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Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 11:41 pm
by Roger
I know that rosewood fretboards appreciate a little lemon oil from time to time, but is the same true for an unvarnished maple fretboard :?:

Best to all,

Roger

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 8:30 am
by GORDON
Can't do any harm Rog.

Just a small amount will clean and enrich the wood and stop it from drying out.

G.

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Fri May 04, 2012 10:34 am
by Roger
Thanks for that Gordon - will give it a try!

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:59 pm
by Russ Gannicott
Roger, lemon oil is a cleaner, not a wood feeder. It is great for removing grease and crud from the fingerboard, and of course, will work great on a maple board as it will be varnished anyway. With a rosewood or ebony board, NEVER soak it in lemon oil as it will remove any natural oils in the wood and dry it out. In the worse cases this can lead to loose fret wires. For general care, you can't go far wrong with beeswax.

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Sat May 12, 2012 5:25 pm
by Roger
Russ,

Thanks for that. The question was asked in connection with my Tele copy project, which I'm just about to mention on the forum. Be grateful if you could take a look and add your thoughts.

Best to you and the family,

Roger

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 9:43 pm
by Bob Wilson
Hi Roger/Em
Sounds like you’ve now got a very nice guitar for a very good price. Not thought about varnishing the maple neck yet? Maple are usually varnished so lemon oil will be OK, but only if it is varnished. If not then follow what Russ said and use beeswax or a fretboard spray wax. Good to hear the Crafter wasn’t as bad as you first thought and the little tweaks worked.
Only just seen your pickup height comment but Paganwolf (welcome) has covered it pretty well.
I’ve spent a few days putting some new alternate tunings into my GG Variax guitar so that should save me having to have several guitars with alternate tunings. Although I’ll keep a couple in C and G tuning as these are my favourite alternate tunings.
So, what’s the next project :D
Be well both
Bob and Jane

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 11:24 pm
by Roger
Doing a few jobs on the house I think Bob :wink:

Best to you and Jane,

Roger & Em

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:48 am
by GORDON
Russ Gannicott wrote:Roger, lemon oil is a cleaner, not a wood feeder. It is great for removing grease and crud from the fingerboard, and of course, will work great on a maple board as it will be varnished anyway. With a rosewood or ebony board, NEVER soak it in lemon oil as it will remove any natural oils in the wood and dry it out. In the worse cases this can lead to loose fret wires. For general care, you can't go far wrong with beeswax.


Hi Russ.

Thanks for that info. The stuff I use (KYSER DR STRINGFELLOW) says that it's a fret-board CONDITIONER, it even mentions about soaking it for 20 mins then wiping off. Is this different from standard lemon oil do you think?

I have obviously been labouring under the opinion that lemon oil is of great benefit to keeping the fingerboard in good condition and stops it from drying out!

Best.

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 10:34 am
by Roger
Gordon,

I've got the same question for Russ about Gibson premium fretboard conditioner

Roger :)

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:08 pm
by scottj1
Here's a good product

There's a company called DR.DUCKS and they make something called axe wax and string lube which is an all in one product,you can use it for anything all over the guitar and clean the strings to boot.

There's so many care products out there the choice is amazing.

Happy cleaning!

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:20 pm
by Bob Wilson
Hi Roger

I've only ever used Lemon Oil on varnished maple necks to clean the dirt off. On my rosewood fingerboards I use:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gerlitz-Guitar- ... =8-1-fkmr0

I've used this for years and still have the first bottle, 30 years plus, that's how often I clean my guitars :) . This feeds the rosewood as well as cleaning it and if your maple neck is not varnished would probably be OK, although, for choice I would varnish it.

Conditioner is the way to go, but if you clean your fretboard with a cloth after playing you are not going to need to clean too often.

Bob

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:26 pm
by Roger
Thanks for that Bob - as always your advice and expertise are much appreciated :D :D :D

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 9:07 pm
by Russ Gannicott
Wow - what an interesting debate! Not, I am sure what was expected from the original posting. The Lemon oil issue is fairly contentious I admit, but anything citrus based will tend to act as a solvent and is likely to dry out the wood rather than feed it. I do think the manufactures have been pretty misleading with their marketing over the years!

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:30 pm
by Roger
Russ,

Well that's what makes this forum a great place :D So much knowledge and expertise in a friendly environment - what more can I say?

Roger :)

Re: Maple Fretboard Care

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 11:50 pm
by GORDON
Russ Gannicott wrote:Wow - what an interesting debate! Not, I am sure what was expected from the original posting. The Lemon oil issue is fairly contentious I admit, but anything citrus based will tend to act as a solvent and is likely to dry out the wood rather than feed it. I do think the manufactures have been pretty misleading with their marketing over the years!


I must admit Russ that citrus would act in the way you say it does. Maybe the mixture of lemon with oil somehow acts differently.

My only reservation with using wax is that it can be a tad sticky.

Enough of this I hear you cry!

Be Well guv.

G.