Goo Gone

[Dogmatic]

I used some goo gone to remove some stickers the previous owner of my bass applied to the fretboard (80% of the surface of the bass, actually). The fretboard is looking a little dry after this treatment. Should it be oiled or otherwise treated to restore it's previous condition?

 

[Precision101]

I used some goo gone to remove some stickers the previous owner of my bass applied to the fretboard (80% of the surface of the bass, actually). The fretboard is looking a little dry after this treatment. Should it be oiled or otherwise treated to restore it's previous condition?

Yes. Try the Dunlop formula stuff. It works great! And who would cover a fretboard with stickers????.....

 

[basszoned]

I have always used Linseed oil with excellent results.

 

[Treadstone71]

Dogmatic, basszoned is right IF it has a rosewood (dark) fretboard. If rosewood, I'd try a bit of lighter fluid (I use Ronsonol) on a rag to make sure you get all the grease/gunk off first. Goo Gone works great, but it's quite oily. You want that off before you put the linseed oil or anything else on to condition it.

Completely ignore everything I said if you've got a maple fretboard.

 

[Pilgrim]

It doesn't need to be oiled but if you really want to change the way it looks (which is all you will accomplish, and only temporarily) then a bit of mineral oil rubbed on with a soft cloth will do it. DO NOT over-use it, as you don't want extra oil on there. You don't need frets getting loose from too much oil.

Linseed oil is not recommended by many - if you search here you will find it mentioned in many discussions. Mineral oil is a neutral product that's not designed to be a finish, which is a plus in this case.

If you want to clean the fretboard, a damp (not wet) cloth with nothing more than water to dampen it is fine.

 

[rojo412]

And who would cover a fretboard with stickers????.....

A TB'er named Masterbass! is the king of inlay decals. He may take offense to calling them stickers though

 

[iiipopes]

Casey's gunstock oil, Tru-Oil, is a blend of, I believe, linseed, mineral oil, and such which will seal the fingerboard. Just like gun oil, you use it very sparingly, but it seems to do a good job on walnut gunstocks.
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[ReneB]

I'm a newbie, so please bear that in mind. That said, I just have done a fair bit of research here on this forum and on the rest of the 'net before doing I did some rosewood fretboard cleaning and rejuvenating myself. From the little I know, all the above seems to be spot on, except perhaps linseed oil does seem to be ok to use. Here's what I did and what I found out.

My recently acquired used bass is in pretty decent shape but I wanted to clean the gunk off the fretboard. Most of what I read suggested using mild cleansers, rags, and, if needed, non-abrasive pads, etc. Scrub sponges used for deeper cleaning should be finer than what we typically use for dishwashing. More stubborn cases should consider using 0000 grade steel wool. Also, in terms of oils to use, what is needed is a 'drying oil' like linseed or mineral oil (there are others, but not tung or olive oil).

What I did, and it worked well, was a very mild solution of dishwashing liquid and a toothbrush that was not dripping wet to scrub things clean clean as much as I could. Then, I used masking tape to cover up the fretboard markers and using 0000 steel wool I lightly went over the fretboard and also did the frets with a bit more elbow grease.

It came out very clean looking but the fretboard looked a bit dry when done.

Gibson's website article states:

"If you notice that your fretboard has dried out or developed hairline cracks, you may finish this process with Gibson's Luthier's Choice Fretboard Conditioner. Alternately, you can rub one or two drops of oil (mineral, almond or linseed oil) into the fretboard to condition it. Make sure to wipe off excess oil with a soft, dry rag."​

I did the oiling with high quality linseed oil applied very sparingly and then wiped off. The rosewood fretboard almost looks new. It has the sheen, polished look of new with out any oiliness/slipperiness. About a week after my initial application I used another two-three drops total, spread out over the entire fretboard. I waited about 20 mins and then wiped clean. I am very happy with how it's turned out. It looks almost new instead of 12 or so years old.

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[Precision101]

A TB'er named Masterbass! is the king of inlay decals. He may take offense to calling them stickers though

Inlay decals? That sounds actually awesome. My uncle is a luthier and does that stuff. I thought he meant like band stickers you'd buy at guitar center or something!

 

[Dogmatic]

The stickers I removed were bumper stickers (Rand Paul for President). There were about 30 of them all over the bass. I wouldn't have bothered with it, but the bass was pretty cheap ($100). It came clean with the goo gone, but the fingerboard was a bit dry after. Thanks for all of the input!