#3: Why condition a fretboard?

Why?

Some guitars such as the classic maple neck/fingerboard endowed Fender T and S guitars are lacquered and therefore don’t need conditioning, but necks with fingerboards made from ebony, rosewood, pau ferro etc (and including the recent Gibson “toasted maple” fingerboards) need periodic maintenance.

Just as an “aside” on lacquered fingerboards I use Gerlitz “Smudge Off” followed possibly with something like “Fast Fret.”

These latter fingerboards are usually a slab of wood cut to a thickness of roughly 5mm. Over time they will do one or both of the following:

They will dry out, steadily losing their natural moisture/oils by evaporation, this can cause shrinkage and cracking – but more noticably become rough to the touch and feel a little like playing on sandpaper.
In their roughness and dryness they accumulate oils from our skin, and dead skin cells, which to my mind looks not only disgusting, but also hygienic 🙁

1. The drying out problem….

Here we have a dried out neck on a Les Paul. The guitar has remained unused for months on display – and the fingerboard has dried out. The “usual” spray and wipe procedure wasn’t enough – but look at the results after an overnight soak….

: 1. As received – pale and dry

: 2. After a “spray and wipe” – still lots of pale areas 🙁

: 3. After an overnight “soak” – beautiful!

: 4. Look at the depth of the grain now 🙂

2. The unhygenic approach….

Pictured below are a few closeups of a fingerboard on a Tom Anderson guitar I recently got. In the before pictures you can see the dead skin and grease accumulating along the frets….

: Before – look at those nasty skin cells!

: Before

: Before

: During treatment

: After

: After

So what to use?

As with all things “guitar” the jury is “out” on this one. People favour all types of oils, linseed, tung, lemon etc. etc. I’ve even seen one person suggesting olive oil!

Most of these I would not recommend personally.

Linseed – I don’t want my guitar smelling like a cricket bat, and I find it leaves wood sticky.
Lemon oil – used by violinists for centuries, and probably the main contender. I do however find it leaves the neck sticky and has a tendency to leave a white residue – the worst example of which I covered in this article – click here. I have also had one gentleman inform me that he had suffered a huge allergic reaction to lemon oil that nearly resulted in the loss of sight in one eye!
Olive oil – Don’t make me laugh – I said I didn’t want it smelling like a Cricket Bat – neither do I want it smelling like a pizza!
Tung oil – never tried it, I’m not even sure what it is…..

So what do I use – shameless plug time – GERLITZ GUITAR HONEY!!!. Harvey Gerlitz is a cabinet maker, luthier, wood fanatic and guitarist. He’s used his considerable years of experience to blend what he describes as “mineral oils” to degrease, nourish and clean your guitar neck. Since first using this in about 2008 I have used it exclusively – and I’m not looking back on that decision! I’ve never had any complaints about this product and have sold literally thousands of bottles of it!

How to do it….

I’ve kind of covered this in this article – click here.

How often to do it….

er…..

I wouldn’t do it each time I change strings, and I don’t have a specific time interval – but once you’ve got used to a well conditioned fretboard you know when it needs doing…..

Lets suggest that you look at doing it maybe twice a year – more if you only use one guitar and the skin cells are building up 🙂

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