How to care for an unfinished maple/rosewood fingerboard

Warren

Hi guys

I have a Music Man guitar with a maple neck / rosewood board. The neck has that "stripped" finish. Can I safely use lemon oil on the fingerboard? What should I use on the neck itself to keep it in good shape?

shaunf

I can highly recommend Fret Doctor for the fretboard:

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

For the back of the neck, have you considered finishing it with a light coat of Tru Oil?

Reinhard

shaunf wrote: I can highly recommend Fret Doctor for the fretboard:

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

For the back of the neck, have you considered finishing it with a light coat of Tru Oil?

What ShaunF said. It is all I use for rosewood.

With regards to the maple, you can try tru oil like shaunf mentioned, or keep it unfinished and occasionally clean it with naphtha/lighter fluid. Apparently Gun stock oil also works.

Reinhard

Also found this:

"For the guitars I've built and when I've "refinished" Wolfgang necks I've always used Tru-Oil. One thorough coat; let dry for 24 hours; smooth over the entire neck with medium-fine steel wool. Then I do a coat of beeswax followed by a coat of lemon oil. This is basically the same procedure EB and Peavey used for their respective EVH models. At string changes I clean the neck with Murphy's Oil Soap and a soft brush and follow that with a coat of lemon oil. My oil-finished necks have stayed clean and in great shape for years by simply doing the above."

Warren

Cool, thanks guys. I need to change strings and I want to give the neck some TLC.

AlanRatcliffe

The neck isn't unfinished, it's EBMM's own oil/wax finish:
http://www.music-man.com/faq/music-man-guitars/how-do-i-clean-and-maintain-my-music-man-neck.html

+1 on Fret Doctor for the fingerboard. It's wonderful stuff.

Clint-Green

+ 100 on Tru-Oil for the neck!! After getting sick of the poly finish on my Epi Les Paul's neck getting sticky and dragging on my thumb whenever I worked up a bit of a sweat, I deceided to sand it it all off and give it an oil finish instead. I did a bit of reading and learned that they use Tru-Oil as the finish for the EBMM necks. I promptly ordered a bottle and have since redone the neck on my Ibanez RG570 as well and will probably do the same for all of my future guitars). Awesome, awesome stuff - durable (you don't have to re-oil every few months like you do with other oil finishes), easy to apply and feels fantastic on guitar necks!! I used some coffee filters for applying it, worked really well.

Warren

Thanks again guys, I've ordered some Tru-Oil, so will give you an update once I've received it and had a go at the neck.

Reinhard

ShreddySmurf wrote: Thanks again guys, I've ordered some Tru-Oil, so will give you an update once I've received it and had a go at the neck.

Where did you order from?

Warren

Reinhard wrote:
Where did you order from?

Found a crowd on bidorbuy.co.za.

Clint-Green

ShreddySmurf wrote:
Reinhard wrote:
Where did you order from?
Found a crowd on bidorbuy.co.za.

That's where I got mine from as well, the seller is Pellet Gun Bar or something?

You will have quite a bit left over, it would be a good idea to just pierce the foil seal and make sure that you wipe it clean before screwing the lid back on. Also, I've read that you should store the bottle upside down to keep a crust from forming under the lid (or something to that effect).

Good luck!