Members notjonahbutnoah Posted October 10, 2010 Members Share Posted October 10, 2010 Well? I've become more concerned with fretboard upkeep lately. I've always had sub $500 guitars, and now with my Gibson I feel the need to baby it. I love the thing, plays amazingly. I love the ebony board so much. When I pull out my epi and see rosewood on white, it just looks bad to me, but the ebony looks amazing. I wanna keep it putry. What should I use??? Lemon oil? That "hydrate" stuff? Note: it has big nice trapezoid inlays, so, I want those to stay white/pearlescent. Ok. Go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 10, 2010 Members Share Posted October 10, 2010 Folks always offer up generic off the shelf products (which I'm sure is good advice) but I always think, why not just get this? Free shipping, small little bottle that takes up no space and will still practically last you a life time. I just use a drop on each fret space, about half that further up the neck on the smaller spaces, rub it around with my finger tip, let it sit for about 5 minutes, then rub it back off with a rag. $2.39 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/AILC965/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted October 10, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 10, 2010 Ok, seems like game set match. Any personal exp with it and ebony??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PunkKitty Posted October 10, 2010 Members Share Posted October 10, 2010 I just use lemon oil from time to time. It seems to work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 10, 2010 Members Share Posted October 10, 2010 Ok, seems like game set match. Any personal exp with it and ebony??? I have a few boards that are ebony. I use it on any rosewood or ebony board I have. Doesn't do anything for maple due to the lacquering used there. Ebony doesn't seem to be as porous as rosewood, but basically, I use that Gibson product on anything. I usually only do it once a year or so since I have a lot of guitars in rotation. I think someone here did point out that you can over soak a board, so I'd just do it when it appears dry-ish. I think that beside appearance, it helps protect against wear and possible cracking/splitting. My oldest Gibson LP has some natural scalloping going on. It's the guitar I learned on so it suffered a lot of death gipped cow boy chording. I've wondered if I had oiled the board if it would have resisted some of that wear. But in any case, it gave it some character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IBDBB Posted October 10, 2010 Members Share Posted October 10, 2010 use mineral oil. $1 at walmart/drugstore.It is lemon oil without the scent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted October 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 use mineral oil. $1 at walmart/drugstore.It is lemon oil without the scent. Hmmm, well I already use fast fret, could I just rub the stick all over he fingerboard??? That is only mineral oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members smorgdonkey Posted October 11, 2010 Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 Hmmm, well I already use fast fret, could I just rub the stick all over he fingerboard??? That is only mineral oil. Yes, you can rub it all over the fretboard and use a soft bristle toothbrush to get any gunk out from the fret edges then wipe it all down with a clean cloth. Ebony is dense and oily compared to most woods and needs the least maintenance but keeping it clean is a very nice touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted October 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 Yes, you can rub it all over the fretboard and use a soft bristle toothbrush to get any gunk out from the fret edges then wipe it all down with a clean cloth. Ebony is dense and oily compared to most woods and needs the least maintenance but keeping it clean is a very nice touch. Thanks man!!! Good info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OrangeBurst Posted October 11, 2010 Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 Well? I've become more concerned with fretboard upkeep lately. I've always had sub $500 guitars, and now with my Gibson I feel the need to baby it. I love the thing, plays amazingly. I love the ebony board so much. When I pull out my epi and see rosewood on white, it just looks bad to me, but the ebony looks amazing. I wanna keep it putry. What should I use??? Lemon oil? That "hydrate" stuff? Note: it has big nice trapezoid inlays, so, I want those to stay white/pearlescent. Ok. Go! I use Bore oil, its made for ebony instruments like clarinets but it works a lot better than the lemon oil stuff for guitars. That stuff just seems like repackaged furniture polish to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ILikeGuitar Posted October 11, 2010 Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 Fret Doctor/Bore Doctor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveGrima Posted October 11, 2010 Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 Bacon Grease Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrbrown49 Posted October 11, 2010 Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 I clean mine with naptha or mineral spirits when it's really dirty, and freshen it up with some light mineral oil. Looks and feels great. Don't go nuts. Over oiling is worse than neglecting it and doing nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted October 11, 2010 Moderators Share Posted October 11, 2010 Fret Doctor/Bore Doctor I never buy anything else, but these days I make my own with some melon seed oil (low viscosity) with some essential oils of rosemary and clove bud oil for long term perservative value. I never see the sense of using mineral oil on wood, when there are plenty of plant based products available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Phillbis Posted October 11, 2010 Members Share Posted October 11, 2010 I like this. [ATTACH]326955[/ATTACH] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted October 13, 2010 Members Share Posted October 13, 2010 Light mineral oil from the drug store. It's the purest and highest quality. Lemon oil and most all the other freboard conditioners are just low grade mineral oil and a solvent, like naptha, added. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members notjonahbutnoah Posted October 13, 2010 Author Members Share Posted October 13, 2010 Thanks bros! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 67mike Posted October 13, 2010 Members Share Posted October 13, 2010 FRETDOCTOR............nothing else! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nephilim-777 Posted October 13, 2010 Members Share Posted October 13, 2010 Clean with naptha. Condition with mineral oil and beer. The beer is for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jrockbridge Posted October 13, 2010 Members Share Posted October 13, 2010 Up to the point I had been using lemon oil. But, after reading this thread, I see the error of my ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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