Too much lemon oil to rosewood

[hndrx_inspiration]

Hello everyone,

My previous guitar was maple and i applied baby oil at all the stage performance like every week. Because i like the oily feel and it increase my comfort. Baby oil couldn't affect the wood, the neck was finished with pu.
Now i play with rosewood fretboard guitar. It is usual to apply lemon oil to rosewood as i know. But i apply it every weeks. After 4 months, the guitar sounds a bit dull/muddy acoustically. The low E string seems to be unable to vibrate, fading immediately. I think it sounds different and this oil action may be a problem. Maybe the moisture of the wood is increasing idk:s
My question is, will applying too much lemon oil harm the rosewood tonally?

 

[AAT65]

Well, applying somewhere between no oil and very little oil occasionally doesn’t do any harm… I don’t think you will be gaining much by applying oil liberally or frequently.
On the other hand…

After 4 months, the guitar sounds a bit dull/muddy acoustically. The low E string seems to be unable to vibrate, fading immediately. I think it sounds different

…have you changed your strings recently?? That sounds like a good description of the effect of old guitar strings to me…

 

[Alex_C]

I'd recommend trying fast fret vs. oiling your board weekly. I live in Florida and have gone years between fretboard oil applications. Generally, twice a year is the recommendation.Too much oil can saturate the board and cause issues.

 

[Intubator]

Any oil residue on strings will attenuate the vibrations and reduce output. Not sure I exactly understand what you are doing but I have personally have had good results with appling lemon oil to a dry looking rosewood fretboard when changing strings. I don't get any of the oil ON the strings. All the maple board guitars I know of have a lacquer or polyurethane barrier on the surface so adding any oil to it will not penetrate the wood and then be of no benefit. The excess on the surface would not be good for the strings either...

 

[Freeman Keller]

In my opinion ANY oil on a rosewood or ebony fretboard is too much. It doesn't need it, it screws up future fret jobs, and Martin even had a note in their owners manual that it can damage nitrocellulose lacquer. Your fretboard does need to stay at a nice comfortable humidity level but oil won't help that.

(FK puts on asbestos underwear in preparation for the torches...)

 

[RickyRicardo]

Seems to me that it sounds dull because of all the oil on the strings. I live in a dry climate and rosewood fretboards do need oil once in a while here but certainly not once a week. You've probably put enough on to last a few years. Change the strings and see what happens.

 

[kuch]

+1 on sounds like your strings are dead. They're not made to be oiled weekly.

 

[hndrx_inspiration]

Thanks for replies. I missed that oil loaded strings may be a problem but i experienced baby oil on the maple for years, it also be loaded on the strings and there was no vibration loss. This time the oil is different maybe lemon oil may be different compared to baby oil. I will change the strings and share the result. Actually my suspicion is about moistening the rosewood.

 

[Weazel]

In my opinion ANY oil on a rosewood or ebony fretboard is too much. It doesn't need it, it screws up future fret jobs, and Martin even had a note in their owners manual that it can damage nitrocellulose lacquer. Your fretboard does need to stay at a nice comfortable humidity level but oil won't help that.

^ This.

With bells on.

 

[Billy3]

Really nice oil is all you need. Preferably lemons from the harvest moon where ever you live.

 

[Ronkirn]

yep.. I generally tell guys. ... If the fingerboard needed oiling, I did it... If some time, like decades in the future, you think asbout it and are getting ready to do it .. stop.. it's too soon.

 

[Dismalhead]

To all you guys saying no oil - I never knew anything about oiling boards and consequently never oiled the rosewood board of my '84 SG. It got to the point about 5 years ago where it was all dried out and cracks were opening up along the grain. Then I came here and found out people oil their boards. I've since oiled it about once a year, just simple mineral oil. Of course it's not back to normal, but the cracks are much less pronounced than they were and the guitar is playable.

 

[VintageSG]

Lemon oil is best used sparingly every once in a while to clean the fretboard of gunk -during a string change-
A dot of oil per fret, smoosh it around with your finger, maybe use a soft bristle brush or plastic/wooden toothpick to get smegma build up near the fret base out, then wipe off with a lint free cloth.
Don't blather it on the strings. It'll kill the wound strings.

'Lemon oil' is mainly the same base constituent as baby oil anyway. It just smells different, costs more, and generates Internet traffic.

 

[notmyusualuserid]

Lemon oil doesn't dry. Applying more regularly is going to saturate the wood. Worst case the board warps and frets come loose.

I oil my rosewood board sparingly once a year. If I remember...

 

[Flaneur]

I don't live in an arid climate, I don't hang guitars on my wall, or build them, from scratch, so I'm reluctant to generalise, from my personal experience. Having said that...... the OP's application of lemon oil seems excessive/superfluous.

Leave the oil in the bottle, for a few months, change your strings, report back, in the Spring......

 

[gimmeatele]

If you play out every week I would have thought the oils from your fingers would be enough, certainly not lemon oil every week.

 

[Ronkirn]

I do this every time.. I don;t know why 'cause no one pays a bit of attention to it. but. .

there is NO lemons in Lemon oil. If you will note the label, it lists Petroleum Distillates first, that's because the FDA requires the predominant component be listed first.

Petroleum Distillates is nothing more than Mineral Oil.. in fact all the "favorites" that are generally recommended are made from Mineral oil... including whatever favorite you care to mention.. including Bore Oil.. there is one, or so that advertise they have no mineral oil... but I'd like to research that, I betcha it's just listed as some screwy name they found for mineral oil...

when they add various scents, like Lenon, that stuff is an alcohol based chemistry... Alcohol will dissolve Nitro... not rapidly, but it will do a number on it to be sure.

SO, why do some well known makers Like Godin, Martin, etc, use plain old Mineral oil, "cause it's plain old.. it has no crap in it other than the oil itself.


AND.. really. . . if you oil them more than once every few years, it's too much... Oh yeah.. do NOT use any food based oils like Canola, Olive, Grape, etc... that's because they Are indeed food, like to bacteria, fungus, and other cooties ya don't want making a home in the grain of the wood... If ya suspect it may not be good for the guitar... fuggidaboudit, it's not worth the gamble.. wait till ya have 3 bux to buy a lifetime supply of mineral oil at your local CVS..

 

[Peegoo]

Use oil only to clean the wood. The way to do is is to apply a few drops to some terry/towel and scrub. Don't squirt it directly on the wood, and by all means do not marinate the wood with it.

If you have finish on the sides of a rosewood or ebony fretboard, oiling the wood can make the finish loosen along the sides and flake off.

If you need to slick up a fretboard for comfort, use Finger Ease or Fast Fret. Don't hose it onto the wood. Spray a little on a cloth and wipe down the strings.

 

[bobio]

I oil my Rosewood and Pau Ferro boards once a year.
I do it around December when the heat starts coming on and the humidity is low.

I don't slather it on, you want to avoid saturating the board.
I put enough to wet a quarter size area on a clean cloth.
I then go over the whole board with that small amount of oil
I let it sit for a few minutes and then I go back and wipe it all off.
Unless your board was bone dry, you should just barely be able to tell you did anything.

I have been using the Dunlop 65 system for years.
I use their deep conditioner, I know it is mineral oil.
I am still on the same bottle I bought 15 years ago.
I have two bottles, so I am likely good for life

No matter what mineral oil based product you use, LESS IS MORE