Ebony board maintenance

  • Thread starter Thread starter OldGtrGuy
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leib10 said:
Mineral oil after cleaning with finest-grade steel wool.
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And if your constipated drink some. And if you have a ktm dirtbike that’s what they use for brake fluid. All kinds of uses for mineral oil.
 
OldGtrGuy said:
What are you guys using? I have some Dunlop 65, is that sufficient? Is there something out there that is far above the rest? Need to clean up this schecter I just got.
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I use GHS Fast Fret when i restring it.
 
Music Nomad F-One. I do it when it starts looking grimmy and a fresh set of strings.
 
Never. Light steel wool for grime. I never oil any of my fretboards. More so Ebony because it’s so tightly grained. I’ve never had a board “dry” out on me or crack. I’ve had two of my guitars and a bass for over 15 years and their boards look and feel exactly the same as when I got them.

**edit** but in those 15 years I have never lived somewhere that gets consistently frigid
 
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grimmchaos said:
I've been using Music Nomad's F-One oil a couple times a year on my ebony boards, usually with the big seasonal swings. Ebony is pretty hard and brittle, so it's more prone to cracking, which is why conditioning them is important, at least IMO. I've seen plenty of ebony boards with nasty cracks in them.
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+1 to all of this
 
I use the Dunlop mineral oil fretboard conditioner.
Rosewood and ebony get a treatment at least once per year, and maybe twice if it's a guitar that has been out a lot in the winter with the furnace running the dry air. Usually I'm at a good humidity here but when we have a super cold streak it does get dry inside.
 
Lemon oil once a year. Use cheesecloth to apply and leave it on heavy over night. You will be shocked how many areas are completely dry where it pulls in as much as it needs. Then wipe the excess. If only cleaning then yeah like the guys said use 0000 steel wool.

Every year I soak my old Jackson guitars and leave them wet over night and every year is the same. They pull what they need. Whoever thinks otherwise has never tried it.
 
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LP Freak said:
Ebony doesn’t require anything other than cleaning with steel wool
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If and only if you’re actively playing it and playing all areas of the fretboard. Otherwise even with playing you’ll need to oil the fretboard areas that do not get played to prevent cracking from drying out.

Ebony needs oiled especially if cased and not played. The only wood that needs no maintenance at all including cleaning is maple. The rest are subject to damage without oil maintenance either naturally or not.
 
been playing for nearly 40 years and I have never oiled any fretboard ever. Never had one single issue with any of them, never had splitting, never had one dry out
 
japetus said:
I use Dr Ducks Axe Wax, never let me down.
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I have this, but isn't it way too thick and oily to even be absorped in a fretboard?

My ebony boards don't need much cleaning either, since the wood is so dense, but on an old HCGF advise, I bought this tiny bottle of Be a Fifer Fret Doctor oil (link: https://beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm ) probably 15+ years ago and I still have half a bottle left. This stuff is especially magic on Rosewood boards and it's my go-to for my Burny Les Pauls.
 
griff10672 said:
You ever polish the frets ??
Fret erasers from Stew Mac are awesome....
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Might need to check that out too.

I've also never had a board completely dried out or cracked from moisture (or lack of?) But there's something to be said about a super clean and slick playing board.
 
OldGtrGuy said:
Might need to check that out too.

I've also never had a board completely dried out or cracked from moisture (or lack of?) But there's something to be said about a super clean and slick playing board.
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I started using that F-one oil after I bought a LP from a GC in Vegas .... the board was soooooo dry . I started using the erasers on all my guitars .... I do all 6 or 7 grits .... when I'm done the frets are as smooth as a baby's ass !
 
griff10672 said:
I started using that F-one oil after I bought a LP from a GC in Vegas .... the board was soooooo dry . I started using the erasers on all my guitars .... I do all 6 or 7 grits .... when I'm done the frets are as smooth as a baby's ass !
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I need to try some fret erasers - I've been using micromesh which work well too.
 
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