Today I decided to do a bit of guitar maintenance on my 1968 Gibson acoustic guitar and my 2008 Fender Jazz Bass. Found my bottle of guitar polish and bottle of fretboard conditioning oil, and went to work.
After I was finished I happened to take a closer look at that bottle of fretboard oil/conditioner … and was appalled to discover that it was actually valve/slide oil. Like for a trumpet or trombone. Why do I even have that?!
The fretboards on these guitars are both rosewood.
The only thing this bottle mentions about the ingredients is that it “contains petroleum distillates”. I managed to find my bottle of actual fretboard oil (Lizard Spit brand), and I see that it also contains petroleum distillates, so I’m guessing that part isn’t a problem. I’m more concerned with whatever else might be in the valve oil, which is intended for use on metal, not wood.
It really shouldn’t damage the wood. Oils and stains really don’t penetrate more than maybe a sixteenth of an inch, particularly with dense wood, and I’m assuming you only used a very light touch with it. On the janka scale, rosewood is in the upper third for hardness.
As far as I can tell, those oils are basically the same thing, machine oil with various scents suitable for their purpose. I used to be adamant that you could only use lemon oil on fretboards, until I came to learn that lemon oil has nothing to do with the plant, but is also just scented machine oil.
It’s my understanding that slide/valve oil is just mineral oil. They use different viscosities for different applications but they don’t put anything different in it just because it’s being used on metal. I don’t see how that could have much of an effect on a guitar fretboard.
I had a huge post going that started “:eek: Yer gonna wanna start with some 40 grit sandpaper and a bottle of turpentine…” but it got way too involved and too many people have posted straight answers already.
I agree with those guys up there ^. My sweat will slowly remove the chrome from the hardware (yep, watches never last long). If the fretboards on my instruments can handle that on a regular basis, yours are going to shrug off a little oil.
Valve oil is usually just mineral oil, no scents that I know of. Sure tastes like just oil. Some use paraffin oil, but that should be less of a problem. May actually be good for fretboards, but don’t quote me on that. (I wouldn’t call it machine oil if what you’re referring to is like 3-In-One Oil.)
FTR- I play electric and upright bass, tuba and euphonium. Yes, you can taste the valve oil. Nitpickery: trombone slide oil or grease is different than valve oil. Tuning slide oil is different than the other two. Then there’s cork grease for woodwinds.
Thanks, and sorry I figured it was a mechanical question looking for a factual answer, rather than about music. But either way.
The Lizard Spit label says it contains “orange oil”. Not sure if that’s any different.
I wanted to give the Gibson some love. Since I decided to focus on the bass more than two decades ago, I’ve barely played the thing. The last few times I’d played it I thought it just wasn’t sounding as good as it used to, and I finally realized I hadn’t even changed the strings in ten years. So after I was done with the fretboard and polishing the body I installed a brand new set of Martin Marquis, medium gauge. Yup, that was the problem. It sounds gorgeous now (well, as “gorgeous” as my “barely competent” guitar skills can make it sound). I was a little surprised to discover that the strings cost barely more than the last time I bought a good set. I always used the Martin Marquis strings when I played the thing regularly, but the last set I put on was some cheap off-brand I bought because I was living in poverty at the time. The new strings were $7, which isn’t much more than what I recall paying 15+ years ago. I’d gotten used to paying $30+ for a set of bass strings
Installing the strings did reveal one sad fact: Holy crap, I need to replace the tuners. They’re really worn out. The tuner for the A-string is so bad that I had to use my string winder to get enough leverage on the last turn to bring it up to pitch. Unfortunately, my past perusals of the Gibson web site seem to indicate that the only replacement parts anybody would ever want are Les Paul parts.
As far as the bass … the Fender has been my most-played instrument since I got it a decade ago, so as I was oiling it I looked at the rag and thought, “Wow, this fretboard was really dirty!” Then I looked closer at the fretboard, and it appears that Fender stains their rosewood to give it a more even appearance, and it the stain that was rubbing off. After oiling, it has a very definite light/dark grain. It actually looks kinda nice, though. That 50-year-old Gibson did not do this. It’s still nice, even, dark rosewood.
Nah, this was definitely the tuner. Even after unwinding the string back off and then turning it “empty”, I could feel how rough it was. The tension of the string just exacerbated it. Keep in mind that I’ve had this guitar for almost 38 years, so even though I haven’t played it much recently, I’m still familiar with how it should feel/work
Good lord, you’ve been buying new sets of bass strings? Unless you want the super bright snappy tone that comes with a new set of round wounds, there’s no need for new bass strings. Unless you’ve worn through the back side of the windings in a few spots, boil them for a half hour and they’ll sound new (if you’re into that sort of sound). Other than a couple of sets when I was young, I haven’t bought a set of bass strings without a new bass attached to them in decades, unless I had broken a string.
While I’m not a fan of the tone of new guitar or bass strings, I can see the need for them, especially on an acoustic instrument. In the case of electric bass strings, if you think you need to replace them for tone reasons before you actually damage or outright break one, I think you might save money by buying a preamp.
My old band’s bass player has a 1962 Fender Precision Bass in Sherwood Green with a tortoise pickguard. Sounds better than that description, too ;). He’s never changed the strings except when the highest string, the G, broke. He was pissy for a couple of months until the brightness got played out of the replacement.
I only have one string left on my bass! Had to change sets twice this summer! I never use picks, only fingering, slap or strum, usually normal(ish) tuning (can’t be bothered to precisely tune it, doesn’t really matter). I strum (more like punch) quite hard though and I’m a pretty good popper. I treat it fairly rough in general… It’s short scale, and sometimes I drop tune… Could that also have something to do with it? Strings are fucking expensive. Do you guys think better quality strings would last me longer? It’s fretless, does flats last as long as or longer than rounds?
Gonna give it some love after xmas, fix it up and maybe mod it some more and also install wall-wart plugs on it. I’m also fixing up my friends guitar, gonna be fun.
Hmm. I break bass strings too, (play with a pick, and play fairly hard), so I might actually have useful input. I do find that better quality bass strings last longer, but the metal alloy is more important than price. Nickel wound strings always last longer for me.
As far as killing the brightness of a new string, coat it with Chapstcik! Smells like whatever flavor you buy, and deadens them right up.