What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

[wickenspoet]

What's the best way to clean the gunk off of ebony and rosewood fretboards?

I've been using lemon oil, a little water, and a soft cloth whenever I replace strings. Is that about right?

.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Dunlop Lemon Oil.

Use tons of it. Wipe up the excess. Your guitar now loves you.

 

[wickenspoet]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Dunlop Lemon Oil.

Use tons of it. Wipe up the excess. Your guitar now loves you.

Fastest response ever. Thanks. I think that's the stuff I've got, actually.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Toothpaste ,bowl of lukewarm water, and an old toothbrush, with a washcloth to wipe the excess and rinse ito the bowl.
As far as whats best to oil the fretboard with, thats a huge controversy.

 

[MojoMonster]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Don't use anything with silicon in it.

Whatever you use, don't use lots of it.
Too much oil can loosen frets.
The cells in the fretboard wood are dead.
They can't absorb anything meaningful.
Make sure you wipe it all off.

If it's really dirty/grungy, scrape it using a straight razor.

MM

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Dunlop Lemon Oil

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Naphtha to remove the grime, lemon oil to rehydrate.

 

[muttznmongrelz]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Lemon Oil here...on Rosewood, Ebony or Maple...just know that if it's raw maple Lemon Oil will tint it...personally, I like the lemon oil tint on raw maple.

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

I heard that some companies advise against using Lemon oil, believe it or not, on Ebony.

I just use the Dunlop cleaning kit that has a fretboard conditioner and then an oil to restore it. I gotta go online to hunt down further info on the oil though despite how great it is, so I'm not in reality f'in up my ebony fretboard maybe.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Check out this site: final words on that topic

http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm

There are two kinds of lemon oil: lemon scented mineral oil (the cheap one: Bad, bad, bad...) and pure oil out of lemon peel.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

^ because a dude trying to sell his home-made concoction is always the leading authority on the subject

 

[LedSabbath]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Dunlop Lemon Oil. BUT under NO Circumstance SHOULD YOU ever put it ON a MAPLE FRETBOARD!!!! It will ruin the wood.

 

[Surgeon]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

First: wipe off the grime. I use an old credit card, then wipe (hot breath treatment to help).
Once all is removed: linseed oil. Cheap (far cheaper than branded lemon-oil wich is just mineral oil with added lemon scent) and super-efficient at rehydrating. It's what Dan Earlewine recommends in all his books. Never had a problem on both rosewood and ebony. No residues, no sticky feeling either.

 

[lex666]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?

Dunlop Lemon Oil for rosewood & ebony fretboards.

Good 'ole guitar polish for maple fretboards.

I just use an old t shirt as a rag. The tshirt is usually pretty good at soaking up any excess and at the same time scrubs the fretboard. I use my fingernail & the rag to get at any grime at the frets.

 

[crguti]

Re: What's the best way to clean ebony and rosewood fretboards?