Dry fretboard on 339!

[Mike!]

I know that all Gibsons come from the factory with a dry fretboard, but my 339's fretboard is even more dry than those! Does anyone else have this problem with their 339, or Gibson Custom Memphis guitar? If so, how did you fix it?

[FennRx]

oil it.

[bobv]

Huge bummer waiting for the oil to soak in and dry before you can play a brand new guitar, so get used to her first. Then for the next string change, when you think you can stand setting the guitar aside for a day or so, take off all the strings (you know about the loose bridge and tailpiece, right? screws face the fretboard on an ABR-1 when you put the bridge back on if it falls off, and try not to let the bridge height adjustment wheels spin) and oil it. I've needed to do it for every new guitar I've been lucky enough to get, and for a few old ones, too (rosewood fingerboards, anyway, ebony doesn't seem to need it and maple would be lacquered already).

 

I prefer boiled linseed oil from the paint store or hardware store, but of course there are lots of other products that people love. I'm almost tempted to try that bore oil stuff from the music store that they sell for woodwinds (Bore doctor, I think it's called - someone will chime in about it), but B.L.O. works fine for me and occasionally it's a good first step in woodfinishing projects so it's not a waste to have a can around. Some people use "raw" linseed oil but it will not dry as quickly as the "boiled" type (there seems to be a tradition that if you pass on this advice you have to categorically insist on one or the other - raw or boiled - but I can't see getting upset about it). Rag it on liberally, let it soak in a few minutes, rag on some more where it soaked in, let it sit a few more minutes, then buff off the excess. Don't leave the oily rag around the house since the oil reacts with oxygen and can put off enough heat to start a fire, so soak the rag in water and put it outside in the trash. You probably won't ever have to do it again unless you've used something really strong to clean the gunk off. From there on I prefer either mineral oil or naptha to clean the fingerboard.

 

Sorry if you knew all this already, but to answer your question, my ES-339 left the factory in October and when I got it in May the baord was a little dry.

 

Actually I think it's a good thing because the stripes are more obvious when it's dry and, if it were anything but a 339 and there was more than one on the wall at the store to chose from, you can judge the color of the board dry then bring it home. When it's freshly oiled the light and dark streaks in the rosewood are less obvious and they become more apparent over time.

[Tim Plains]

Fret Doctor...it's the best.

[badbluesplayer]

I used teak oil on my dry 339 fretboard. I applied it once every two or three weeks. I think I applied it three times. I've used lemon oil on it since, once every few string changes.

[Hall]

I'll go with Tim on this one. Trade secret: Once, though, on the old forum I posted a story about how a violinist for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra who told me his trade secret was to twice a year buy fresh (edit) Brazil nut, remove the skin on a couple and to oil the board by lightly rubbing (edit) Brazil nut oil into the wood from a nut, letting it soak in for 60 minutes and then buffing to a high dark shine. I saw the instrument. It was beautiful. I did it on a 335 of mine. I haven't had to condition the fretboard on that guitar since. It removed dirt, oiled, preserved and now I'm still just rubbing the board and strings after each use as always, and it looks great in well over a year. No one bought the story, but there were plenty of jokes! Best to just say it works, and leave it at that.

 

Steve

[bobv]

Woodfinishing recipes have a certain amount of voodoo to begin with. Couple that with the supersititious and gullible and flaky nature of guitar players like us, and you come up with some bizzare ideas. So if you really want some tasty licks, you can buy walnut oil in a gourmet shop - it's sold to make salads and to oil cutting boards. That is, of course, so long as your frets are made of special unobtanium alloy...

[Hall]

Fret Doctor, is from the bore oil man himself. He recommends for ebony and rosewood each. I agree with Tim, after trying everything else, as the D. really does the job. And, it contain that famous Brazil nut oil my violinist friend uses. I find the Fret Doctor much easier to use for the same basic results. Erlewine, likes raw Linseed oil. I like redheads.

 

Steve

[AlanC]

I own a few guitars and over the years the fretboards can dry out. For the first ten years I used Johnsons baby oil regularly until I was told not to use petroleom based products. However it never seemed to hurt any of my guitars and for example I had a 1952 Maton Supreme which had a rosewood fretboard and which needed oiling every couple of years,. The fretboard is still great on that guitar.

 

I now use the Gibson lemon oil. Seems fine. I use it on rosewood, brazilian rosewood and ebony fretboards but I don't use too much. I own a relatively new SJ200EC with a rosewood fretboard that dried out a little not long after I bought it but now that I have started oiling it its realyy come up.

 

I oil them just when I'm about to change the strings.

[loneguitar]

Lemon oil or Gibsons fretboard oil, lightly oil the fretboard and then wipe with a cloth, repeat if needed.

This only needs to be done once a year, otherwise you'll over oil the fretboard and create problems.

Depending on your location and weather, I'm in Memphis and once a year is plenty.

[Murph]

How does the use of "Fingerease" work into this?

 

I have been playing a Fender maple board the last few years, but also used it on my ebony board (SG) for years with no problems.

 

Having just (last night) ordered an ES-339, I never even thought about it until reading this thread.

 

Will "Fingerease" hurt my new rosewood board?

 

Murph.

[bondo]

Guitar Honey by gerlitz is good stuff. http://www.gerlitzusa.com/

I got it years ago at a small guitar shop and haven't found it anywhere except online until recently I found it at a guitar center.

[daveinspain]

I have a 339 with a dry fret board too... makes me crazy. I like the brazil nut idea...