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View Full Version : Caring for Rosewood Fingerboards



michaelomiya
04-07-2008, 02:23 AM
OK, I know this topic has been done over to death. However, I am curious to get the Supreme Commander's take (and anyone else's 2 cents).

My Atom's FB is getting dry. But before just rubbing the board with lemon oil, this post came to mind:

"The thing with these preps is that they basically just sit on the surface of the wood, soaking in only a scant amount when it comes down to it. The amount that soaks in is more due to the porousness of the piece then a lack of moisture (course a piece can be somewhat more porous due to lack of moisture) and they are not able to replace that moisture.....also since they do not seal the wood, they are not an effective barrier to the natural process of moisture exchange with the environment, just a temporary one. So what they do in essence is sit there on the wood and make it look all sorts of moist and conditioned....which marketing has tought us is beneficial to the wood. The most benefical factor is the ambient humidity of the environment where the wood is kept.

"It was once thought that furniture needed to be "fed" with various mixtures of oils and other materials to keep it from drying out. These mixtures enhance the appearance of wood temporarily, but ultimately do not keep wood from drying out. No amount of oil will prevent furniture from drying out if the RH remains below 30% for a period of time. A better approach would be to keep furniture in a stable environment."
http://aic.stanford.edu/library/onli...ures/furn.html


Then I read these threads:
http://andersonforum.com/board/showthread.php?t=1334&highlight=lemon+rosewood
http://andersonforum.com/board/showthread.php?t=710&highlight=lemon+rosewood
Guess, I'll be headed over to Smart&Final....but still wondering....:rolleyes:

And is this only for RW FB's? What about ebony?

tom
04-07-2008, 11:30 AM
i'd say all bare fingerboards. i have been playing with the dr ducks axewax, and it seems to leave more behind. not sure i'd put it on the finished area like they say, but it looks good on the fingerboard.

michaelomiya
04-07-2008, 06:01 PM
i'd say all bare fingerboards. i have been playing with the dr ducks axewax, and it seems to leave more behind. not sure i'd put it on the finished area like they say, but it looks good on the fingerboard.

thanks tom, but you'd still recommend the lemon oil from S&F as a back-up?

tom
04-07-2008, 06:10 PM
we're still using the s&f stuff. i've just been playing with the ducks stuff on my own guitars to check it out.

Ecky-Thump
04-08-2008, 06:26 AM
Fret Doctor gets my vote for a rosewood board. Been using other products for years and always found that the board got a bit gunky after a while.

With the Fret Dr it is very light and seems to prevent gunk from building up, as well as nourishing the board. Works a treat!:)

GuitarNorton
04-08-2008, 09:38 AM
Fret Doctor gets my vote for a rosewood board. Been using other products for years and always found that the board got a bit gunky after a while.

With the Fret Dr it is very light and seems to prevent gunk from building up, as well as nourishing the board. Works a treat!:)

Phil Jacoby turned me on to Fret Doc, love the stuff!