Rosewood neck - what to finish with?

axisus

Oil? varnish? wax? leave natural? What is the done thing?

and do guitarists put anything on Ebony fretboards for conditioning?

octatonic

You can do a coat of tru-oil rubbed in with 0000 wire wool if you like.
There is a lot of natural oil in rosewood- how oily is the neck?
I would let that decide it for me.

I put lemon oil on ebony boards.

WezV

Barely anything.

polishing it up with micro mesh works well.

 Rub with a bit of danish oil if needed, but rub most of it off straight away again.

i would avoid heavier oils like tru-oil on rosewood.  But if you do use it the same rule applies.... buff it all straight off within minutes

axisus

octatonic said:

There is a lot of natural oil in rosewood- how oily is the neck?

I would say not particularly oily at all. I'd quite like to do something to it as I think it would look a bit better. I'd love it if I could get it a bit darker.

WezV

Then oil will not hurt

axisus

Thanks people!

randella

You've probs already done it by now but another vote for a bit of truoil on the back and a wipe down with lemon oil on the board. 

It's easy to go overboard (sorry, bad pun) on the lemon oil and, contrary to expectation, it doesn't make your fingers smell nice either. Quick rub with kitchen towel fixes it though

It darkens up the board beautifully too...

Edit - apologies, thought we were talking about a maple neck with a rosewood board. As you were...

richalderandash

I wouldn't use just Tru oil on rosewood.  I recently built a board with rosewood, and - because of the oils in rosewood - the Tru oil wouldn't absorb.  If you want that finish - and I can't blame you! - put a coat of sanding sealer on first.  This will stop any oils in the wood from interfering with the Tru Oil.

alternatives are Danish Oil & Shellac. Different appearances but both have a very smooth, well-playing finish.

PVO_Dave

Finished mine with Eze oil and briwax, looks and feels amazing. Easy enough for me to do it too  

axisus

randella said:

You've probs already done it by now 

Nope, I've not even shaped the back yet! Just planning ahead.

Kalimna

The rosewood neck i made a couple of yeaes ago was finished with 3 light coats (as they always are) of tru-oil rubbed with ultrafine steel wool. No adherence issues at all, and a lovely satin finish to boot.

Adam