Members allan grossman Posted November 15, 2003 Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 From: Roger Sadowsky Date: Fri, 28 Feb 97 08:57:35 -0000Subject: Re: The Bottom Line V1997 #101 Ah, the old fingerboard oil discussion again! I should probably just save this posting as a file to reuse whenever necessary. Here in the shop I clean fingerboards (except maple) with 0000 steel wool. I do not recommend you do this at home as you will contaminate your pickups with steel wool dust. Now don't laugh at this, but the best fingerboard cleaner I have found (especially for cleaning built up skin cell grunge) is the aerosol Windex (the spray can, not the pump). Cover the body and the headstock with an old rag or towel and spray the fingerboard with the aerosol Windex (it comes out as a white foam). Let it sit for a few seconds and then scrub the fingerboard with an old toothbrush until all the old grunge lifts. Then wipe down the entire fingerboard with paper towels until it is clean and dry. You can safely do this with rosewood, ebony and lacquered maple fingerboards. Follow up the Windex with a coat of boiled linseed oil on the rosewood or ebony boards. Wipe it on to coat the entire board and then wipe all the excess right off. The lacquered maple boards could use a once over with Martin guitar polish after the Windex. You might have better luck finding the aerosol Windex at hardware stores or office supply stores than at the supermarket. Roger Sadowsky Sadowsky Guitars Ltd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members allan grossman Posted November 15, 2003 Author Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 Hey, mods - wouldja please delete this post and move the thread over to the FAQ? I don't know if BA told y'all but all the threads in the FAQ have to be made sticky or they get deleted when Scott prunes the forums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ramanuman Posted November 15, 2003 Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 Good one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Lurker Posted November 15, 2003 Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 did he say how often this should be done? like when you change strings or annually or just to taste/amount of playing time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tony Renaud Posted November 15, 2003 Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 They say to do the BLO once a year for maintenance purposes on instruments without traditional satin or gloss poly finishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted November 15, 2003 Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 At least maybe people will listen if it comes from ol' Roger.When I recommend Windex, they laugh and say I'm clueless.We could start a "basic maintenance" thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jefkay Posted November 15, 2003 Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 We use the Dunlop polishers in the store, they work fine too And they're based on lemon oil.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members allan grossman Posted November 15, 2003 Author Members Share Posted November 15, 2003 From: Roger Sadowsky Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 08:30:28 -0500 (EST) Subject: Re: oiling fingerboards The issue of adjusting the truss rod when oiling a fingeboard is not an issue. The issue is what kind of oil you are using and how long you are "soaking". I recommend linseed oil and DO NOT recommend soaking. Just cover the entire fingerboard with enough oil to just "wet" the board, let it stand no more than 5 minutes, and wipe off all the excess with a dry paper towel. If you want to let it "air dry" overnight before you restring--that's OK--but don't "wet-soak" the board for long periods of time. Oils that are sold for wood finishing like tung oil preparations get too gummy feeling in my opinion. I have always found lemon oil (as in Old English) to make boards dry out faster than if left alone. After 24 years of this, I still like linseed oil the best. Roger Sadowsky Sadowsky Guitars Ltd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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