fretboard lube?

Kinda of dumb question but here I go,I've read in a couple of guitar maintenence books that you can use lemon oil to treat the rosewood slab to keep it from drying out,if so where can you get lemon oil or is there a better alternative ?

Kinda of dumb question but here I go,I've read in a couple of guitar maintenence books that you can use lemon oil to treat the rosewood slab to keep it from drying out,if so where can you get lemon oil or is there a better alternative ?

I bought some lemon oil at a local guitar store for my fretboards, they were looking really dry. I dont reccomend the lemon oil, my fret board sucked it all up and now it looks drier than before. Natural oils from your hands work better I think, so just play it a lot when your hands are really sweaty.

Its important to remember that some lemon oils or other oils can damage the wood, so its best to buy it at a guitar related store to avoid the wrong purchase.

I really like the GHS fast fret. It works much better than the lemon oil IMHO.

I would never use lemon oil on a rosewood board. I been using bore oil for years on rosewood and ebony boards and I'm very satisfied with the results. You can buy it in any music store (it's made for woodwind instruments) and a little $2 bottle will last a decade.

Most if not all commercial lemon oil is just light mineral oil with enough lemon oil in it to make it smell purty. I cut out the middle man and just use plain 'ol light mineral oil you get at the drug store.

People have been debating whether to oil rosewood fretboards or not for the last 100 years or more so ultimately you just have to decide whether to do it or not. Personally I've found no ill effects to a little oil once or twice a year. YMMV.

+1 on woodwind bore oil--it works great, and yes, costs practically nothing and a little goes a long, long way.

-Another one for bore oil. I've used it on my Epi Lester, my Strat, my bass and my acoustic. You only need to use it maybe once a year. What a lot of people don't realize is how much natural resin is in rosewood. It can take a lot from dishwashers before drying out, so used as a fretboard is no where near as harsh. How I use mine is remove the strings and clean the fretboard with either a warm soapy washcloth rung out very good, or a piece of terrycloth with some naptha on it. Get rid of all the dirt and grime.

-After the fretboard is dry, either just use your fingertip or a little piece of flannel or terrycloth and go all over between each fret. I left mine soak in for a couple hours. Then just get another clean dry cloth and buff the fretboard. The bore oil gives it a nice shine and a smooth feel. I have yet to notice any kind of sticky feel or residue from using it and I've had it on my guitars for a couple years now.

L8R,
Matt D.

Bore oil it is! Thanks to all who gave their 2 cent's worth.You guys have a great site here.

I'm Actually A Bass Player And Use Dr Stringfellow String Cleaner Regularly After Every Gig. Some Gets On The Fretboard And It Keeps The Wood Looking Clean Snd Deep. There's A Little Lemon Oil In It For This Reason. By The Way, It Is Very Good String Cleaner Also, Imho, Way Better Than The Ghs Rub-on Stick Thing.
Dr Stringfellow Leaves A Slightly Slippery Finish That Goes Away Quickly. The Ghs Stuff Leaves A Kind Of Sticky Feel, To Me.

Tres Amigos Also Makes A Good Lemon Oil Based Finger Board Oil. It's Not Just Straight Lemonoil, There's Like Flax Seed Oil, Linseed Oil, Etc In There.

A Very Good Guitar Tech In My Area Puts A Drop Of 3in1 Oil Into A Petrie Dish Of His Neck Oil Mixture.

Try The Dr Stingfellows Tho It Really Is Good Stuff And It Makes Your Strings Last.

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

-I use Windex to clean my maple board, but never tried it on rosewood. But for me personally I still prefer bore oil for treating. I've tried this and that over the years and settled on bore oil. Before I came across bore oil, I was using Milsek lemon oil.

L8R,
Matt D.