Olive oil on the fretboard?

[FBloke]

My board looks a iittle thirsty and I want to give it a light oiling and then change the strings tomorrow morning. Trouble is I'm all out of linseed oil and I don't have any commercial fingerboard oil either (not that I like fossil oil based lubricants on the board anyhow).

So, all I have is what's in the cooking cupboard; olive oil, sunflower oil and rice bran oil. Is any of this stuff safe or useful on a fretboard? It's a Les Paul and I guess we're talking about rosewood here.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

lol, are you serious?

Absolutely not. NEVER use food oil on a guitar. It will make a sticky mess, and will eventually rot over time.

Lemon oil and mineral oil are really cheap ... just go out and get some.

 

[mediumpimpin]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

Ditto. Just go get some bore oil or lemon oil, it's pretty cheap. No more than $5 last time I bought some.

 

[vinterland]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I have yet to fully understand how this thread topic pops up at least once a week.

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

They do have some food grade oil in a can..... I wouldnt be hysterical about useing vegetable oil either. It's organic and would not be detrimenatl. There have been concerns about it turning rancid, but really, if it turns 100% rancid ,the guitars are not in the proper cool dry environment anyway.

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I have yet to fully understand how this thread topic pops up at least once a week.

maybe cause people have 3500.00 guitars that they are concerned about?

 

[vinterland]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

maybe cause people have 3500.00 guitars that they are concerned about?

yeah that must be it... :banghead:

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

maybe cause people have 3500.00 guitars that they try to get cheap with when it comes to fretboard oil

Fixed.

 

[krankguitarist]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

detrimenatl.

Epic spelling FAIL.

 

[millsart]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

Olive oil actually does work. Avoid things like canola oil though as those can get sticky. Olive oil doesn't get sticky and doesn't soak into the wood to fast so it does work in a pinch.

Boiled linseed oil would be my oil of choice though. Its basically the same thing as lemon oil minus the scent and usually half the price. You can find it at most arts supply and hardware stores and a $5 bottle will literally last a lifetime or a million guitar necks.

Oil is pretty much oil at the end of the day. It can be no name linseed or some "uber" oil (probably linseed lol) with a famous brand name on it at 5x the price and 1/5th the size. No one is really reinventing the wheel here.

Whats more important is not applying to much, letting it sit just long enough to give the wood the revitalization it needs and then wiping it off and buffing it well with a clean soft cloth, and most importantly of all, not letting it get down into the frets.

Work slowly and carefully. Qtips are my tool of choice for application. Even with the the most expensive and highly regarded of oils, you can screw up your fretboard if you use to much

 

[trevorus]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

Just go grab some fretboard conditioner. it's cheap.

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I use Vitalis

 

[firebirdV]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I'll be honest here and say that I have never oiled my fretboard have never had a problem and do not anticipate having one. My father has never oiled his fret board either and he has been playing for a lot longer than I have. He has had two Taylors with ebony fret boards, which supposedly need oiling more than any other wood, since I was young, and they were fine. Never any shrinkage or splitting or anything.

Unless there is a problem, I would just leave it alone. Honestly, I think most people oil fret boards for aesthetic reasons.

 

[millsart]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

Depends on a ton of conditions such as the enviroment you guitar is kept in, the ph of your sweat, how much you sweat, how much you play, how oily your skin is and so forth.

Some boards need to be oiled several times a year as they really do get seriously dry and cracked and someone elses might go for years and it still looks and feels great.


Its just like strings. Some guys can wear out a set in a few hours playing while another guitarist with a different body ph and who maybe plays less can get a few months out of a set and they still sound new

 

[d1dsj]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I'll be honest here and say that I have never oiled my fretboard have never had a problem and do not anticipate having one. My father has never oiled his fret board either and he has been playing for a lot longer than I have. He has had two Taylors with ebony fret boards, which supposedly need oiling more than any other wood, since I was young, and they were fine. Never any shrinkage or splitting or anything.

Unless there is a problem, I would just leave it alone. Honestly, I think most people oil fret boards for aesthetic reasons.

I find the Ebony boards on my Custom and D.C Pro need LESS oiling than Rosewood. They always have a nice slinky and silky feel even when my strings have gone manky. I've just been given a box of Ernie Ball fret board wipes though I haven't tried them yet.

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

ernie ball wipes work just fine. i just wipe off my board, give it a few wipes with the conditioner wipes, and the neck feels slick. i use them every time i change strings, which is probably overkill, but that's just me. btw ernie ball wipes are cheeeep

 

[vinterland]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I'll be honest here and say that I have never oiled my fretboard have never had a problem and do not anticipate having one. My father has never oiled his fret board either and he has been playing for a lot longer than I have. He has had two Taylors with ebony fret boards, which supposedly need oiling more than any other wood, since I was young, and they were fine. Never any shrinkage or splitting or anything.

Unless there is a problem, I would just leave it alone. Honestly, I think most people oil fret boards for aesthetic reasons.

When there's a problem it's too late. They need to be maintained over time especially dry months. A good 50% of guitars I see need oiling.

 

[hanumanlangur]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

I use olive oil on my fretboards, and it works perfectly well. It's not sticky at all, and the results look and feel great.

There's a guy on here who has been conditioning fretboards at a repair shop for over 40 years, using olive oil, and has never run into any issues with it. That was the impetus for me to try it for myself. The nice thing is that if you get olive oil, the bottle dwarfs any bottle of fretboard conditioner you would get. You'll probably never run out (unless you use it for cooking too).

 

[FBloke]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

OK, we can all relax now....I went out into my shed with a torch and found my lemon oil. My Lester now has a shiny, nicely conditioned board and a lovely new set of D'Addarios.

But, best of all, when rummaging around in my shed I found what I thought was an empty Heineken case but it in fact still had four beers in it!!! Already chilled to drinking temperature!!

Happy days.

 

[RiceCustomRich]

Re: Olive oil on the fretboard?

Yep. I use olive oil on my rosewood boards, and have done so since 1963. Works better than anything else I have tried, and a little goes a long way. I need to do 'em about once a year, due to forced air heat in Chicago winters. Lem oil and the like doesn't work nearly as well in my opinion, It has never gone sticky, rancid, or any other such nonsesnse. You replace evaporated oils with natural oils. Looks great, feels great, and does a wonderful job of protecting the wood. No adverse effects at all.