Jim Jablonski

Forgive the long-winded answer to such a simple question, but I get asked this at least several times a month, and it's time I came up with something complete and useful, which other folks can use besides you.

WHAT'S IN A FINGERBOARD?

Fingerboards are usually made of a tough, dense hardwood chosen for its abrasion-resistant qualities. Its surface is left unfinished because string abrasion would soon wear through any finish film and leave the fingerboard spotted with numerous unsightly wear-thruough blemishes. Some guitar factories that make inexpensive guitars will finish the fingerboards with super-tough shiny finishes, but these invariably end up looking pretty bad after a couple of years, or the finish starts sloughing off and cracking. So that's no good either. So it's best to leave it unfinished, and to choose a very dark wood so that it doesn't show up dirt and string oxidation stains very quickly.

 

WHAT CAN HAPPEN

The problem with leaving unfinished one face of any dense hardwood, while the opposite face is glued down, is that the unfinished face will absorb moisture during humid spells and lose moisture during dry spells--while it's opposite face is sealed off against any of these humidity cycles. So you have the bad situation of one face of the fingerboard held tightly in place because it's glued down, and the opposite face expanding and contracting. It's bad because it will eventually warp the piece, which can drag the entire neck into a warp, or the built-up stresses in the piece can drive the fingerboard to crack.

So that's why we seal the bare, unfinished face. But with what? Pretty much any old crap will do the job of actually sealing the surface: used motor oil, hazardous waste, spray adhesive, bacon fat, furniture polish, even store-bought fingerboard lotions ("finger eeze," etc.). Obviously I should recommend against using hazardous waste, so I might as well warn you against some store-bought potions that people are persuaded to buy and dab over their guitars.

 

BE SKEPTICAL ABOUT OVER THE COUNTER CARE PRODUCTS

The chemical industry provides thousands of products for home and industry. In the process, untold thousands-more compounds result: you try to create one useful chemical, in the process you end up with half a dozen other chemicals as by-products which you must get rid of. Or find a new use for. As a result, another industry has risen which busies itself in finding uses for all that stuff. Is it slick and oily? How about fingerboard oil!. Does it dry slick and shiny? How about furniture polish! Or guitar polish! Well, if its slick, and stays slick, it's probably loaded with silicones, and as a deep-throat-secret industry insider once revealed to me, many of the over-the-counter spray-on or rub-on guitar-care products are just that: silicone-based secondary by-products from the chemical industry.

Now silicones are really oils that never, never dry out. Now that could be a good thing, but that means that the stuff can "migrate" forever. You get some on your guitar, then on your hands, and you touch the table and leave some on the table, or the guitar leaves some on the case fabric, and then someone else touches the case fabric and carries some onto their guitar, and the stuff migrates every where and forever, because it just stays slick and sticky forever. For people who work on guitars, the stuff is hellish because NOTHING will stick to it, wherever it happens to be. Glue, finish, nothing. Whenever I see the lustrous, oily-slick, sticky film on a guitar from a well-meaning owner who has been persuaded that the guitar will somehow "die" or "dry up" because they're not lathering it ("nourishing it") with some commercial fingerboard oil or spray on guitar goop), I go into hazard-avoidance mode: I quarantine the case and take a roll of paper towels and disposable plastic gloves and wipe as much of the goo off as I can, and then go over the whole guitar with a good guitar "cleaner" (Martin makes one) and then toss all the paper and cloth debris into a plastic bag and ditch it. Then I wash my hands with soap and water. Then I start work on the guitar.

 

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU USE?

Take it from me, I've been worrying about guitars for over twenty-five years: the least amount you use, and the most infrequently, the better! If your guitar's lacquered surfaces get dirty, a moist, clean cotton cloth with a tiny dot of Ivory liquid will remove sticky finger dirt or "road grime." Dulled areas can be brightened up with over the counter guitar "cleaners," which are really just ultrafine abrasive liquids that remove the dull areas by revealing fresh finish underneath. But stay away from all those "polishes." They are unnecessary, bogus consumer impulse items. "Lemon" oil (no lemon it) is the most often-recommended product for fingerboards, but it is less than ideal because it contains waxes which cause it to stay partially sticky and actually attracts more dirt. "Fingerboard dirt" is actually a sticky slurry of sweat, metal dust and oxides, and sloughed-off skin cells accumulate in between the frets. When you can SEE these accumulations, take a small square of plastic scouring pad material (like the fine white pads that 3M sells in grocery stores), wetted by a few drops of paint-store variety naptha or turpentine will clean it all off right quick without harming the guitar or mortifying guitar technicians in any way. The turpentine will leave a bit of residue which should be enough to satisfy the sealing requirement of the bare fingerboard. But you should then buff the fingerboard down to remove any excess...because any sticky excess is counterproductive: it just ATTRACTS dirt and grime.

I wait till the fingerboard starts to look dirty (I definitely don't do it once a week if it needs it or not, like some frenzied guitar-lovers I know who are just loving their guitar to death!) I scour the intra-fret spaces (following the grain) with the plastic scouring pad and naptha, wipe the surface clean and then apply (and then buff off carefully) a far more "natural" fingerboard oil preparation that I used to get from my early mentor, Michael Gurian, called Gurian Fingerboard Oil. Unfortunately he is out of the fingerboard oil business and I can't suggest any other suppliers at this time. I thinking of taking over his formula and selling the stuff, though. It was sooo good. It smelled like heaven, had absolutely no nasty silicones, was non-sticky and actually stopped finger squeeking on the strings. Stay tuned, I might make it available in the near future myself.

William R. Cumpiano

William R. Cumpiano, Guitarmakers

[btoth76]

Hello!

 

The posted article was convincing to this point:

 

...Gurian Fingerboard Oil. Unfortunately he is out of the fingerboard oil business and I can't suggest any other suppliers at this time. I thinking of taking over his formula and selling the stuff, though. It was sooo good. It smelled like heaven, had absolutely no nasty silicones, was non-sticky and actually stopped finger squeeking on the strings. Stay tuned, I might make it available in the near future myself.

William R. Cumpiano

William R. Cumpiano, Guitarmakers

 

Bence.

[Pesh]

Thanks for the further information on this, Bence and Merciful; handy to know for the future!

[Pinch]

Bence is probably correct in that linseed oil is the ultimate.

 

I dunno, many fellas more knowledgeable than me seem to be anti-mineral oil (which is the main ingredient in so-called "lemon oil" for guitars), but it's worked for me - through exceptionally humid summers and through ridiculously dry and cold winters.

 

It can leave some whitish residue in the pores of rosewood. I combat that with a very soft toothbrush. Mind you, I want the oil in there too, so in the past I've just left the residue (which I've only really noticed when I've really looked for it) in, and used a toothbrush with every other application. Which has been once a year, before winter hits.

 

Throughout the year, I use a very soft toothbrush to clean the dead skin etc. that accumulates around the frets.

 

I'm sure there are better methods than mine, but in the past I've had guitars that I didn't put anything on for decades, and when I sold them they were set up and oiled beforehand, and the luthier said the fretboards were fine, if a little dry.

 

So I think the way I do it now must be at least as good ;)

 

And I think the notion that mineral oil doesn't actually rehydrate a dry fretboard is a popular misconception. The before and after when it comes to REALLY dry boards is staggering. IMHO.

 

My personal fave quote on the topic, can't recall where I read it, was "ffs - if the bottle says 'for fretboards' and it's got a picture of a guitar on it, and is from a reputable company, then slap some on as prescribed and you'll probably be fine". Lol.

[btoth76]

...

My personal fave quote on the topic, can't recall where I read it, was "ffs - if the bottle says 'for fretboards' and it's got a picture of a guitar on it, and is from a reputable company, then slap some on as prescribed and you'll probably be fine". Lol.

 

Yes. Very true. When in doubt which advice to follow, still there are products with Gibson's name on it:

 

 

Bence.

[merciful-evans]

I admit I saw an opportunity for mischief here. :) But... look at the logo embossed at the base. Strange!

 

 

[capmaster]

^^ Does it make fretboards faster? ^^

[btoth76]

...

 

GREAT work!

 

 

By the way: our company is always looking for skilled illustrators... http://www.semcon.com/en/Contact/UK/

 

Bence.

[Pinch]

I'm gonna e-mail Gibson and ask if I can use it on my Epiphone.

 

Not really, but... still :P

[capmaster]

GREAT work!

 

 

By the way: our company is always looking for skilled illustrators... http://www.semcon.com/en/Contact/UK/

 

Bence.

 

This is from a Malaysian lubricants and fluids vendor: http://www.gibsonoil.com/index.php?ws=ourproducts&cat=Motorcycle%20Oils&lang=

 

Some of their product containers have the Gibson Guitar Corporation label embossed to them, others don't.

[btoth76]

Hello Capmaster!

 

Right. I thought it was a Photoshop forgery. No, it isn't! It's an existing product!

 

Bence.

[Zentar]

Gibson has a two stroke oil for acoustics.

[Matt23]

Hello Zentar.

 

I use pure, raw (unboiled, unbleached) linseed oil exclusively on the fretboards of my guitars. On rosewood and baked maple too.

 

Granadillo is a Central-American type of rosewood. So, linseed oil of the proper kind will work well with it.

 

Linseed oil darkens the fretboard very well. However, - please note - many will suggest not to use it on any fretboard. Some people complained about fretboard that was threated with linseed oil becoming sticky. It also stinks like fish. In my very own experience, the proper linseed oil product leaves a nice, shiny film on the fretboard, that is joy to play. It also protects the frets from oxidation, unlike lemon oil products. But, You will see it's a product that divides players pretty much.

 

This is how it makes the Brazilian rosewood look like:

 

 

It's effect on baked maple:

 

 

Bence.

 

 

Some good info here,thanks! but my head is spinning on which way to go. A few days ago I bought a new Taylor acoustic with an Ebony fretboard, and in the case candy info, Taylor recommends applying boiled linseed oil at every string change after a 0000 Steelwool fret rubdown. I didn't know about linseed oil so I thought I'd look into it.

For decades, I've used the Kyser Dr. Stringfellow lemon oil on my Martin and Epi Sheraton, both Rosewood boards and I like how it makes the fretboards darker. But now I'm thinking about using the linseed on the Taylor (and maybe on my new Les Paul also). I think it may come down to am I willing to be fastidious in applying it regularly to keep the fretboard darker.

 

Bence, may I ask why do you use umboiled linseed oil versus boiled? And do you get at a hardware store?

 

Thanks!

[capmaster]

In the past I used bleached linseed stand oil on the four of the rosewood necks of the guitars I owned then and, besides others, still own.

 

It takes being careful because the cloths used tend to self-ignition after use. Anyway, I felt it was useful, but I don't do that anymore.

 

The downside is that there's no return. Linseed oil penetrates into the wood and cures like a finish. For that reason I switched to using the easily removable Ballistol gun oil exclusively for cleaning fretboards. I did it twice to a rosewood board of a guitar I borrow regularly to a bandmate having a fairly aggressive sweat, and I used it for removing the completely needless brown stain on the board of my then brand-new Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. The rosewood looked just the same afterwards.

 

Another point is that linseed oil makes a guitar smell musty although everything is fine. The four of my older guitars treated with it last time some fifteen years ago still have a scent like a storage full of old oil paintings. However, their boards still feel nice. I just prefer them completely dry and pure now.

 

Just my two cents.

[Matt23]

In the past I used bleached linseed stand oil on the four of the rosewood necks of the guitars I owned then and, besides others, still own.

 

It takes being careful because the cloths used tend to self-ignition after use. Anyway, I felt it was useful, but I don't do that anymore.

 

The downside is that there's no return. Linseed oil penetrates into the wood and cures like a finish. For that reason I switched to using the easily removable Ballistol gun oil exclusively for cleaning fretboards. I did it twice to a rosewood board of a guitar I borrow regularly to a bandmate having a fairly aggressive sweat, and I used it for removing the completely needless brown stain on the board of my then brand-new Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. The rosewood looked just the same afterwards.

 

Another point is that linseed oil makes a guitar smell musty although everything is fine. The four of my older guitars treated with it last time some fifteen years ago still have a scent like a storage full of old oil paintings. However, their boards still feel nice. I just prefer them completely dry and pure now.

 

Just my two cents.

 

hmm,wow,not sure I want to go from the "new" smell to a "musty" smell! - that's a definite consideration.... I do like a darker board though...

[GuitarBuilder]

In the past I used bleached linseed stand oil on the four of the rosewood necks of the guitars I owned then and, besides others, still own.

 

It takes being careful because the cloths used tend to self-ignition after use. Anyway, I felt it was useful, but I don't do that anymore.

 

The downside is that there's no return. Linseed oil penetrates into the wood and cures like a finish. For that reason I switched to using the easily removable Ballistol gun oil exclusively for cleaning fretboards. I did it twice to a rosewood board of a guitar I borrow regularly to a bandmate having a fairly aggressive sweat, and I used it for removing the completely needless brown stain on the board of my then brand-new Epiphone Les Paul 1960 Tribute Plus. The rosewood looked just the same afterwards.

 

Another point is that linseed oil makes a guitar smell musty although everything is fine. The four of my older guitars treated with it last time some fifteen years ago still have a scent like a storage full of old oil paintings. However, their boards still feel nice. I just prefer them completely dry and pure now.

 

Just my two cents.

 

I can't emphasize capmaster's point enough:

 

Linseed oil is a finish and is permanent. I do not recommend it for that reason, unless you're a guitar builder and you want that finished fret board look.

 

Mineral (lemon) oil is the correct choice to use as a fret board conditioner. Virtually all great conditioners (e.g. Dr. Duck's Axe Wax - no wax in this product) are based on this. It keeps the wood properly moisturized and darkens it as well.

 

Whatever you choose, do not use any product with silicones or wax!

 

 

 

[Zentar]

 

 

Linseed oil is a finish and is permanent. I do not recommend it for that reason, unless you're a guitar builder and you want that finished fret board look.

 

Mineral (lemon) oil is the correct choice to use as a fret board

 

Are we back where we started? Linseed oil no?

 

We used several similar terms in this thread: Linseed Oil, Boiled Linseed Oil and Bleeched Linseed Oil. Are these three distinctly different chemicals?

 

My apologies for beating this horse