This isn't what their website States under those "care" section. The stuff they recommend is definitely not suitable for consumption.
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Coconut Oil?
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Well... This "oil my fret/finger board" thing comes up all the time. So, here - once again - are my thoughts...
1. Are you sure your fingerboard is unfinished? A number of luthiers here have said that very few of them actually are unfinished; that even though they look that way, they've been " sealed at the factory"... So, maybe yes, maybe no, But, if it is actually sealed, you're wasting your time - and money...
2. The people who say you don't need to put anything on the fret/fingerboard, IMO, are right... sorta. If you live in a place where there's actual humidity - or you keep your instruments in a climate-controlled music room? No, you probably don't need to do anything to it but wipe them off once in a while, and keep them clean. However.. if you live someplace where humidity is in very short supply - like, say Las Vegas, where the yearly average relative humidity is a whopping 26% (yes, it really is a dry heat)? Yeah, unless you want it to look like a 150-yo abandoned miner's shack, you better put something on there once in a while. However, IIRC, St. Louis is pretty humid most of the time, so... just keep it clean, maybe?
3. If you want to put something on it anyway? Personally, since I don't want my fretboards looking/feeling like an abandoned miner's shack, I use linseed oil on any fretboard that isn't sealed; lacquered; synthetic; or ebony. For ebony, I follow Alembic's instructions; real, genuine 100% lemon oil - the kind you get from a health food store. No, unlike most furniture polish "lemon oil", it is not "just lemon-scented mineral oil". It's real, actual lemon oil (pressed from the peel); and yes, it's expensive. I figure that, for a bass that cost $8,000 (last time I looked), I'll for damn sure do what the folks who made the thing say to do... I have several other instruments with ebony fretboards; the stuff really does works great on ebony. But, yeah, bore oil, Dunlop 65 lemon oil, or mineral oil will work, too... For the ones that are sealed, lacquered, or synthetic? I just wipe them off with a damp cloth, and keep them clean...
4. Yes, food oils are a bad idea. They will go rancid, and/or get moldy. When they do... good luck getting them off (or, more importantly, out) of your fingerboard. They're a definite no-no...
However... in the end, it's your instrument. Do what you think is best...
This is the truth.
Well said GIBrat51!
nalapit13
official player and catcher of bass
I use it every other string change. An old friend suggested it. It works great, in my opinion.
I live in California and owned a couple of Fender pre-CBS basses that had the million-tiny-cracks disease and gunk/junk galore on their rosewood fretboards. Around 2016, before I sold them, I used a soft tooth brush and wood soap to clean them up real nice. The next day I rubbed them down with Old English light-wood oil a few times and burnished them to a wonderful glow. The cracks closed up as well. They both looked pretty much brand new and the buyer was happy with the purchase.View attachment 3613648 Sorry to disagree, but - if you live someplace where there is very little humidity - like, here in the Mojave Desert - then, yes, ebony most definitely needs to be treated. All wood does, out here. I bought this '95 Alembic Epic from a guy in Bakersfield, California (another place where humidity's in short supply) when it was about 10 years old. He evidently thought the same thing you do; when I unboxed it, the ebony fretboard was a giant mass of tiny, open cracks - thousands of them. As I posted previously, Alembic says to treat their fretboards with genuine, 100% lemon oil. So, I did. The ebony sucked the lemon oil in so fast, I didn't have a chance to wipe it off. It finally stopped drinking it in during the 4th treatment, and I was able to wipe a little of it off. Next morning? All those thousands of tiny cracks were - gone. The Alembic - along with all my other instruments with ebony fretboards - get a dose of lemon oil once a year or so, to make damn sure those cracks don't come back. But, if you live someplace where there is actual humidity? Then, I'll agree - you don't need to treat your ebony fretboard...
I got the sense in their video that the "if you can ingest it, you're good to go" advice was just a short-hand way of ensuring that their customers bought a product that was only and entirely mineral oil, without extraneous ingredients. But of course, that was just the sense I got about how that sentence came about in the context of the advice given just before and after. I could be wrong of course.
I don't know what "way too intense" means if anything. I agree with Alembic and have been using pure lemon oil for years. Note that lemon oil for furniture is probably petroleum distillates is some measure and may work but I avoid them because you really don't know what is in there. One of the shortcomings of pure lemon oil is that it is light and evaporates rather quickly meaning you'd have to re-apply in a month or so. The upside of that is that because it evaporates it does not build up a mung on your board. So I have always done a two step treatment: First pure lemon oil to clean and soak the board and finish with a bore oil rub. That then keeps the treatment going for many months.
In spite of this (note that bore oil is for ebony instruments like clarinets) my Alembic fretless fingerboard developed small cracks at the far end (this is a common thing with ebony fingerboards though none of my other ebony fingerboards with the same treatment did). So I had to fix the cracks with superglue (now that is "intense") and kept up the treatments and after all these years still looks totally great.
Lately I've been trying some commercial products like Fret Doctor and some other brand (was it Ernie Ball?) and basically they seem every bit as good as the lemon oil/bore oil treatment only they are one step. I especially like Fret Doctor.
Linseed oil seems very popular but I don't want a sealing finish. And even if I did, linseed oil has a bad tendency to oxidize over the years and turn black. I think if I wanted the tone of a sealed board, I'd go whole hog and pay to have it epoxy coated.
It is true... what does science, chemistry and physics has to do with applying and selecting the oil you will use on your fretboard? Now enjoy and be disappointed.
I use boiled linseed oil on most of my Fretless basses. I don't know if the boiled stuff oxidizes like the unboiled(?) does - 20+ years and the fretmarkers (which get coated as well with the rest of the board) are still bright and shiny. Ymmv. 100% correct tho on the sealing - a few thin layers of blo and it sounds like a poly board. To me tho it was easier to go the oil than poly route, but the results were similar. Obviously not exactly the same, but similar results.
It is true... what does science, chemistry and physics has to do with applying and selecting the oil you will use on your fretboard? Now enjoy and be disappointed.
ACK!
It is true... what does science, chemistry and physics has to do with applying and selecting the oil you will use on your fretboard? Now enjoy and be disappointed.
The context was directly related to using a mineral oil that had no additives in. At no time did he say anything about any other oils other than mineral oil. Could have been said better imo, but there was no advocating or direction to use anything other than 100% pure mineral oil.
Nah man, watch the whole video. He says to use pure mineral oil without additives. At no time does he say to use any other oils.
Did he not, then, say words equivalent to "if you can eat it, you can put it on your bass"? words to that effect? note: I'm working right now, can't get away with watching a video ;-)
He said "If you can put it in your body and eat it, you can put it on your fingerboard". I wouldn't do it with pure cod liver oil with or without additives that's for sure...
Something to that effect, but the context was directly related to the type of mineral oil that you should choose.
Or you could just look at that sentence by itself and we could all think that Fodera says it's okay to eat Thanksgiving dinner off of our basses
Yeah but he said it in direct context with regards to the type of mineral oil you should buy.He said "If you can put it in your body and eat it, you can put it on your fingerboard". I wouldn't do it with pure cod liver oil with or without additives that's for sure...
Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go gravy my fretboard
Hope you're using leftover turkey gravy from Thanksgiving, it's the best...Yeah but he said it in direct context with regards to the type of mineral oil you should buy.
Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go gravy my fretboard
I dunno. I was thinking about what kind of gravy works best. There is no lemon oil in my gravy, but plenty of turkey drippings. Of course, we all know that a good roux will significantly increase the mwah factor due to the flour as a thickening agent.
I think I will avoid canned gravy, too many additives
That's bollocks. Saying those sorts of things is how the Tide-Pod challenge started.
I can't think of one person who'd want to drink pure mineral oil, unless they are very constipated and other methods aren't working, you should never just drink mineral oil. It's a potent laxative, and there are even workplace legal limits for exposure to it as a mist.
It's really NOT something you want to eat, regardless of what a musical-instrument maker implies.
Mineral oil is still classified as a hazardous substance, regardless of how pure or free from other chemicals it is.
I can't think of one person who'd want to drink pure mineral oil, unless they are very constipated and other methods aren't working, you should never just drink mineral oil. It's a potent laxative, and there are even workplace legal limits for exposure to it as a mist.
It's really NOT something you want to eat, regardless of what a musical-instrument maker implies.
Mineral oil is still classified as a hazardous substance, regardless of how pure or free from other chemicals it is.
