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Post subject: Oil for my Charvel San Dimas?
Posted: Thu Jul 08, 2010 2:37 pm
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I have a Charvel Electric guitar, that has a maple fretboard. Now in the manual for the guitar it says to clean and oil the neck every 6-12 months or so, but I can't seem to find any oil on websites for maple fretboards. Is maple a hard enough wood to last a very long time without oil? Or does Charvel put enough of a finish on the neck to make it last a lifetime?


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Post subject: Re: Oil for my Charvel San Dimas?
Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 7:13 am
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gokengt wrote:
I have a Charvel Electric guitar, that has a maple fretboard. Now in the manual for the guitar it says to clean and oil the neck every 6-12 months or so, but I can't seem to find any oil on websites for maple fretboards. Is maple a hard enough wood to last a very long time without oil? Or does Charvel put enough of a finish on the neck to make it last a lifetime?


Welcome!

If you have a maple fretboard, the odds are overwhelming that it is sealed with some sort of finish. Any oil you put on it will have no effect other than to slime it up. This is why you can't find any oil on websites for maple fretboards.

Yes, even unfinished maple will stand up to the elements over a long period of time without oil.

Charvel puts enough of a finish on the neck to make it last an indefinite period of time but certainly not a lifetime; no manufacturer really could. Any prolonged, routine playing will eventually eat through the finish here and there and then there's the eventuality that here and there as well, the finish will blister away from around some frets over time too.

Remember, nothing is forever except death and taxes.

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Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 11:43 am
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Will I be able to notice the difference when the finish starts to wear away? Or should I just oil it every 5, 10 years? For the sake of figuring it, let's say I play 4 hours a day every day.


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Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:23 pm
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gokengt wrote:
Will I be able to notice the difference when the finish starts to wear away? Or should I just oil it every 5, 10 years? For the sake of figuring it, let's say I play 4 hours a day every day.


You'll immediately be able to notice a difference when the finish wears away. At first, the bare wood will appear to be really white in comparison. Over time, body oils, etc. will begin to penetrate the bare wood spots where the wood will turn to an ashen color. Look at any old and really played maple fingerboard (and neck for that matter) of a Strat, Tele, P-Bass, etc. and you'll see what I mean. Here's an example:

http://www.pinrepair.com/vgi/fender/54_strat-july_1.jpg

Even in situations like this, I still would NEVER oil it period, believe it or not. The body oils, etc. are essentially doing the same job any extraneous wood oil would do.

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Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 8:07 am
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the charvels have an oil finish applied at factory. I would not recommend re-oiling it. Just play it and let your body's natural oils discolor the neck. Eventually it will turn a nice rich color and you will have visible proof that you play your guitar a lot.

all of my oil-finished guitar necks just get better feeling the more you play them. and they never get cleaned - I like the look of them when they develop signs of use.


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