No, really not roger that.

Hello Elix1r: linseed oil is something I just happen to know about, from my day job. I so strongly recommend you don't use it. Here's why.

Linseed oil is what is known as a "drying oil". What that means is that it is a polymerising oil, which in turn means it undergoes an irreversible molecular change as it cures, gradually hardening into a film. This makes it ideal for many uses, such as in paints and varnishes. It also makes it a very bad thing as a treatment for bare wood, since over time it will cure into a discreet surface layer, which you don't want; and since it dries very slowly it will stay soft and sticky for a long time beforehand, coming off on your fingers and mixing with finger dirt and grease to make a truly nasty build-up on your fretboard. In fact, exactly the kind of mess you just cleaned off.

Further, "boiled linseed oil" is in reality not boiled. Linseed oil can be heat treated to make it thicker, stickier and shorten its cure time. However, this is not done by simple boiling as you will have done at home, and in any case is more usually just a misleading term used to describe linseed oil which has had solvent and drying agents added to it to make it go off faster. All of which is helpful for painters but dreadful for guitar fingerboards.

If you want to know more about it read this page. Wiki isn't always right, but it is this time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil

On the other hand, the product sold to guitarists as "lemon oil" is ideal for fingerboards. Names are confusing: lemon oil is not in fact the oil of lemons but simply mineral oil with a lemon scent added to make it smell nice. Woodwind players use mineral oil (usually without the lemon scent) on their clarinets and oboes because it is good for stopping dark bare woods from drying out and cracking. Any instrument shop will sell you oil for woodwind instruments and it is fine on rosewood and ebony fingerboards too. Though lemon oil sold for guitar fingerboards is the same thing; so if you already have some, use it.

The nasty filth you have cleaned off that fingerboard of yours has nothing to do with lemon oil: it is a build-up from the grease, sweat and dead skin from fingers. The oil is not to blame.

Cheers - C

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Maybe they're into hard wood

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I would follow Ceri's advise... to the letter.. but then again it is your guitar.

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

+1, What the man says.

Because they think it is smart to use something other people don't know about.

Hey, while we're about it, why not use poppy oil instead? Or walnut oil? Or cold pressed linseed oil? Or sun bleached linseed oil? Or linseed stand oil? Or refined linseed oil? Or safflower oil? Those all sound pretty mysterious and clever, don't they?

Those are all oils that have respectable uses in varnishes and paints - and just like raw linseed oil will cure very slowly to an impenetrable film if you leave them to. Which is just exactly what you don't want on a guitar fingerboard - if you did you might as well simply varnish it and be done with it.

Yet another reason not to use linseed oil is because it has a well-known tendency to cause mildew and even rotting on bare wood. Just for example, artists who paint on wood panels with oil paints (containing linseed or poppy oil) first "size" the wood with rabbit skin glue and then prime it with something like lead white or gesso - precisely to stop the drying oils getting at it. There's 500 years of experience behind that: they know what they're doing.

I too have seen uninformed people talk about using linseed oil on guitar fingerboards, and I won't be surprised if someone posts here to say they do it. However, the only reason they will get away with it is because having applied it they are probably wiping virtually all of it off again and so the negative effects are minimal. They are doing little harm - but no good either.

Not all oils are the same. Linseed, poppy and walnut are all drying oils, so called because they dry to hard layer. Awful for bare wood. What you want for a fingerboard is mineral oil, which will stop the wood becoming too dry and cracking without creating an actual permanent film on the surface.

You will never see me claiming qualification to talk on a subject - but this one I happen to know about. Still, if you need more convincing here's another page about putting linseed oil on wood:

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infpai/inflin.html

Happy reading - C

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Ha - and thanks for the friendly comments, everyone!

Cheers - C

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Ceri, what about gun oil? There was a build that I saw a while back where this dude finished a bare neck in it. He said it gave a satin feel or something.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Ah, actually that one I don't know about. I'm guessing it is probably a mineral based oil seeing as how it is used, but I couldn't say for sure: I've never met the stuff.

That one's above my paygrade, Buxom.

(A man's gotta know his limits...)

Cheers - C

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I had never heard of it either.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Tru-Oil is the gunstock oil people sometimes use on maple necks, but not rosewood fret boards.
I have in fact used it, and I am really leaning to using it to finish the neck on my long neglected hardtail Strat project. It gives a very silk satin feel. It is really really easy to apply.

Some people use 'bore oil' on their fretboards, but just like 'lemon oil' most of it is mainly mineral oil. (PS never use lemon oil from the supermarket, or any food store, as the food ingredient actually is made from lemons and will destroy your fretboard.) Stick to the stuff at the hardware store or pharmacy (used for a lot of stuff, including laxative,) the guitar store. Lemon oil at the guitar store is very over priced, but given the bottle will last years, and probably has a handy applicator, and is still only a couple bucks a lot of people don't mind the price. I don't like the scent so i just use mineral oil (plus you can make your own lava-style-lamp with it too. (maybe that deserves another thread, but I'm not sure I want to risk any liability if one o you burns your house down. )

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

I wouldn't recommend using boiled linseed oil on a guitar fretboard. It is great for some uses, as the old time gun makers used it to finish their curly maple gunstocks. It's a slow process and has to be rubbed on and off every day for a couple of weeks to get a good finish. I don't believe it would be good for a guitar neck as it does tend to become sticky in certain weather/humidity conditions.
A tip, if you use boiled linseed oil for anything be sure and do not leave any rags soaked in it to lay around as they will catch fire from spontaneous combustion.
I have built long rifles and used boiled linseed oil to finish the maple stocks but would not use it on my guitars.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

I agree with Ceri, and I know Martin Guitars use a drop of Mineral Oil on the fingerboards of their new guitars just to darken the wood (Ebony or Rosewood) and then wiped straight off. They recommend you can maintain the look of the fingerboard by following that practice once or twice a year, if needed.

On the recent Martin factory tours apparently what to use on fingerboards is one of the frequently asked questions and they have also recently been recommending and handing out leaflets for Dr. Ducks Ax Wax on the tours.

http://www.ducksdeluxe.com/ddaxwax.html


Snowy

i have always just cleaned the fretboard when i change strings. I clean them with a cloth and if need be a bit of tooth brushing around the frets then treat them with the dunlop 65 lemon oil. I have really become a believer in the Dunlop 65 cleaning products. the only thing that i use other than that on guitar bodies is Mothers Caranuba wax for protection and swirl polishing.

I've used Old English brand lemon oil for my rosewood boards for 30+ years....and boiled linseed oil on my gunstocks that don't have a slick finish.....but no linseed or Tru-Oil on my fingerboards...ever!

Like I said tru oil only on maple necks, never on rosewood. We agree.

I know of people who use boiled linseed oil to accentuate flame maple, or burl, but they always make sure to seal it with another finish to prevent decay.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.