Rosewood fretboard cleaned, now it’s hard to bend strings

[tfarny]

I have for years used a light application of basic mineral oil found at Home Depot, suitable for cutting boards, wood counters, and musical instruments. Works perfectly, low cost, no odor. Almost every "fretboard oil" out there is mineral oil + a drop of something smelly, in a small bottle with a pic of a guitar on it, for 3X the price.

 

[Dostradamas]

I always have a bottle of mink oil on hand for leather, works fine on wood as well.

 

[Ironwolf]

Monty's Guitars - Instrument Food Guitar Wax 120g tin - James' Home of Tone

About I've been a fan of the team at Monty's for a long time, skillful techs and luthiers, passionate about...

www.homeoftone.co.uk

This works for me.

I use this as well. Fantastic product. As is their Montypresso. Used it to darken the Pau Ferro board on my Strat.

 

[RLee77]

It seemed like a pretty straightforward question, but I don't see much point in pursuing it. Neither string bending nor vibrato is limited to electric guitars, but those I've seen doing it appear to be using a push/pull technique; push release seems awfully tricky.

I’d suggest if you’re interested in how it’s done that you check out some tutorial videos on YouTube… no shortage of them. I guess it’s hard to describe with words. I use the same technique that pretty much every electric player uses; nothing unusual.

 

[oldunc]

I’d suggest if you’re interested in how it’s done that you check out some tutorial videos on YouTube… no shortage of them. I guess it’s hard to describe with words. I use the same technique that pretty much every electric player uses; nothing unusual.

I've seen videos of rock guitarists- they all seem to play vibrato with their finger on top of the string (or with a tremolo bar), which is what made me curious.

 

[Paul G.]

First of all, make sure the board is oiled. I use food-grade mineral oil, but other types of oil will work that people here will happily recommend. I remove the strings, oil the board with a thick coat, let it soak for about 15 minutes, and then wipe the excess off with a cotton cloth.

If you've done that, then it's hours of playing my friend and getting that finger grease going.

Do not do this. It is a splendid way to get raised frets and lost inlays. Too much oil will soften the wood loosening its hold on fret tangs, oil soaking in will weaken any glue, releasing fret markers. Use oils sparingly.

 

[badscrew_projects]

No one talking about chicken grease? I’m disappointed.

There is no funk in y’all

 

[Fretting out]

You took off the mojo

I don’t trust any of those oil products….

I use a butcher block conditioner that has a wax base, if it’s good enough to eat off of…….

Haven’t had any problems, been doing it for years

(I don’t know what I’m doing…)

 

[Fretting out]

Do not do this. It is a splendid way to get raised frets and lost inlays. Too much oil will soften the wood loosening its hold on fret tangs, oil soaking in will weaken any glue, releasing fret markers. Use oils sparingly.

I saw a video on YouTube where a fellow used olive oil ALL OVER , a 50/60’s Gibson es

Completely destroyed the finish and the wood had soaked it up and became very soft/almost rotting

 

[badscrew_projects]

I saw a video on YouTube where a fellow used olive oil ALL OVER , a 50/60’s Gibson es

Completely destroyed the finish and the wood had soaked it up and became very soft/almost rotting

But did it taste well after that?

 

[Fretting out]

But did it taste well after that?

Ha! Maybe after the first coat…

Have you ever smelt bad oil?...it had been soaking on there In multiple coats for decades

 

[Piggy Stu]

BOILED

LINSEED

OIL

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

For what it's worth, I put coconut oil in my coffee every single day. It's supposed to lower LDL cholesterol, and provide other benefits.

Then an hour later, I get diarrhea.

 

[notmyusualuserid]

No one talking about chicken grease? I’m disappointed.

There is no funk in y’all

Actually, they have.

 

[notmyusualuserid]

BOILED

LINSEED

OIL

I don't like cricket...

 

[Dostradamas]

For what it's worth, I put coconut oil in my coffee every single day. It's supposed to lower LDL cholesterol, and provide other benefits.

Then an hour later, I get diarrhea.

One of the "other benefits" seems like weight loss.

 

[ricardo1912]

Bit off topic but I agree with lies&d. When people buy a new guitar and say the frets are scratchy, I always think some playing time and some decent bends will soon sort that out.
And another vote for lemon oil. I haven't got many rw guitars but I'm still on the same little bottle I bought years ago.

 

[TheCheapGuitarist]

Bit off topic but I agree with lies&d. When people buy a new guitar and say the frets are scratchy, I always think some playing time and some decent bends will soon sort that out.
And another vote for lemon oil. I haven't got many rw guitars but I'm still on the same little bottle I bought years ago.

I recently purchased a super cheap Les Paul copy from Amazon. The frets were indeed scratchy, but after about a week or so of playing it they smoothed out.

 

[ReverendRevolver]

So, I've cleaned my rosewood fretboards on the strat in 2004 and the Toronado In 2005ish. I will say that the the strat had green gunk next to the fret wire, and I 100% garuntee there was blood in there at various points because it was the primary guitar of teenage me and the only guitar of 10 to 12 year old me.
Toronado wasn't bad. (This was before 5 years of practice and gigs with it being all I'd touched on the regular). I used gibson cleaner in a white bottle.

I've never used anything but a ripped piece of cloth (occasionally damp) to clean any fretboard since. I'm not saying anything about everyone else's gear care habits. I think there's a wide run of acceptable conditions, but we either like the look, feel, or smell(?) Of one condition and replicate it.
Might be wrong.
Has anyone had a good rw fretboard just stor being smooth enough to play be not oiling it? Real question.

"It's all just Baby Oil". This post from someone that compared MSDS's sounds legit.

"GEAR]Savings tip: Lemon Oil, Dr.Ducks Axe Wax, string and fretboard lubricant....It's all just baby oil
So I am a lab tech by trade, and I wanted to buy some oil and saw all the options. So I went searching for their MSDS to compare the components they contained to figure out which one I should go for.

Well, Every lemon oil/fretboard conditioners I checked (all the big brands; Dunlop, D'ADDario, Dr.Duck, Music Nomad and more) are 100% White Mineral Oil (CAS# 8042-47-5). Stuff that is supposed to make your strings slick too, like Dunlop 65 Ultra Glide is just mineral oil with <1% silicone oil (Dimethicone) added. And the different brands have different colorings and scents.

So, on to the savings part. Checked a couple of non-additive baby oils, guess what, same exact white mineral oil (CAS# 8042-47-5). Using CAS number is the best way to identify same compounds, as one compound will only have one CAS number, but the chemical and trade names can be plentiful and confusing.

And a bottle of 500ml Johnson's Baby oil is about 2$ and a bottle of 50-100ml "Lemon oil" is 5-10$. That's a nice mark up, no wonder everyone has their own Lemon oil to sell you."

Fascinating. Is the oil worth it from a practice standpoint though?

 

[Slap Axe]

No one talking about chicken grease? I’m disappointed.

There is no funk in y’all