Rosewood fretboard care - thoughts?

vincechu89

I recently got a Suhr Classic pretty much directly from Suhr - it only spent a few days at a dealer.

On receipt I was intrigued to see that the rosewood board looked natural and fairly dry (not oiled), but still looked good and healthy. This is opposed to my old Suhr which was lemon oiled by a tech in December and still looks significantly darker and oily (perhaps it was over oiled? I used to oil it but never got it that dark).

This made me think, is it correct to be putting products on rosewood fretboards, given that my new Suhr’s fretboard came straight from them looking so natural?

What products do you all suggest? I usually use lemon oil or F-one fretboard conditioner on my guitars but am now feeling very reluctant.

Finally Is there anyway to get my older Suhr’s fretboard looking a more natural?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Yes, I have done a Google, and unfortunately there seems to be a fair amount of debate over care and products.

Handsome_Chris

@vincechu89 , I use , and now have had the pleasure of demo-ing, MusicNomad F-One Oil that you mentioned.  My understanding is that it is the only oil that is safe for all fretboards, not just rosewood.  This means that it can be used on the back of unfinished necks too.  I believe that lemon oil is ok for rosewood .

These are photos I took while prepping my Vigier Kaos for The Guitar Show 2018

Here is a photo of @TTony 's future Sabre Seraph, with and ebony fretboard, I was using F-One Oil after last years The Guitar Show.

p90fool

Unless you live in New Mexico or somewhere just play it and ignore it. 

There are people out there who'll tell you to soak it in lemon oil every string change, but unless you live in a very arid part of the world they don't need anything except a wipe down occasionally. 

stickyfiddle

The usual stuff people refer to as "lemon oil" is just scented naptha (same as the sticky stuff remover you can get in Lakeland). It's really just a cleaner, rather than conditioner. 

I use Gerlitz Guitar Honey and that does properly condition a fretboard. Only needed once a year or so.

WezV

Not all rosewood is equal in colour or natural oil content.  

SNAKEBITE

As stickyfiddle said Lemon oil is Naptha, or petrol if you prefer.

All this does is clean the wood, not condition it.

I use the d'addario  hydrate, not lemon oil and that works a treat.

I'd avoid Lemon oil for conditioning wood.

gary_mac

These days I only use D'Addario Hydrate and that's on my own, as well as on customer's instruments.

Adam_MD

stickyfiddle said:

I use Gerlitz Guitar Honey and that does properly condition a fretboard. Only needed once a year or so.

I use gerlitz as well it’s good stuff and I probably use it maybe every 1 to 2 years.  Not very often at all but it’s good stuff and a bottle lasts a very long time.  

HAL9000

vincechu89 said:

...still looks significantly darker and oily (perhaps it was over oiled?

Possibly. You really do need to use only the smallest amount - certainly less than you’d expect.

Corvus

Rosewood varies a lot as Wez says. One of mine is maybe brazilian, very smooth and tight grained, doesn't much looking after. Others are rougher, look worse sooner. Either way I've been using Mansons lemon oil for donkeys which he says is a blend of oils, one guitar since the 80s. Wipe on wipe off if it doesn't look too dry & thirsty.

kossofffan

https://crimsonguitars.com/store/fretboard-cleaner-restorative/

Handsome_Chris

Corvus said:

... I've been using Mansons lemon oil for donkeys which he says is a blend of oils...

@Corvus , Manson's are making lemon oil for donkeys? I'm not sure that I'm happy with that.

Corvus

or was it donkey oil for lemons?

Alnico

I use Dunlop Fretboard Conditioner every 3 months (3 string changes).
It looks and feels nice and it's a reasonable difference from the way it was new but not drastic, it just looks healthy.

Before...
https://i.imgur.com/sSzWFP0.jpg

After
https://i.imgur.com/G0mpB5Q.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MgIfPhB.jpg

Sparky

+1 for MusicNomad F-One Oil

SteveF

I have been using the 2 part dunlop cleaner/conditioner on my rosewood boards.  I don't do it every time I change strings, I just go by whether I think it seems a bit dry or not. 

munckee

I use Dr Ducks Ax Wax on all my guitars everytime I change strings, it says its safe on everything and the rosewood board on my 335 (copy) always looks better afterwards.

bingefeller

I use the Gorgomyte Fret and Fingerboard Cleaner.  It is amazing.

Handsome_Chris

If anyone wants some Gorgomyte cloth , PM me. You can have mine.

fandango

SNAKEBITE said:

As stickyfiddle said Lemon oil is Naptha, or petrol if you prefer.

All this does is clean the wood, not condition it.

I use the d'addario  hydrate, not lemon oil and that works a treat.

I'd avoid Lemon oil for conditioning wood.

So one should, but that doesn't mean you can't use lemon oil for it's intended purpose - cleaning. Especially if you've got a greasy dirty fingerboard. Then after cleaning, use a conditioner. Is that not common sense?

I might suggest Dunlop Fingerboard Cleaner & Prep if dirty enough to warrant it (maybe a very quick wipe regardless) and then apply Dunlop Fingerboard Deep Conditioner Oil.

RandallFlagg

I use Gibson fretboard conditioner, It feels nice under the fingers with new strings.

Doesn't feel so good on my gloss maple 'board Tele though.