Get that Dunlop fret board cleaner, and deep conditioner (two separate products) ... part of the NO.65 series guitar care line. The cleaner is well for cleaning, but the conditioner will probably be needed if it's been a good long while. Follow the directions, then redo about every 6 months. Also for normal cleaning (every 3 months maybe) you can use a cheaper but good product (saving the good stuff for when needed more), Luthier's Choice Fretboard Cleaner/ Conditioner ... works well to remove grime, and put a bit of oil back in. Rosewood generally will not dry out (normal humidity)with normal playing because the oil in your skin gets into the wood. So Rosewood isn't in a great danger of cracking ... Ebony will dry out and crack though without conditioning though, although I've known people who have gotten away with it, I've seen others who haven't ... better safe than sorry on that front.stratovarius said:
Yeah the pure oil is good stuff, a like you said a bottle will last forever, some people crack on the lemon scented petro-distillates, but there are some that don't harm the wood, the Gibson is one, they also make a string cleaner (never used theirs) and a high gloss polish, that is pretty good, cool thing is you can put a couple drops were you need it. Great as a *touch up polish*. Of the subject but does anyone beides me remember a product out of Sarasota,FL called Axe Wax (not doctor ducks Axe Wax either), I've still got some left it's great stuff,a light creamy purplish-white cream, nobody knows what happened to the company ... Also Smith Polish , a pinkish-red cream, great stuff.59paul said:On Rosewood, I've always used guitar cleaner to clean the fingerboard. I clean it each time I change strings. Every 3 months or so, I'll clean the board, then use Pure Lemon Oil to condition it. I put a little bit of the Lemon oil on the board, work it in a bit with my finger, let it sit a few minutes, then wipe off the excess with a clean, soft cloth.( it only takes a SMALL amount of Lemon Oil !!! ). On a really dirty board, you can use some 0000 steel wool, to help clean it, and shine the frets. Just tape over your pickups with some masking tape first !!! Then, lightly go over the board with the 0000 steel wool ( this is ULTRA FINE steel wool ). Clean the board afterwards. I buy the Lemon oil at a Hardware store. It's the same stuff used on Fine Furniture, etc... Make sure it's Pure Lemon oil. The Brand I use is " Old English " . Comes in a big bottle, lasts a long time, not expensive. *** As Kent said, the Dunlop products are good, too. They just weren't around back in the old days. So...I've grown used to doing it this way over the years.
Kent S. said:
