There is a lot of misinformation floating around about oils: many treatments and finishes that claim to be oil are not; some recommend non-drying oils for finishing or drying oils for fingerboard treatment; some will even use and recommend machine oils (including those designed to penetrate!). That's why no replacement neck manufacturer will guarantee an oil-finished neck - there's nothing wrong with a proper oil finish, but to sort the oil from the snake oil is difficult.
In short, the drying oils are used for finishing, the non-drying oils are used for treatment or conditioning. The roles should never be reversed. For finishing, the oil cures and forms a protective layer. The treatment oils penetrate a bit to replace lost moisture (desirable to prevent shrinking and cracking with unfinished woods like rosewood and especially ebony). The conditioning oils clean and penetrate the surface only, to help lock in the moisture, and those made for fingerboards will often be mostly comprised of a spirit cleaner to remove dirt.
IMO, treatment only needs to be done once a year
at most or after cleaning with an alcohol. Conditioning can be done every second or third month. Otherwise a wipedown with a dry cloth at each string change is best.
The absolute best conditioning oil I have found is
Fret Doctor from www.beafifer.com. Treatment oils, the lemon oil from D'Andrea or D'Addario/Planet Waves is fine.
X-rated Bob wrote:
I recall that some years ago, certainly in Jo'burg, there was a craze for lemon oil.
I noticed - I've refretted more than a few where the fret slots were swimming in the stuff. "Lemon oil" is mostly naptha with a few percent plain mineral oil (for conditioning) and a lemon scent. Good for fingerboard cleaning (in moderation), but doesn't penetrate and mostly dries in a few days. On a film finish (of any type - French polish, nitro, poly), lemon and other oils will do nothing, aside from temporarily hiding some of the smaller scratches and making the surface a little oily - and carnuba wax does a better and longer lasting job of that.
Tailon. wrote:
theres a old wives tail of harmonica players soaking there wooden harmonicas in whiskey to break them in , it clearly does something to the wood ....
Sorry almost missed this one - alcohol absorbs moisture and takes it along when it evaporates, so it helps dry out the wood frame (moisture being a problem with any woodwind instrument).
My feeling is your are making the fibres of the wood either strecth or contract which will alter its tone and resonance , i even feel a unvarnished guitar will sound different to a varnished guitar cos in reality you are changing the structure of the wood .
Not quite changing the structure of the wood in most cases, but encasing it. Which is why a thin finish is usually desirable. I know a master finisher in the US who uses only a shot glass of lacquer to refinish an entire top of a Les Paul - which means probably an 8th of a glass of solids. Also consider that nitrocellulose is cellulose - as is wood. Used to be made out of cotton.
Viccy wrote:
Thanks, that makes a lot more sense now. Although it's surprising to think that the sound box is bare, dry and comparatively gritty inside.
Allows the wood to continue drying and keeps down the weight of the finish.
Do they dry the wood out so much that no more natural oils come out?
Pretty much - at least four to 15 years drying time, depending on species.
I know that if you sand to a very fine grit the natural oils have a way of coming out. Or is that my imagination?
Not your imagination, but not oils either. The fine sawdust works to lower friction, making the wood feel much smoother/oilier than it is. A coarse sanded surface actually dries faster as there is more effective surface area.
Whew! I think I answered everything, but shout if I missed anything...
