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June 2002
Posts: 1614
Location: Converse, Texas | What seems to be the most popular cleaner for the fretboard? I'm about to re-string my USA Ovation mandolin (thanks Miles!) and want to know what works out there. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I have used plain old lemon oil for years. Works great. Just for kicks, also picked up a bottle of orange oil. Works the same as lemon oil. I bought a bottle of Fender Fretboard Conditioner by Meguiars. Works the same as lemon oil. I say, buy some lemon oil. It's good for all your fretboards. |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Plain old boiled linseed oil is good too. |
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May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | For cleaning the fretboard, the guitar techs at The 12th Fret recommend 0000-grade steel wool. For "nourishing" it, they recommend Tung oil. Wipe it on, wait one minute, then wipe off the excess. |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | To clean the fret board use naphtha and 0000 steel wool. After it's clean you have to remoisturize it. I've found the best is light mineral oil or boiled linseed oil. Lemon oil is good, but only if it is the natural variety, if it says it's toxic don't use it. Don't use the lemon oil that has detergeant in it, so that means formby's is out. IMHO, I'd stay away from Tung oil, as to my mind that's more of a finish then moisturizer. Unless you want to seal the surface of the fretboard. These instructions assume you've got an ebony or rosewood or other "unfinished" fret board. |
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May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | Wouldn't naphtha tend to dry out the wood? And, as I mentioned in another post, the Martin website recommends against using lemon oil on their guitars, as it can damage guitar finishes and aid in the corrosion of frets and strings.
Re the lemon oil vs. tung oil - don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger. |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Absolutely, it dries it, really fast! As soon as the naphtha is dry, less than an hour, you'd want to put the moisture back with the linseed or mineral oil. All the dirt will be gone. And I don't think you want to do this kind of deep cleaning more than once a year. Anyhow, this is what I do and I've had good luck. As for shooting the messinger??? I'm just exchanging ideas. And Tung oil doesn't make sense to me, doesn't it form a surface barrier? |
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May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | I don't really know anything about tung oil; the 12th Fret website says that's what they use. I'll send them a query about it, and pass on what they say to the OFC board. Stay tuned... |
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December 2003
Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | Pure Tung Oil hardens. Probably not a good "refresher". Excellant base finish for new. |
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January 2004
Posts: 648
Location: Florida | Lemon oil is not really lemon oil. Its mineral oil.
That said, the commercial fretboard oils and preserviatives work well enough it seems.
Just a note... I usually suggest all Taylor, Martin, and banjo players to scrub their fretboards with a Makita beltsander, 80grit belt...... |
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June 2004
Posts: 365
Location: NC | I use lemon oil............seems to be doing fine. I know some don't like it. To each his/her own. :D |
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May 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada | CharlieB - I tried that thing with the belt sander and 80 grit on my Martin. Now it looks...different, somehow. :eek: |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | but it's got that smooth tone now. Slide right up the fingerboard, no frets to get in the way. |
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August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | re: Just a note... I usually suggest all Taylor, Martin, and banjo players to scrub their fretboards with a Makita beltsander, 80grit belt......
Kim said something like that to smooth out those sharp edges on the back and sides... |
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November 2004
Posts: 31
Location: Los Angeles, California | Once you get the fretboard nice and clean, Stewart MacDonald's Fretboard Finishing Oil does a great job and looks sweet! Tung Oil is a film-forming-finish, oleo-resin. Many of the custom shops use it on the bottom of the neck of new guitars. Slick and quick. I would never use steel wool of any grade. Soft cloth only for me. |
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April 2004
Posts: 234
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Originally posted by Elite LX:
I use lemon oil............seems to be doing fine. I know some don't like it. To each his/her own. :D
It's not really a question of "to each his/her own". It's more of what is the product made of; how, exactly, do these components/chemicals affect the guitar and it's finish; what are the long term effects of using these products; etc. Using any commercially available product won't harm your guitar, or decrease its life, in the short run. The question is what are the effects over the long run? For example, many people use furniture polish on guitars without reporting any negative effect. But, we know that repreated use will hurt a guitar's finish because commercially available furniture polishes also contain cleaners which both remove a small amount of finish each time you use it and are designed for a much thicker, and tougher, wood finish than is customarily used on guitars. A great many users of furniture polish swear by it for their guitars. Until a few years go by and they notice both small finish cracks and minute scratches in the finish. Then, they swear at the furniture polish. |
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Cleaning the Fretboard