What finish for rosewood?

[cratz2]

So there was some discussion in the Tru Oil thread about folks getting mixed results applying it to rosewood... But... if you want a glossy appearance on rosewood, what do you guys suggest? I have an Allparts neck and the rosewood is the driest wood EVER! I've literally slathered it in lemon oil several times. I don't care about making the grain pop, I just want it to look health rather than looking like it's been neglected for the last 25 years.

 

[hshaitan]

From what I've read, lemon oil tends to dry out the fretboard. I use a fretboard conditioner called Gerlitz Guitar Honey and would buy it again. It seems to stay with it longer than the Dunlop one does and makes it looks nice and dark and healthy. Hope that helps.

[TheIgnoramus]

I'm assuming Fret Doctor has already been suggested and dismissed? Assuming you mean the fretboard, I couldn't imagine using anything other than FD for my guitars.

[EADGBE]

Here's a couple of suggestions.

 

 

[Doctor Morbius]

If you have some mineral oil handy, give it a try on a couple of frets and see how it works.

[cratz2]

Thanks for the suggestions, but I was also interested in an actual finish rather than a 'treatment'.

 

Just Googling around on the Guitar Honey yields a lot of references to lemon oil and mineral oil actually drying ebony and rosewood... but from my 25 years of experience, that's only true of unfinished ebony and rosewood. I was always told to use mineral oil on viola and cello boards, but they obviously have some sort of polished finish.

 

I think I have about 10 guitars with rosewood fretboards and this Allparts neck is the only one that lemon oil doesn't make look like a million bucks leading me to believe the others have some sort of finish on it.

 

Or maybe it just needs to physically be polished... with a wheel.

[Doctor Morbius]

... Or maybe it just needs to physically be polished... with a wheel.

You're welcome to use my bench grinder if you have a polishing wheel and some compound.