This page will serve as a mechanism to pass along various tips that I receive from readers. I do not necessarily endorse the tips that are posted here. These are tips I receive from various readers and I'm passing them on so you can make your own call as to whether or not you want to try them.
The author wishes to remain anonymous. I have never tried this method,
consequently, I do not endorse it either. However, the author says he has had excellent
results from trying this. I prefer the traditional methods of treating my fretboard using
lemon oil, or my favorite, Guitar Honey. I think that there are potential risks in the
method described hereafter, but that's just my opinion. If you decide to try it, you do so
at your own risk.
Conditioning the fret board is something that many people don't think about, they usually
just change their strings and go about their business. Some people may go as far as to put
some lemon oil on the board, but many ignore it. Frets will also tarnish over time and
again some people just leave them. Conditioning the fret board involves polishing the
frets to remove the tarnish and restore a mirror-like shine and smoothness to them, and to
condition the wood of the fingerboard.
The first thing to look at is the finger board and what to use. The problem with some oils
is that they don't dry, and because of this they may eventually soften the wood over time,
plus many times it will feel oily to the touch long after it was applied. At the same
time, an oil that dries or evaporates isn't really doing the job of adding moisture to the
board. Old world Furniture builders and gun stock makers would use "Tung oil" to
finish the wood. The great thing about Tung oil is that it dries slightly on the harder
side so it doesn't stay oily, yet it 'seals in' the moisture of the board. The added
plus is that the added hardness of it helps protect the board from minor wear, brings out
the beauty of the wood for a great look, and may brighten up the tone.There are
two ways to use the Tung oil, one for the novice, and one for the VERY
experienced. Tung oil can be found at stores that sell wood finishing products. To polish
the frets, there is "Nevr-Dull magic wadding", which can be found at automotive
stores or even motorcycle shops. The Nevr-Dull is a treated wool that comes in a can. All
you do is tear off whatever size piece you need. Once you have the Tung oil and the
Nevr-Dull, here is what you do. This DOES NOT apply to a maple fret board
as these are usually cleared or sealed in some way. There are some who have unfinished
maple neck and boards that have been oiled, but this is more for Rosewood and Ebony. The
fret polishing part is good for ALL fingerboards.
The Process
1.)Remove the strings and any other hardware that may fall off (Tune-o-matic style bridge
and tail piece for example).
2.) Remove any dirt build up on the fingerboard. A SOFT toothbrush does a great job for
removing dirt from the pores and dirt that gathers along the fret wire. You want the
finger board super clean.
3.) Tape off the finger board so only the fretwire is showing ( try not to tape the neck,
only the board).
4.) Take a small piece of Nevr-Dull and doing ONE fretwire at a time polish the fret
length-wise for about 30 seconds and then buff it with a dry soft cloth to see how it
looks. If it is like a mirror, you are done so move on to the next fret. If it is still
dull or has tarnish, just repeat the polishing with the Nevr-Dull and buffing with
the soft dry cloth until it shines. By this time the wading will be turning black , so use
another section of the wad.
5.) When all the frets are done and gleaming, remove the tape and buff the entire board
and frets with a soft lint-free cloth (an old cotton T-shirt will work) so there are no
traces of the Nevr-Dull left on the frets or board. Make sure there is no lint
also.
6.) Take a small piece of lint-free cloth and put a SUPER small amount of the tung oil on
it. (Practice on a scrap piece of wood first to see how this stuff works and to see
just how a little goes a long way). Rub the finger board ONE fret at
a time with the oil working in small circular motions until the entire fret has been
treated. You DO NOT want to get this on the finish of the guitar, so make
sure its not getting on the sides of the neck. If it does wipe, it off quick. It won't
hurt the finish but the longer it stays on, the harder it will be to remove. The MAIN
objective is to rub the right amount on the board until the excess goes away. You do not
want to put a finish on the board, you only want to treat it, so use a small amount and
rub until the 'shine' goes away leaving you with a smooth satin look to it. Again, keep it
off the sides of the neck and keep wiping it off the fretwire( that you just polished).
Once you have worked your way down the entire board AND if
you did the job right, you should be left with a nice evenly treated fingerboard with NO
EXCESS anywhere on the guitar, and the board will have a deep look to it. Take a dry soft
lint-free cloth and go over the sides of the finger board and the fretwire to make sure
only the board has the oil on it. Let it sit for an hour before you restring it and enjoy!
For Advanced Tinkerers
I have seen some people including myself 'wetsand' the fingerboard using the Tung oil
and starting with 1000 'wet or dry' sandpaper working on up to finer and finer paper. What
this does is removes the left over tooling and roughness that is sometimes found on the
board, inlays and the fingerboard surface of the bindings. As you are sanding, you are
smoothing the board and microscopic particles of wood are depositing themselves into the
pores of the wood, so its own material is filling the grain. This leaves the
rosewood board with the feel of Ebony.
The other advantages are less open pores for dirt, and smoother inlays and bindings. Some
have even went as far as using the sandpaper to 'break' the sharp edge on the bindings of
new guitars to give it a more broken in feel, but this is done BEFORE using the oil on the
board and the wet sanding process. The result of all this is a beautiful smooth looking
and feeling fretboard.
Major Tips
1.) When using the oil ALWAYS wipe the sides of the neck with a dry cloth before moving on
to the next fret. This will insure that you DON'T have any oil where it doesn't belong.
Also whatever route you choose, ALWAYS wipe off the fret you finished to remove the
excess.
2.) If you plan on going the 'wet sanding' route, cut the paper into strips that are
2/3 narrower than the fret you are working on and use the 'shoeshine' method of keeping
the paper taut and alternate the direction of your strokes FOLLOWING THE RADIUS OF THE
FINGERBOARD. You DO NOT want to alter the radius. The fine sandpaper is too fine to cause
you any trouble but you DON'T want to fall asleep at the wheel. The other alternative is
to use light finger pressure on a small piece of sandpaper and use small circular motions
with light pressure, but finish up with your strokes in the direction of the grain. Also,
make sure you
keep the right amount of oil on the board so the paper doesn't become dry. Every few
minutes or so, wipe off the area and check your progress and move up to the finer
sandpapers as you go along. For the smaller frets you may need the strips of sand paper.
This is mostly for VERY experienced people, but those with GOOD common sense will attempt
it. If you do not trust in yourself DON'T try it. You can do a trial run on a total
junker as practice.
3.) I have seen people NOT tape off the finger board while using the Nevr-Dull on the
frets and board. If you have open pores in your board, the Nevr-Dull will leave white
deposits in them that can be hard to remove. The SOFT tooth brush will usually get them
out, but it can be a pain. The up-side to doing it this way is that the never dull will
actually lift the dirt out of the pores as the deposits are removed. The down-side is, if
you have deep open pores, you may find yourself with a sharp needle picking the deposits
out. It is way safer to tape up the board. I haven't seen a board that I couldn't get the
deposits out of, but it is way time consuming.
4.) Try REAL HARD not to hit the fretwire with the sandpaper, better yet, DON'T hit the
fretwire with the sandpaper. If this happens, and once you are done with the oil, let it
sit until the next day, and then re-tape off the board and re-polish the frets with the
Nevr-Dull, then you would only have to remove the tape and buff out the frets and
board with the soft cloth, and then re-string it.
5.) DO NOT use the Nevr-Dull on ANY other hardware. It will KILL gold
plating, and I'm not sure about nickle. The wool that they use in Nevr-Dull may be too
abrasive, and may scratch any plating as well.
6.) Good luck!
Back to The Basic
Guitar Setup Guide
Kimi related a story to me whereby her Aria Pro Herb Ellis (nice guitar) developed a
horrible white stain after the first time she polished it with Martin Guitar Polish. This
is similar to the bloom that can develop on an oil painting due to moisture in
the damar varnish coating the canvas, and covers the entire painting with a white layer.
Following her luthier's advice, she used turtle wax to remove the wax buildup on the
guitar, and then re-applied Martin guitar polish. The problem is apparently due to wax
build up caused by using waxes such as Old Gold furniture spray. I don't know if they use
a nitrocellulose finish on the Aria's, but I suspect they do. I used to own one and I
remember the finish being very similar to a Gibson finish. The advice I've always received
is not to use commercial furniture waxes on nitrocellulose finishes, though I confess to
having been guilty of it in the past. The best thing to use is a commercial guitar wax,
and a soft cotton cloth to clean the guitar. The cotton cloth is supposed
to prevent fine scratches from occurring.
Submitted by Kimi Reith
Back to Basic Guitar Setup Tips
See the counterpoint to this suggestion as well. Keeping an acoustic in a properly humidified case is important.
I have a cool tip on a way to make strings last longer and to keep guitar cases dry and
fresh. I learned this from Cliffy from a band called The Huntingtons:
The best way to make your strings last through more shows is to get a packet of silica
gel. That is the stuff like you find in aspirin bottles, but you can find them at
retail clothing stores, in purses or clothes or you can find them in computer equipment
boxes. You put the packet in your guitar case and it just sucks the moisture out
and keeps your strings fresh. The second step is to keep a small towel in the case
as well and then after you play a show or whatever, you wipe the strings down and then
when you put your guitar in the case, put the towel over the guitar, just over the pickups
and bridge. I have used this technique for almost a year and it works great!
Submitted by Mike Wright
(Fighting Jacks)
Howdy there, I was reading your tips when I saw #3, and I says to myself;
hmm ..
Just thought that I'd note to you that the PRS site care & maintenance
suggests NOT to put moisture absorbing packages in the case with the
guitar; the reason stated was drying out the guitar.
I live at about 8000' elevation, where the humidity is quite low, and so
we'all here in the hills are more likely to put humidifier devices in
with our (mostly) accoustic guitars, though typically there is a bit of
wood shrinkage on all woods (that leads to slight fret overhang and such).
I do endorse #3s other suggestion though: a good wipe-down with a clean
cloth.
Submitted by Jon Goodwin