What can I use to clean and restore ebony fretless neck please?

[zawinul]

ok peeps

Got myself a Warwick fretless, pics already up, its great but neck is a little weary, I think it hasn't has a decent clean or polish, strings seem to 'stick' into fretboard, but that could be cos they are Nickel/steel?

Anyway can anyone give me best advice as to what to use to firstly clean the gunk off neck and then anything I can put on to make it as slippery as an eel. no point having a fretless if you can slide around like a snake.....

[BassBus]

I have to confess to being a bit of a fan boy for Dave Reoame (Dave's World of Fun Stuff, youtube). He uses ordinary household surface cleaner to clean up fret board/finger boards. He then puts a few drops of linseed oil on and wipes it over the board. I have used lemon oil on my Rosewood and Ebony boards. All seem to work fine. Make sure there isn't any residue left from the oil though. Wipe it on and then off again.

[Shaggy]

I don't know if this is recognised good practice as I'd picked it up from carpentry, but I've always used it on my ebony fretless boards (in fact all uncoated boards) and keeps them pretty much pristine and sealed against grot / sweaty hands
- clean board off with methylated spirits (on cloth or kitchen tissue), rub on a light coat of Danish oil with a bit of soft cloth, rub off excess oil after a minute or so, leave for a couple of days to dry hard, and polish with a dry cloth before re-stringing

Edited July 26, 2015 by Shaggy

[PlungerModerno]

I'd want to get it clean with the least amount of "soaking" possible - wood expands when it absorbs oil or water - lucky for you ebony tends to not absorb much so you'll probably be OK with just a damp cloth. For stubborn grime I've used a fingernail brush and some cleaning solvent (rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid etc - taking care to not get it on the finish) - which has helped clean up some really filthy rosewood fretboards for me. I've seen quite a lot of different products used (cleaning or conditioning sprays) as well as linseed oil and regular dish soap - all with nice results.

I'd just try to avoid using anything that'll be hard to get off - like a hard automotive wax or sillicone based polish spray.

[Silvia Bluejay]

I usually clean body, neck and fretboard with the Harley Benton spray I got from Thomann, and then lubricate the fingerboard with a little Fast Fret. I've done this for years and can see no damage, only improvement, but I'm sure someone will come along and state that I'm absolutely ruining my basses by doing that...

Edited July 26, 2015 by bluejay

[zawinul]

Cheers this all sounds like good advice. What's the best cleaner?

People have said use Tung oil which dries hard like expoxy would this be a.good idea?

[Shaggy]

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1437921767' post='2829990']
Cheers this all sounds like good advice. What's the best cleaner?

People have said use Tung oil which dries hard like expoxy would this be a.good idea?
[/quote]

I'm fairly sure there's Tung oil as an ingredient in the Danish oil I mentioned above - it does dry hard, but more like a sealant than a varnish, and does seem to actually harden the wood; I've generally used round wound strings and the (ebony) board on my 1977 Ovation Magnum 1 fretless is almost unmarked. As pointed out, ebony is a very non-absorbent wood, so a very light application is all it needs

[goonieman]

[quote name='zawinul' timestamp='1437921767' post='2829990']
Cheers this all sounds like good advice. What's the best cleaner?

People have said use Tung oil which dries hard like expoxy would this be a.good idea?
[/quote]

No way - unless you want a thin lacquer, rather than a wood treatment. Tung oil is a resin, whereas lemon oil (aka mineral oil with scented ingredients.. LOL... no lemons involved whatsoever) is a penetrating oil and keeps the wood soft.

Tung oil is like to be sticky and/or gummy over time. You do not want a coating on that ebony in my opinion, just healthy ebony, especially if you want to move around fast.

I've just finished my ebony board and went down to 9u (micron) sandpaper (much finer than steel wool!).

Just clean gunk with some mild soapy water and an old t-shirt, then let dry and coat with mineral oil, then remove excess after 20 mins. If the wood is 'thirsty' you might need another coat.

You would only want to do this once a year or a little more if its a warm dry climate near the bass...

[zawinul]

[quote name='goonieman' timestamp='1437925842' post='2830052']
No way - unless you want a thin lacquer, rather than a wood treatment. Tung oil is a resin, whereas lemon oil (aka mineral oil with scented ingredients.. LOL... no lemons involved whatsoever) is a penetrating oil and keeps the wood soft.

Tung oil is like to be sticky and/or gummy over time. You do not want a coating on that ebony in my opinion, just healthy ebony, especially if you want to move around fast.

I've just finished my ebony board and went down to 9u (micron) sandpaper (much finer than steel wool!).

Just clean gunk with some mild soapy water and an old t-shirt, then let dry and coat with mineral oil, then remove excess after 20 mins. If the wood is 'thirsty' you might need another coat.

You would only want to do this once a year or a little more if its a warm dry climate near the bass...
[/quote]

This sounds very sensible. don't really want to alter the neck too much , just 'restore; it to how it would have been 25 years ago!!

Did you just use this 9u sandpaper right of or did you use anything else first?

is lemon oil a product or a pure kind of oil?

cheers

z

[goonieman]

Well, I was SANDING the neck, so I started at 400 grit!

What I would do is clean the fretboard with the soapy mix, then straight into the 9u (if you can find it!). Then wipe off the dust and apply the oil.

lemon oil is mineral oil, which is basically a petroleum oil. You could use linseed if you want to keep it neutral, but dunlop 65 lemon oil - or whatever it is - is basically mineral oil with fragrance added. Mineral oil is neutral. Don't use olive oil because it can go rancid.

It's not a lot of work - maybe 20-30 mins all together. Don't fear the fretboard. It's very resilient.

[zawinul]

[quote name='goonieman' timestamp='1437930365' post='2830131']
Well, I was SANDING the neck, so I started at 400 grit!

What I would do is clean the fretboard with the soapy mix, then straight into the 9u (if you can find it!). Then wipe off the dust and apply the oil.

lemon oil is mineral oil, which is basically a petroleum oil. You could use linseed if you want to keep it neutral, but dunlop 65 lemon oil - or whatever it is - is basically mineral oil with fragrance added. Mineral oil is neutral. Don't use olive oil because it can go rancid.

It's not a lot of work - maybe 20-30 mins all together. Don't fear the fretboard. It's very resilient.


This 9u sandpaper doesn;t seem to exist unless its for cleaning fibre optics, where dod you get it from!?

Thanks for all the advice, one I have some fine sandpaper i'll be on itm oe is fine wire wool ok?

Chees
[/quote]

[Treb]

I would clean it with turps, then apply a polymerising wood oil mixture. Something like Danish Oil or another tung oil & boiled linseed oil mixture with a cobalt catalyst. Remember an oil finish should penetrate the wood instead of forming a layer on top of the wood.

Ebony being such a dense wood it probably will not absorb much oil if any at all. Ebony doesn't require a finish...

[goonieman]

[quote name='Treb' timestamp='1437935096' post='2830182']
I would clean it with turps, then apply a polymerising wood oil mixture. Something like Danish Oil or another tung oil & boiled linseed oil mixture with a cobalt catalyst. Remember an oil finish should penetrate the wood instead of forming a layer on top of the wood.

Ebony being such a dense wood it probably will not absorb much oil if any at all. Ebony doesn't require a finish...
[/quote]

hold on there: OP said that he doesn't want the coating/hardening effect of danish oil. He wants just to treat the bare wood.

[Treb]

Properly applied an oil finish doesn't form a layer or coating if you will. Oil should be in the wood. Use of a polymerising oil makes sure the wood doesn't end up greasy or sticky. These oils are also knows as drying or hardening oils. These oils usually contain a mixture of tung and boiled linseed oil, some fragrance and additives that speed up drying time. The trick is to wipe off excess oil that the wood will not absorb. If you fail to do that you end up with a sticky mess.

i have used such oils dozens of times. An unfinished maple jazz bass neck came out great. Rosewood fretboards likewise. These oils darken the wood a bit and as an added bonus make the wood grain pop up nicely.

Edited July 26, 2015 by Treb

[zawinul]

just been looking closely at fretboard and its got a lot of long thin gauges down it from string wear, should I have this re-planed? would this affect overall sound?

or just leave it for its 'character'?

[Treb]

A competent luthier will be able to tell you if it needs that kind of work. Dunno if it affects sound.

[PlungerModerno]

[quote name='Treb' timestamp='1437954936' post='2830384']
A competent luthier will be able to tell you if it needs that kind of work. Dunno if it affects sound.
[/quote]

+1 It's not a big decision for a cheap conversion (like my fretless bass) but as this is a pretty valuable warwick neck I'd take it to a competent repair person (somebody who makes & works on violins for example) to inspect the fingerboard wear and recommend corrective measures if needed.

Chances are it could benefit from a shave if it has pronounced grooves. Unless the grooves are very deep and, for example 5 mm of the fingerboard will need to be removed - resulting in a significant loss of mass (moving dead spots and wolf notes - or maybe resulting in new ones) - a shave of the fingerboard should have no effect on tone - that can be heard through a speaker.
The setup will be different if the neck changes shape (even subtly) resulting in a different feel when "frettin'" - But unless the neck becomes weakened and unstable I can't imagine the tuning, expressiveness or tonal character changing in any way - other than getting better with a perfectly even playing surface!

[zawinul]

Cheers I think I will take it to a decent luthier does anyone have any recommendations near South coast?

[zawinul]

Cheers I think I will take it to a decent luthier does anyone have any recommendations near South coast?

[alyctes]

Where on the south coast? Brighton is a long way from Plymouth

[zawinul]

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1438030699' post='2831107']
Where on the south coast? Brighton is a long way from Plymouth
[/quote]

Bournemouth

[MOSCOWBASS]

Be careful with Lemon Oil, it contains Limonene which is a solvent for things like superglue. Fingerboard line markings may be glued in with superglue and could be loosened with Limonene. I know Lemon Oil has been used for many years, but just a word of caution.

[Grahambythesea]

I live in Dorset. Try Robin Greenwood, he does good repair work and I have an instrument made by him which is great quality. He's based near Poole - Courtyard Craft Centre, Lychett Minster. Otherwise the guys at Absolute Music are good too but more expensive.

[zawinul]

[quote name='Grahambythesea' timestamp='1438104407' post='2831701']
I live in Dorset. Try Robin Greenwood, he does good repair work and I have an instrument made by him which is great quality. He's based near Poole - Courtyard Craft Centre, Lychett Minster. Otherwise the guys at Absolute Music are good too but more expensive.
[/quote]

Yeah absolute have already quoted me 150-200!!! thanks for the heads up i"ll give him an a email

cheers

[Ghost_Bass]

To get rid of the gunk i use the normal furniture cleaning spray that everybody has at home. Then, after a good wipe with a dry cloth i apply lemon oil and let it soak in for a couple of minutes and wipe the excess off with a dry cloth.