Finish on Rosewood/ebony fretboards?

[honza992]

Hi All

Quick question about fretboards.   When I've made guitars with rosewood or ebony fretboards I've always left them unfinished.  ie they get sanded to something like a 1000 grit, then I put the frets in and that's it.  I then very lightly wipe them with a guitar lemon oil every 6 months or so.  

I'm just finishing off a tele with a pau ferro fretboard and randomly came across a thread on another board that said in fact all manufacturers, large and small, apply a finish to rosewood/ebony (and presumably pau ferro) to seal it.  This was news to me. 

If you do finish your fretboards what do you use, and how and when do you do it?

PS I'm only talking about the darker fretboards here.  Maple is a different matter.  I think pretty much everyone, myself included, puts a hard finish on that. 

 

Thanks!

[SpondonBassed]

On my kit build, I used lemon oil and rubbed in three coats.  I remember thinking at the time that the fretboards on factory guitars must be unfinished else it'd be pointless recommending periodic treatment with lemon oil.

On my Vantage, the fingerboard is finished in black.  Beneath it appears to be rosewood as wear and tear has revealed.  I don't need to refinish it but I wondered what was used at the factory as it seems to have no thickness to it at all.  It's probably just a light spray coat of paint.

Now that you've asked the question, I realise that I have never applied lemon oil to the black fingerboard.  All my other basses have had some.  Hmmm.

Dang.  Now I'm going to wonder about this for at least the nest five min...  Oh!  Look at that cloud.  It's shaped just like a Rickenbacker.

[mybass]

Bore oil, as used for woodwind instruments like clarinet and oboe, Yamaha is one manufacturer. My double bass repairer of many years ago used it and Istill use it on my macasser ebony f boards, once a year.

[SpondonBassed]

9 hours ago, mybass said:

Bore oil, as used for woodwind instruments like clarinet and oboe, Yamaha is one manufacturer. My double bass repairer of many years ago used it and Istill use it on my macasser ebony f boards, once a year.

Ignore >>>this<<<.

>>>This<<< is interesting, although it is a commercial message in essence.

It's nice to hear that the woodwind section has a solution to shrinkage.  I looked up some of the suggestions for the types of oil used and generally the feeling seems to be to avoid petroleum (mineral) based oils and use one of several suggested vegetable oils.  Apricot and Almond Oils were among them.

It appears that untreated, moisture can escape from a timber surface and cause distortion and shrinkage.  A finish coat or a regular light treatment with one of the recommended oils helps to prevent such degradation.

It looks as if fruit and nut oils are the way forward.

[Reggaebass]

I was a French polisher before going into joinery  and it depends on what you’re finishing the natural oils don’t really harden they revitalise the wood and stop the grain from cracking  as opposed to manufactured oils like danish oil which harden and seal the wood    imo natural oils are better for fretboards 

[mybass]

Any oil should be used sparingly and not too often...my f boards get a clean and light Bore oil maybe twice a year. Over use of any oil can be negative. Personal experience many years ago saw a roadie using it every night resulting in the guitarists graphite nut melting around his strings and my bass f board dulling the tone down and the bridge getting residual oil over it. He stopped after the threat of being sacked! I would hazard frets could also lose their tight seating.

[fleabag]

Quick read..

https://boristhewoodworker.com/woodworking-101/teak-oil-vs-tung-oil-vs-danish-oil/

[honza992]

Thanks all for the replies. Plenty to think about. I may write to Fender and ask what they do with there's. I'll let you know....