Rosewood Board Maintenance

[zyx345]

The fretboard on my PRS appears to be a little dry.

If the fretboard is dry would Lemon Oil condition it or should Lemon Oil only be used to clean?

Also I've heard that Rosewood Oil can be used to condition rosewood boards. Anyone have any experience using this?

Any brand recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[aleclee]

Real lemon oil would work but most stuff that's sold as lemon oil is really just scented lighter fluid.

I'm partial to rosewood oil. It's pretty easy to find at your local health food store.

[JMintzer]

I use a product called Guitar Honey™. I got it at WMC. Great stuff!

Jamie

[Phil Macino]

I use a product called Guitar Honey™. I got it at WMC. Great stuff!

Jamie
Ditto here. Works great!

[Thomas Hebert]

I use Guitar Honey as well. Jack Gretz recommends it and it is available from Magdon.

[Aldwyn]

2 dram bottle of rosewood oil purchased at a new age store for $3.95. And as far as it goes, it'll last a lifetime. A little goes a long way!! Only a drop or two is needed for the entire fretboard.

I use it on my ebony fingerboards as wel... did so today on one of my acoustics! And it's rosewood bridge, too.

Now it smells very nice, to boot. :D


Peace,
Aldwyn

[Stratmeister]

Dr. Stringfellow's Lem-Oil is useful if you need to clean the board too. Yes it does have Naptha in it to clean the grime away, especially around the frets. Wipe the board down then wipe the residual away.

One word of warning to newbies on fretboard conditioning... whatever you use don't do it too often. Once a year should do it (for me anyway) unless you're in a really dry climate, or maybe you guys up north have problems with winter heating drying things out? If overused it can cause the wood to soften and if it gets too soft the frets will no longer hold. I know that's an extreme case, but it does happen.

As Aldwyn said, no matter what oil you use it doesn't take much. Apply, let it soak in, then wipe what hasn't soaked into the board off with a clean cloth.

I would like to try the Rosewood oil idea, never heard of that. I guess we don't have many new-age shops down here. Would a surf shop carry it? ;)

[Aldwyn]

I am sure you can find them! There are in Sarasota and Venice on the west coast, so why not on the east?


And worse comes to worse, you can a bottle via the 'Net!

And man... makes the case/guitar smell so nice... almost a rich peppery smell. Especially the rosewood on my ebony board! Mmmmm!

Peace,
Aldwyn

[Stratmeister]

You're right! I found some today at a health foods store that carried herbs and vitamins. It does smell good, I'll try it soon. Thanks.

[Random]

I've been having a ball with oil on rosewood lately.
Working up a new to me IRW McSoap.

Started w/Guitar Honey. Not bad. Used it for years.

Went to the health food store. No they didn't carry Rosewood oil "because rosewood is endangered". Walked out w/essential Sandalwood Oil. Made that board shine and the colors the wood took on were great. And it smelled good too. Aged hippy earth mother says "and its organic" I answer it don't matter 'cause the guitar is dead. (8.5 mil for $18.20)

Went to another health food store and found essential oil from wild rosewood trees from Brazil. (Aniba Rosaeodora) (10 mil for $8.50)

Gently hit the neck w/600 grit, hit it w/degreased 0000 steel wool, then a light application of essential oil of aniba rosaeodora and it's smooth and soft like a young girls bottom and smells good too.

Note to self.....You're enjoying this new IRW McSoap way too much........

[Stratmeister]

Random, when you hit the neck with sandpaper, I assume you mean the back of the neck. Was it rough? Why did it need smoothing out?

I'm curious about this cause I recently picked up an IRW McSoapy myself and was wondering if the neck needed any maintenance or just the fingerboard. I was thinking that oiling up the neck might make it gummy or slow it down, and that my hand oils would be enough to keep it from drying out.

What's the general maintenance concensus on rosewood neck maintenance?

[Random]

The board gets a light touch w/0000 steel wool and oil. I like to degrease the steel wool w/acetone before I use it.

The back gets a light touch w/600 grit w/the grain. Thats really not sanding the neck. But it does knock down any grain or little hairs that pop up due to changes in humidity or drying/working of the wood. If I remember correctly the factory takes the moisture content down to 7%(?). That evaporates out the natural oils in the wood as well as the water content. I put a couple drops of oil on a clean rag and worked over the back of the neck. I mean light enough to soak in and disappear into the wood. Then burnish the neck w/the rag. On older IRW necks or fret boards hand oils from playing do the same thing. I didn't mean to give the impression I was "wood working" or basting the neck like the thanksgiving turkey.

This is just what I do and the results feel good to me. I've heard some guys use Pledge on the IRW necks. Some guys use 1200 grit micro fiber to burnish the wood. I've never used those things. Thats all I know.