Virgin neck and Fretboard treatment ?

[oldun]

I have a few questions but I better do them one at a time to avoid confusion.
I have been looking at my SG kit now for 4 days, just too much maintenance around the house at the moment, so it's a bit frustrating, more so for a 1st attempt, my question is the neck, I assume Maple, fretboard is rosewood, I read Tung oil, Birchwood Casey gun stock oil, among many other ideas, I'm wondering if oil might eventually penetrate and cause any lifting / separation of the fretboard, just a thought, any suggestions appreciated. BTW my Strat is smooth as silk both sides, no idea what the finish is though.

[Andy]

rosewood has plenty of natural oil in it's self, if you burnish it with a cloth you will notice it become more slick and glossy and it has natural resistance to decay
alot of people do treat rosewood with oils
I have heard one should be carefull with lemon oil as it can actually dry out a fretboard as it evaporates, but it is a great cleaner.

I'm not a luthier so mabey someone with more knowledge can pipe in as there are alot of guitar snake oils out there

[otaypanky]

I clean my rosewood and ebony fretboards with Formby's Build Up Remover and I oil them with mineral oil.
I'll use a drop of the oil to keep the neck back slick when playing too ~

[FrankenFretter]

I've always used lemon oil, whether for maple or rosewood. I've never had any problem with it drying out any sooner than it would anyway. It seems to be a good oil for fretboards, as long as it is used sparingly. I have also heard that tung oil, mineral oil, and salami oil all work well.

[oldun]

rosewood has plenty of natural oil in it's self, if you burnish it with a cloth you will notice it become more slick and glossy and it has natural resistance to decay
alot of people do treat rosewood with oils
I have heard one should be carefull with lemon oil as it can actually dry out a fretboard as it evaporates, but it is a great cleaner.

I'm not a luthier so mabey someone with more knowledge can pipe in as there are alot of guitar snake oils out there


Thanks Andy,
I did try just rubbing a small section and as you say it does gloss up a bit, I had a very small dent in the fretboard, so I used a damp coth and hot iron to get it out, and noticed how absorbent the rosewood is, I'm of the opinion it needs protection of some sort.

[oldun]

I clean my rosewood and ebony fretboards with Formby's Build Up Remover and I oil them with mineral oil.
I'll use a drop of the oil to keep the neck back slick when playing too ~


Ok otaypanky,
thanks for that, I found a bottle of baby oil, don't know what that's doing here, surely it can't be that old ? , it smells nice though, better than some who use linseed oil, I think linseed would dry too sticky anyway.

[oldun]

I've always used lemon oil, whether for maple or rosewood. I've never had any problem with it drying out any sooner than it would anyway. It seems to be a good oil for fretboards, as long as it is used sparingly. I have also heard that tung oil, mineral oil, and salami oil all work well.


Thanks Frankenfretter,
mineral or tung oil seems like the choice, I'll look into these more, thanks again.

[otaypanky]

As far as I understand tung oil acts to seal the wood. I have never used it so I can't speak from experience. Baby oil has fragrance added but the main ingredient is mineral oil. Mineral oil doesn't seal the wood it just replenishes the wood as the natural oils will dissipate over time.
Back in the early 70's a friend of mine apprenticed with a woodcarver and became extremely proficient and successful at his craft. His teacher always used mineral oil on his black walnut carvings. I've used it ever since without a problem. A drop on a rag used to clean off the strings also works very well and keeps them from rusting or oxidizing. I keep a little contact lens wetting solution plastic container filled with the oil in my case.
But I must say, the salami oil sounds most appetizing ~
As the other common use for mineral oil is as a laxative :thwap

[Heywood Jablomie]

Since most maple fingerboards are finished with a hard substance, it is unnecessary and undesirable to use any application other than a clean cloth or a mild solution of Murphy's oil soap for cleaning. Rosewood and ebony are usually left unfinished (except for the occasional departure like with Rickenbacker's finished rosewood fingerboards) and can occasionally be treated with a non-hardening oil for aesthetics (shine/darkness) and moisture retention.

[deeaa]

Oil for rosewood fretboard, yeah...I use Gibson Fretboard Conditioner on mine.

As for the neck itself I'm afraid oils and such do not provide sufficient protection for years and years to come. I like to seal the wood properly to keep the neck straight and even. That means laquer. Been testing various methods...last one I did, I sprayed it with spray varnish, and then rubbed immediately all over with 0000 steel wool. The wood sucked in the varnish well, and I repeated the process six or so times, it only took an hour between to dry it seems. It turned out very silky, feels like wood but there must be plenty of varnish there anyway...so that seems like a good method for wood-feeling satin finish now. Will have to keep examining how it behaves onward.

Usually, and almost on all my guitars, I have a vintage style hard lacquer sprayed and properly buffed to full shine. Both vintage yellowish or clear, depending on guitar. I have no factory finished guitars any more, they're all custom and usually finalized (laquered/buffed) by a pro luthier, even though I've done the base work on most. Takes nearly a month to dry well, though. But that'll last forever and look great and certainly seal the wood well - after all that's the way all 50's guitars were done and they're still fine and have lasted well.

[Bloozcat]

If the neck material itself is in fact, maple, then there are a couple of things to consider.

Maple is a very closed pore wood. Closed pore woods do not absorb oils as easily as do open pore woods like mahogany, walnut, swamp ash, etc. So, whatever finish you use, it should leave a hard coating on the wood as well as being absorbed by the wood to whatever degree possible. Anyone who's ever stained maple or birch (another similarly closed pore wood) can attest to the difficulty in getting uniform absorbsion of the stain into the pore of the wood. The stain/poly one step finishes do a better job as they coat the wood far more than they are absorbed by the wood.

Tru-oil is a polymerized oil finish, which means that in addition to being absorbed into the wood to whatever degree the wood allows, it also coats the wood itself with a semi-hard finish. I say semi-hard because there is a limited percentage of polymer in the finish. The MinWax Wiping Poly on the other hand is a finish in which the main ingredient is polymer. It can be applied in thin coats that will leave a hard finish.

As firearms is my other expensive hobby, I've finished many gunstocks (mainly black walnut) with Tru-oil. It leaves a semi-hard, water resistant finish. After all, it was designed to protect a gun stock from the elements to prevent warping of the stock which causes pressure points on the barrel and action which in turn affects consistent accuracy. And although the finish is quite resillient, it is prone to denting far more easily than a finish with a higher percentage of polymer. Just something to keep in mind if you use Tru-Oil on a neck.

Like Dee, I'm in the nitrocellulose lacquer camp when it comes to guitar finishing (necks and bodies). It's a thin, hard finish that buffs out to a mirror-like shine and it's plenty slick for fast runs (especially if you use Finger Ease like I do). It may have been convenience that led to the adoption of lacquer as a guitar finish in the first place (as opposed to the traditional French rub finishes of earlier stringed instruments), but it's value as a finish has been thoroughly documented over the years. It's a little less forgiving than poly with it's tendency towards "melting" when in contact with rubber over a period of time. But, if one cares for their instrument as they should, it should never become a problem. Clear Nitro cellulose lacquer is available in spray cans from guitar re-ranch and Stew-Mac so finding it is not a problem. Guitar re-ranch even has spray neck tint so you can duplicate a vintage Fender neck look.

[oldun]

[QUOTE=otaypanky]As far as I understand tung oil acts to seal the wood. I have never used it so I can't speak from experience. Baby oil has fragrance added but the main ingredient is mineral oil. Mineral oil doesn't seal the wood it just replenishes the wood as the natural oils will dissipate over time.
As the other common use for mineral oil is as a laxative



If I use that baby oil I'll have the sweetest smelling fretboard, which might help to offset my not so sweet fretboard skills, The salami I'll give that a miss, it might get the rodents chewing. Another thought came to me, furniture wax / polish on the fretboard.

[oldun]

Since most maple fingerboards are finished with a hard substance, it is unnecessary and undesirable to use any application other than a clean cloth or a mild solution of Murphy's oil soap for cleaning. Rosewood and ebony are usually left unfinished (except for the occasional departure like with Rickenbacker's finished rosewood fingerboards) and can occasionally be treated with a non-hardening oil for aesthetics (shine/darkness) and moisture retention.


Yes my Strat copy neck has a very hard finish and silky smooth, could be Epoxy or Estapol maybe, but this SG's rosewood is very soft and porous, so it'll need some treatment for sure.

[deeaa]

Furniture polish, Pled Lemon Polish, is what we always used to polish guitars on sale when I worked in a music store. But not on fretboards :-)

[deeaa]

Yes my Strat copy neck has a very hard finish and silky smooth, could be Epoxy or Estapol maybe, but this SG's rosewood is very soft and porous, so it'll need some treatment for sure.

Rosewood fretboards are supposed to be a little like that, don't worry...just some oil now and then is fine. I wouldn't overdo it, might just loosen the frets in worst case...just a dab of oil is great for it. Even if you did that once in 3 years or so that'd be enough to keep it fine.

[oldun]

[QUOTE=deeaa]Oil for rosewood fretboard, yeah...I use Gibson Fretboard Conditioner on mine.

As for the neck itself I'm afraid oils and such do not provide sufficient protection for years and years to come.

I will be using oil very sparingly on this fretboard, I'm actually thinking about spraying the neck and headstock black, and finally the body the same, and finish with a clear coat.

[gregsguitars]

Unboiled linseed oil used VERY sparingly, let sit, buff dry with clean cotton cloth for the fret board, as for giving the edges and back of the neck a broken in feel over time. Here is what I have done in the past.Take a PAPER grocery bag cut into 3 inch wide strips, fold to hand sized pieces , as your sitting around watching the tube or whatever gently rub the neck full length (back) with the paper bag "gloves" , not fast or hard enough to cause friction or heat but just up and down the neck, over time this will break in the stiffness in the feel as well as the fret edges. Hope this helps, Greg.

[oldun]

[QUOTE=Bloozcat]If the neck material itself is in fact, maple, then there are a couple of things to consider.

Maple is a very closed pore wood. Closed pore woods do not absorb oils as easily as do open pore woods like mahogany, walnut, swamp ash, etc. So, whatever finish you use, it should leave a hard coating on the wood as well as being absorbed by the wood to whatever degree possible.

Well thanks Bloozcat for you detailed info, I mentioned to deeaa that I'm now thinking of spray painting the neck, headstock and body black and a clear coat sealer. Never having had rosewood I'm surprised how absorbent it is, I'll just oil it very sparingly.
Firearms, a few years ago I bought a re- barrelled K98 7.62/308, the stock too low for target work so I raised the comb area, floated the barrell, painted the stock black, they all said it looked evil, it even shot reasonably well, the paint job still looks ok, but my firearms now have been reduced, down to a few rifles, all handguns sold off, our regulations here too tough.
Thanks again. :thumbsup

[oldun]

Rosewood fretboards are supposed to be a little like that, don't worry...just some oil now and then is fine. I wouldn't overdo it, might just loosen the frets in worst case...just a dab of oil is great for it. Even if you did that once in 3 years or so that'd be enough to keep it fine.


That's worth thinking about too, I was only considering too much oil penetrating and maybe the rosewood lifting, but frets didn't even consider them, no idea if they are only press fit or glued. thanks deeaa.

[oldun]

[QUOTE=gregsguitars]Unboiled linseed oil used VERY sparingly, let sit, buff dry with clean cotton cloth for the fret board, as for giving the edges and back of the neck a broken in feel over time. Here is what I have done in the past.Take a PAPER grocery bag cut into 3 inch wide strips, fold to hand sized pieces ,

Thanks Greg,
all these ideas are much appreciated, I did wonder if linseed oil might be sticky when it dries, but you say sparingly and buff it, as you use it I can only assume it's all ok, so thanks again.

[Andy]

I can't see any oil lifting the fingerboard unless it seeped/soaked under the board, if the board had a full even coverage of glue when it was applied , and allowed to cure.

I don't imagine oil could soak all the way thru a fretboard unless it was dunked in oil..ofcourse normal application of cleaner/oil would never do that.

[oldun]

I can't see any oil lifting the fingerboard unless it seeped/soaked under the board, if the board had a full even coverage of glue when it was applied , and allowed to cure.

I don't imagine oil could soak all the way thru a fretboard unless it was dunked in oil..ofcourse normal application of cleaner/oil would never do that.


Yes I'll be using oil very sparingly, thanks Andy.