Polish/care

[Paul14]

On 1/30/2020 at 2:48 PM, bobouz said:

Fret Doctor (which is bore oil) is the one to use.

2nd choice would be F-One (natural oils, no petroleum distillates).

Many of the other fretboard cleaners, such as Guitar Honey, do contain petroleum distillates.

Curious. What is the difference between Fret Doctor bore oil, & the R-One oil? Been reading on line, & not seeing actual ingredients of either. Both say they are a combination of natural oil???

[bobouz]

1 hour ago, Paul14 said:

Curious. What is the difference between Fret Doctor bore oil, & the R-One oil? Been reading on line, & not seeing actual ingredients of either. Both say they are a combination of natural oil???

 

It’s been a few years since I’ve looked into this, so can’t recall the specific differences.  At the time, F-One had recently been released & there was a fairly good descriptor of the combination of oils used.  Because it did not contain petroleum distillates, I wanted to give it a try & was pleased with the results.

About six months later, I read a piece about Fret Doctor.  A great deal of comparative info was provided about virtually all the commonly used oils & why Fret Doctor was superior in terms of how it interacts with fretboard woods.  It too seemed worth a try, and imho, it’s the best fretboard product I’ve used.

A dried out fretboard is not a good thing & I’ve been aware of this issue since the ‘70s, when I would buy instruments at flea markets to repair & then sell or trade.  Today with 30 guitars & a couple of mandolins, I find that some boards hardly ever need to be treated, while others seem to repeatedly dry out rather quickly.  Thus far, Fret Doctor has worked the best in restoring fretboard wood to it’s original color & maintaining a properly hydrated appearance.

  

[kidblast]

On 2/1/2020 at 6:42 AM, billroy fineman said:

Thank you sir!  Twice a year is about 4x what I was thinking, what's the danger of doing it less?  (This is for a daily player so not something spending most of the time in a case if that makes a difference).

the idea is to keep the wood hydrated.   that said, "back in the day"....  We never knew any better, or had material like freboard oils. so we left them alone.  They all miraculously survived.

you could do it once a year, or never..   I don't think it's an 100% absolute necessity either way. 

When you do apply a treatment, you can see the luster return to the surface of a fretboard or bridge but what does that mean for the guitar?   probably nothing.  Just something some guys do when they are doing normal maintenance.  

Danger ?   If done right,  none that I have seen.  If you use it sparingly, and are just using a drop or two (literally) on a cotton cloth, and what doesn't absorb into the grain of the wood, you can and should just wipe off.     If too much is used, or too wet an application is applied, I'd assume  it's going soak into the fretslots and I would think that wouldn't be a great thing to have.  you don't want schmear the stuff on ya know?

[bobouz]

12 hours ago, kidblast said:

the idea is to keep the wood hydrated.   that said, "back in the day"....  We never knew any better, or had material like freboard oils. so we left them alone.  They all miraculously survived.

 

Well no, not really.  There are a relatively small number of boards & bridges out there that have developed cracks from drying out over time, with ebony being more susceptible to this process.  What we are primarily talking about here is hydration as a preventative treatment.

In the mid ‘70s, I used to see these cracks with some frequency in guitars from the 1920s-1940s that were, at the time, anywhere from 30-50 years old.  Many of them probably never saw the inside of a case.  Today, It would be reasonable to assume that most people take much better care of their instruments, but the same potential perils to the board & bridge continue to exist.

For some, fretboard treatment may be just a matter of aesthetics to obtain a dark & vibrant appearance, but it goes beyond that to more importantly include structural stability.

Edited February 4, 2020 by bobouz

[Sgt. Pepper]

On 2/1/2020 at 1:06 PM, Paul14 said:

Curious. What is the difference between Fret Doctor bore oil, & the R-One oil? Been reading on line, & not seeing actual ingredients of either. Both say they are a combination of natural oil???

F-one gunked up my fret board. I did not like it. Now all my boards except the D-15M are ebony and dense wood. It takes a while to get it that tight grain.

[kidblast]

14 hours ago, bobouz said:

 

Well no, not really.  There are a relatively small number of boards & bridges out there that have developed cracks from drying out over time, with ebony being more susceptible to this process.  What we are primarily talking about here is hydration as a preventative treatment.

In the mid ‘70s, I used to see these cracks with some frequency in guitars from the 1920s-1940s that were, at the time, anywhere from 30-50 years old.  Many of them probably never saw the inside of a case.  Today, It would be reasonable to assume that most people take much better care of their instruments, but the same potential perils to the board & bridge continue to exist.

For some, fretboard treatment may be just a matter of aesthetics to obtain a dark & vibrant appearance, but it goes beyond that to more importantly include structural stability.

no doubt every thing  and anything is possible. 

my oldest guitar isn't THAT old (it's a MIJ Yari Dy74 from 1978).  it's in solid shape considering.