How to fix dry looking Pau Ferro?

[Erokker]

According to MSDS it's 90 to 100% petroleum distillates, with .1 to 1% limonene.

Well there ya go....That tells me that a little of the oil goes a long way! Results is results.

 

[Doufuss]

New here in setup and repair. Long time lurker.

Lakland uses Howard's feed and wax on their rosewood fretboards.

It works.

 

[Turnaround]

New here in setup and repair. Long time lurker.

Lakland uses Howard's feed and wax on their rosewood fretboards.

It works.

Use Feed and Wax - it works. Use any brand of lemon oil - it works. Use products by Nomad, D’Addario, they work. Use Pledge - it works. Use Bore Oil - it works. Use Tea Tree Oil - it works. Use mineral oil - it works. Use coconut oil - it works. Use Tung Oil - it works. Use Linseed Oil - it works.

The problem is the criteria you use for the term “works”. “Looks good” is one. But what looks good is not necessarily good for the wood. And some things that are actually good for the wood are not good for you (some natural and synthetic oils can cause skin irritation). And some may be OK for the wood and your hands, but bad for your strings.

Most commercial products for fingerboards are largely mineral oil. There are a few that aren’t, some that claim to be entirely plant based. But I have yet to see anything definitive about what is truly best overall. There are lots of unsubstantiated claims, and even a few “scientific studies” that purport to show that a particular product is superior, but those supposed studies were done by the manufacturer of the “better” product. What do you expect them to say? That there product is inferior?

Use whatever. Someone will tell you that you shouldn’t be using that. I might be that person.

 

[Clark Dark]

Linseed oil, I think I bought it at hobby lobby...

 

[fhm555]

Wow...Pau wood is crazy light!! I read using brown leather dye works great for dying the fretboard. Just be careful because it will stain anything it comes in contact with. If that’s not the route you prefer then tung or boiled linseed oil. Just appy a light coat or two. It might take a few days to totally dry. Do this once a year. It will gradually darken over years. Yes years.lol

Here’s a couple pau ferro boards that aren’t that light. As for oiling fretboards, the few times i’ve done it i used very little veg oil and a ton of elbow grease.

 

[BassinCT]

Waking the thread for a photo of my bass fingerboard- a light coating of Fret Doctor, wipe off the excess and buff.

 

[wraub]

I have a bass with an Indian Laurel fingerboard, which looks and feels a lot like some of the pau ferro pictured. I got the bass new, essentially, and the fingerboard was very dry and almost rough feeling... My solution?

Play it everyday.
It's smooth feeling and warm looking now... Didn't cost me anything but play time and no worries about toxicity.

So my best fingerboard oil is finger oil.
ymmv, etc.

 

[HelpImaRock]

I've used woodwind bore oil on fretboards for nearly 30 years. It's just mineral oil.

 

[claudel]

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I've been using this for so long that they've both changed the bottle and added "fingerboard oil" to their offerings.

Great stuff. Not expensive and works nicely.

I just used some on my excessively dry new Gibson DC LP Jr fretboard and it closed up the pores in the wood in a matter of seconds.

 

[Turnaround]

Again, with so many of these bore oils, fretboard oils, lemon oils, it's almost entirely mineral oil.

$5 for 2 oz., or mineral oil from your pharmacy at about $1 or less per ounce.

 

[Glenn Johnson]

Title pretty much explains it but if you’d like some backstory I picked up a Mexican fender jazz V with a Pau Ferro board to have a inexpensive but respectable backup for gigs. View attachment 3452765

I enjoy the bass and the value I feel I get out of it. So I’ve started giving it some love. Have a new tort pick gaurd for it on the way already. View attachment 3452766
Im shopping pickups as well. but what I’m here to ask is actually about the fingerboard. It looks kind of dry and I guess untreated or unfinished. What would y’all recommend I use on the fingerboard to improve how it looks? A specific fingerboard treatment? An oil? Had a lot of basses over the years but this is actually my first with a pau ferro board. Most of my basses have had maple or ebony boards.

 

[Glenn Johnson]

Gerlitz Guitar honey. The best.

 

[Glenn Johnson]

You guys are missing the mark, I didn't comment to soak it in the shower, just get the steam on the fretboard in the bathroom while you take a hot shower.




I couldn't hear the problem through my computer screen.
This turned into another debate.
Why would I have not experienced a dry fretboard?
Of course I have, I moisturize it!

 

[Glenn Johnson]

My experience with water and wood is that the water raises the grain on the wood, and then you would need to re-sand it. Never worked with rosewood however.

 

[Turnaround]

Gerlitz Guitar honey. The best.

Another product that is largely mineral oil. I guess the real question is "Who makes the best mineral oil?"

 

[edro]

Many do not read previous posts, evidently.....or data sheets....

Big ass bottle of food grade at Wally for under two bucks...

Between shop and home, I'll never use it up.

 

[SteffanB]

I’d rather take a bullet in the leg than shop at Walmart lol

Don't most people get a bullet in the leg while shopping at Wal-Mart?

 

[SteffanB]

Any non petroleum oil will do. I'd go to your music shop of choice and pick up any fret board oil there. As long as you don't "soak" it for hours you'll be fine. If you want to be worry free, try exchanging it for a maple fret. Good luck my fellow bassist.

 

[Turnaround]

Any non petroleum oil will do. I'd go to your music shop of choice and pick up any fret board oil there. As long as you don't "soak" it for hours you'll be fine. If you want to be worry free, try exchanging it for a maple fret. Good luck my fellow bassist.

Most fretboard oil you will find at a music shop is petroleum oil, a.k.a. mineral oil.

 

[JerseyBoyDavid]

This is a really good thread! I just got a new Fender Player Jazz Bass and I LOVE the bass... it's a HUGE upgrade from the Standard Series but the fretboard is so light in color and seems so dry. The tung oil and mineral oil suggestions seem sound really good, but how about olive oil?