Oiling the fretboard question.

[pica]

When you oil the fretboard, should you remove all 4 strings at the same time. I saw somewhere once you should not remove all the strings at the same time because it will mess with the tension or something like that.

I was also told when you change strings you should do one at a time for the same reason. Is there any truth to this. Also I have an ebony neck so how often should oiling be done. Thanks.

[Slowgypsy]

Originally Posted by pica

When you oil the fretboard, should you remove all 4 strings at the same time. I saw somewhere once you should not remove all the strings at the same time because it will mess with the tension or something like that.

I was also told when you change strings you should do one at a time for the same reason. Is there any truth to this. Also I have an ebony neck so how often should oiling be done. Thanks.

1 - It's perfectly okay to remove all string at once to give your fretboard a cleaning and/or oiling. Nothing bad happens... nothing changes. That said... if you take all the strings off and intend to keep them off for a period of time... overnight or longer... just loosen the truss rod a bit to take some tension off of it. But for an hour or so to clean the fretboard... no worries.

2 - Do you have an ebony neck? Or did you mean fretboard?

3 - There's lots of different opinions about how often you should oil the fretboard. Myself, I'll do it maybe once a year, and lightly at that... but there's lots of differing view on this.

[pica]

Originally Posted by Slowgypsy

2 - Do you have an ebony neck? Or did you mean fretboard?

Sorry, I have an ebony fretboard.

[darkstorm]

Its ok to remove all the strings once in awhile. Its generally easier and faster to do the strings one at a time and tune up as you go. But theres occassions when you would take all the strings off. Most of the time Ive oiled my fretboard Ive left strings on, oiled it then changed the strings one at a time for new set. Lol. Useing clean soft cloth slid under strings to even the dunlop fretbaord deep conditioner I use.

[john grey]

Ebony generally has a tighter grain and more oils within it's various samples. Ebony is rarely a "thirsty" wood. Some Rosewoods may dry, but Ebony generally stays often pliable & resinous.
Often applying a neutral oil to a tight-grained wood leaves much unabsorbed oil. This enters the strings and (occasionally) the fret grooves. It's a good idea to ask yourself why you want to oil Ebony. Is it to darken the color? or to smooth the fret-board as well as darken the color? If that's the case a very light dressing with 000 size steel wool and mineral oil with a full wipe off with achieve that effect without a greasy, oily mess. The oil may not penetrate as well as you'd like, leaving it in place does little. The cotton soft steel wool size and a simple neutral oil applied once will remove finger-crud, darken the color and not leave a mess for strings, finger of fret cuts. However ebony can be a very straight clear grain (quality piano keys?) in which case many people would consider it a waste of time to "treat" it. There are two major species and bla, bla, bla, bla......I would leave it alone except when it gets seriously debris on it from many years of playing.

Personally speaking I would not involve oils as the select samples used for musical instruments are not cheap and extraneous oils (not from the wood's resins) does NOT strengthen the sample, except in cases of a large amount of finger-impacted dirt & debris it's leave it totally be. In that case I would use the above illustrated technique. The less one does to a well made instrument except play it; the better they become with age. I would certainly not treat it more than once per several years. That's not productive. Remember that not all "ebony fret-boards are natural. many fret-boards use a synthetic material.