Oiling the Fretboard

[Coque]

Happy New Year everyone!

So I was speaking with a music store owner the other day and asked if he'd ever heard of Gerlitz Guitar Honey and I mentioned I used Dunlop 65 Lemon oil on on my fretboard. He said "You don't use that more than twice a year do you?"

I said I used it all the time and he said it was bad. Well, I wanted to know what you fellers thought. It should be said, I play 3 to 4 gigs per week, each 4 hours a piece, and I sweat like there is no tomorrow. I know I should clean her off at the end of the night but I am usually more concerned with packing gear, getting paid and getting some sleep. I do, however, clean the entire guitar with Naptha and a clean terry towel the following morning.

I also change strings quite a bit. I would love to use new strings for each gig, but in the interest of saving money (I play 125-150 gigs a year and $4 strings would add up), but it's more like a string change every two gigs, sometimes three.

Since I change strings so often and sweat so profusely, I am very persnickety about keeping the ax clean and oiling the fret board often. Oh yeah, I should also mention I play in the Florida heat (90% of the time on the ocean) so my axe really takes a beating.

I like my axe playing well and looking good (I feel it's a sign of professionalism that my guitars look sharp at every gig). Plus, I really love my number 1 axe and want her around for a long time, despite the amount of use and unintentional abuse she is exposed to.

So, how often do you guys oil up the fretboard? I don;'t feel like my fretboard is getting soft or worn and I feel the lemon oil really makes her play well. Am I doing her harm? It seems to me she needs all the love she can get considering the conditions she must endure.

Any thoughts?

[buckaroo]

In Dan Erlewine we trust:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srJNuBS_nLk

[buckaroo]

One more from Martin....he does the roswood board about half way through:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjWMH...eature=related

[chuckocaster]

I use lemon oil alot! Your board will only soak up as much as it needs. I buy the straight stuff that is sold at hardware stores. Make sure you use a clean rag when applying it, and wipe off the excess.

[curtisstetka]

I would say that your experience in this matter is probably many orders of magnitude greater than that of the music store owner you talked to.

Who else knows exactly what your guitars need other than you? To me it sounds like you're taking beautiful care of them. If you're not seeing any negatives, then carry on doing what you're doing.

[Offshore Angler]

Rub a salami on it, works great.

[Coque]

Rub a salami on it, works great.

I heard Neal Schon say that too! No kidding!

I am pleased to know I'm not the only guy who uses lemon oil with virtually every string change. I have heard that too much can seep in the adhesive for the frets and make a refret job near impossible. I don't buy it. I think my poor axe already has to suffer the very sweaty abuse I put her through and the lemon oil helps her stay in top shape.

[Kap'n]

I heard Neal Schon say that too! No kidding!.

This wasn't on his facebook page, was it?

[Coque]

Check it out, when Neal Schon was asked about a Les Paul Neck:

What do you like in a Les Paul neck?
Wes Montgomery used to say in interviews that he liked playing after eating a salami sandwich, because the grease acted like Finger-Ease, and that that was one way he got such a smooth sound with his thumb and fretting fingers. I swear to god, every time I get a new guitar now, I take the strings off, get some sliced salami, and rub it up and down the fretboard, and let the grease soak in. Then I wipe off the neck and string it up. With new wood, it works really well. You’d be surprised. And sometimes [wipes forehead and then starts playing] I use my own grease. It’s organic!

From a Guitar Player Interview Found Here

Kinda gross if you ask me

[holmis63]

Ok, maybe the smell isn´t important but doesn´t that smell like..... monkey??
Salami, i must say that lemon oil do it for me but everyone have their own way and that´s how it should be.
I love it when i just put on new strings and the lemon oil lubricate both the board and the strings, smooth playing
If you wipe of the excess after smearing it on i can´t see the there will be a problem!

[Coque]

I agree. I feel my prodigious sweat, the Florida heat and humidity and the sea air at most of my gigs wrecks havoc on my poor axe. As such, I feel my lemon oiling routine is a benefit. And I love the way my guitar feels. I do worry that I am doing harm to the old girl, but it seems to me it is required maintenance more than anything else. My non-stage axes that rarely leave the house only get a lemon oiling once every blue-moon, but they don;t take the abuse my strat takes.

Any of you guys use the Gerlitz Fretboard Honey? I read that lemon oil is nothing more than mineral oil and a little naptha. I'd appreciate any insight you all could deliver.

[Gravity Jim]

Sounds like Mr. Schon was having some fun. Would anybody really choose beef tallow over mineral oil?

I've been using Dr. Henderson's Fret Doctor on ebony and rosewood boards. It's niiiiiiice, and doesn't leach out of pores a week or two after application as mineral or "lemon" oil sometimes does.

"Lemon" oil is mineral oil with a lemon scent: actual lemon oil extracted from lemon peel would be mighty expensive, and only gets sold as a high-end flavoring, AFAIK.

I do it far less often now, but back in the day I used to "lemon" oil the fingerboard of my acoustic guitars every time I changed the strings. Did it for many years, and it didn't hurt them a bit.

[Kap'n]

"Lemon" oil is mineral oil with a lemon scent: actual lemon oil extracted from lemon peel would be mighty expensive, and only gets sold as a high-end flavoring, AFAIK.

Essential oils are also fairly aggressive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_oil#Dangers