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Post subject: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:39 am
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Aspiring Musician
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For a long while I've been using Kyser Dr. Stgringfellow Lem-oil on my rosewood and ebony necks and have been satisfied with the results. Recently I came across Tru-Oil® and was wondering if anyone has used this product on a fingerboard.

      "Originally used as a gunstock finish, this linseed-based drying oil has gained popularity for use on tool handles, musical instruments and other items that are subject to frequent handling, due to its excellent resistance to wear and moisture. Applied with a cloth, it penetrates the wood to deepen its color and accentuate grain, drying to a tough, lustrous and elastic film that will not crack or discolor with age. Made in USA."

Thanks & Cheers!
BM

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:40 pm
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I sparingly use Formby's Lemon Oil Treatment...just a little at a time. It smells nice, plus he looks like a trustworthy guy(illustrated on the bottle). I've been told it's a harmless liquid that won't hurt the wood. It's also good for getting out dents in the rosewood/ebony. Use a very thin coat...maybe every couple weeks. Don't ever rush the wood!


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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 1:55 pm
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Very interested in reading about lemon oil virtues.
My routine is,
70-30% mix of rubbing alcohol and Mr. Clean to wipe
the gunk off and get a quick dry.
Then I sponge in some olive oil.
After about an hour, I get rid of the excess, and if my OCD
is with me, I polish feverishly.

Sometimes I suspect name products for chores like this
are an expensive and perhaps un-necessary purchase.
Counting every dime here these days...

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 2:01 pm
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I just leave the oil on....


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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 2:19 pm
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Someone that I trust had sent me this some years ago and it's worked out fine :

http://www.muzique.com/schem/fret.htm

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 3:41 pm
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Bore oil if you're weary. Good enough for a £20,000 Bassoon, good enough for any electric guitar.

Personally, I like using teak oil. Though some will tell you that your guitar will instantly melt to a puddle if it even sees a bottle of teak oil.

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:23 pm
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
For a long while I've been using Kyser Dr. Stgringfellow Lem-oil on my rosewood and ebony necks and have been satisfied with the results. Recently I came across Tru-Oil® and was wondering if anyone has used this product on a fingerboard.

Hi BM: we've covered this topic quite thoroughly before, but no harm in doing it some more, because there's a lot of voodoo about this particular issue. And I'm in a typing mood. :)

I've heard of people using Tru-Oil on guitar necks, though it's probably more applicable to the back of the neck than the fingerboard, because it is a fundamentally different type of oil to the "lemon" oil generally sold for rosewood and ebony.

Lemon oil is just mineral oil with lemon scent added to improve its charm. You can just as well use ordinary mineral oil available incredibly cheaply from hardware stores and pharmacies - woodwind players use mineral oil on their clarinets and oboes. I've an idea Johnson's baby oil is essentially mineral oil too, but we might want to avoid that, partly because we don't know what other cosmetic substances might be in it and mostly because it's a rather more expensive way of buying a dirt cheap product.

The reason for using mineral oil, as we all know, is because rosewood and ebony used for fingerboards are usually not lacquered and left exposed to air for a long time have a tendancy to dry out. The oil is as near to inert as makes no difference: it's only function is to rehydrate the wood, making it feel nice and stopping it cracking.

Some folks seem to think lemon oil functions as a fingerboard cleaner. They've misunderstood: it doesn't. It's oil.

Tru-Oil and other gunstock oils and related products are a chemically different thing, and that's the bit we need to understand here. Tru-Oil is polymerising linseed oil, plus some other things. Technically, it's known as a "drying oil" (though chemically speaking it doesn't actually dry, as nothing evaporates). The polymerising bit means that as it cures in contact with oxygen it undergoes a one-way chemical change, hardening into a thin film. In other words, unlike "non-drying oils" such as mineral oil, it is a type of varnish: the more you use it the more you will build up an actual finish layer on the wood.

This is also true of a whole lot of other oils, such as Danish oil, teak oil and so forth.

It isn't illegal to use it on your fingerboard, but you need to understand that you'd be carrying out a fundamentally different process to using mineral oil. Instead of simply rehydrating the wood you would instead be gradually varnishing it. You'd be building up a discreet layer on the surface that once there is not going away, except by sanding it off.

That's not necessarily a bad thing for a fingerboard, just so long as you appreciate what you're doing and have a reason for it in mind.

On the other hand, as an alternative to lacquer on the back of the neck, there are several good reasons folks might prefer it, especially if lacquer tends to feel sticky under their hands. Some people like the feeling of an oil-varnished wood beneath their palm, and some makers use it for the backs of necks for that reason.

Mind you. Privately I have a theory that some people get enthusiastic about using gunstock oil on fingerboards because they find the weaponry association sexy. That's fine, each to their own - but I'm not sure it's a good enough reason to use a product on a guitar fingerboard. Personally, I'm going to carry on using mineral oil: it's the right tool for the job.

Anyhow. If that somehow isn't enough words on the subject there's more about using drying oils as an alternative to guitar lacquer on this handy page at Luthiers' Mercantile:

http://www.lmii.com/oil-finishes

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:35 pm
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Ceri wrote:
Hi BM: we've covered this topic quite thoroughly before, but no harm in doing it some more, because there's a lot of voodoo about this particular issue. And I'm in a typing mood. :)
    Hi Ceri. Thanks very much for your thoughtful and detailed reply which I find most informative. (I'm learning quite a bit with this thread.)

    Has anyone here used Tru-Oil on either the fingerboard or the back of the neck?

    Cheers!
    BM

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 4:46 pm
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Bluer Monkey wrote:
Hi Ceri. Thanks very much...

Hahaha - ya kinda got chapter-and-verse there, didn't you? :lol:

Since you ask, I haven't used Tru-Oil but I have used teak oil on an ebony fingerboard. In that case I had a specific reason for it: I'd made dot inlays out of maple, which obviously needed some sort of coating to protect them from getting filthy during use. I didn't really want to lacquer an ebony 'board, so I varnished it lightly with teak oil instead. Not enough to build up a thick varnish but enough to protect the maple dots. As it happened, it brought the blackness of the ebony up beautifully too.

Behlen (a finishing products manufacturer) have a chart where they compare the characteristics of various oils and varnishes. Amongst the oils, teak oil scores the highest, so that's why I chose it:

Image

To me, all of that seemed good reasoning for using a drying oil on a fingerboard. Under most other circumstances, though, I wouldn't do it.

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 5:29 pm
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I use this product since when I first started playing the guitar. It's a good product, and not as thick as normal linseed oil. If you can get this product I recommend trying it :) This bottle Ive had for years, costing far less than the lemon oil that music stores recommend. In my opinion, in the right amount used, it does a better job.

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Post subject: Re: Fingerboard maintenance
Posted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 1:45 am
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over 35 years of playing and have used most everything i can think of.
last use was mineral oil, which made my rosewood fingerboard look great,
and the strings feeling nice, after a day, the strings felt tacky, as dishes do when your washing them,
that squeaky clean feel, it makes it hard for smooth and accurate slides up or down to a note.
Last month i bought some Tri Flow, this is a liquid Teflon spray, it also come in other forms as well.
it has the oil for the neck, and makes the strings feel very smooth, and the best thing,
it makes for almost a non build up of dirt or finger gunk on the strings.
my strings use to tarnish and start to rust a week or 2 after installing them,
no more does this happen, no more dirt build up in the winding's of the wound strings,
and makes almost 0 build up of dirt on the fretboard after playing.

I do not spray the neck directly, but onto a rag, then apply it.
it smells good, and a little goes a long way.
more resistant to water than silicone, and makes the string bends on the frets very smooth.
I can't say what this will do over time to the neck, but it seems to be ok to use it on everything.
I like it, and it does what i want it to do, so it's good enough for me.

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