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Linseed oil, Rosewood Fretboard...

#2
AshdownMad said:
I'm sure this has been mentioned but i cannot find anything.

Has anyone used Linseed(Flaxseed) oil on a Rosewood Fretboard?
Linseed is raved about by carpenters and the like for Rosewood, however the finish might not be appropriate?
Click to expand...

Boiled linseed oil is a great treatment for unfinished fingerboards like rosewood - use a rag or towel and rub a small amount into the wood. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so and then buff off the excess, and you'll be in good shape.

Lonnybass
 
#3
AshdownMad said:
I'm sure this has been mentioned but i cannot find anything.

Has anyone used Linseed(Flaxseed) oil on a Rosewood Fretboard?
Linseed is raved about by carpenters and the like for Rosewood, however the finish might not be appropriate?
Click to expand...

Tung oil is great on rosewood, too.

Make sure to use boiled linseed oil. If you want a really durable finish, look into mixing Boiled Linseed Oil (sometimes referred to as 'BLO'), thinner and gloss polyurethane. Gloss finishes are harder than satin, etc and if you want to knock the shine down, you can do it after it dries. A painter of high-end homes told me that naptha is a good thinner for poly and I tried it when I sprayed my kitchen cabinets- he was right. It forms a skin faster, which keeps it from allowing dust and other contaminants from screwing up the surface. I wiped the finish on the lower cabinets and finished by using fine Scotch Brite pads to soften it and after I sprayed the uppers, I didn't need to do anything else.
 
#5
I've read from the Fret Doctor site that linseed oil won't really penetrate the wood; well in fact it will penetrate it, but it will take years. I tried almond oil yesterday and it seems to have done a good job, certainly better than all the dunlop "lemon" oil i've used so far.
 
#8
eukatheude said:
I've read from the Fret Doctor site that linseed oil won't really penetrate the wood; well in fact it will penetrate it, but it will take years. I tried almond oil yesterday and it seems to have done a good job, certainly better than all the dunlop "lemon" oil i've used so far.
Click to expand...

I don't recommend linseed oil or tung oil as it SEALS the wood. Generally this isn't what you want, though some basses are that way, even with varnish of other types.

My original treatment for fretboards (especially rosewood) was first a good scrubbing with pure lemon oil. It's a great cleaner and will remove all the mung that builds up there. But it's a light oil and evaporates in a month or so drying the wood. So after the lemon oil (and note you want PURE lemon oil not furniture lemon oil which has petroleum distallates in it) I would apply "bore oil". This is an oil sold for treatment of the inside of clarinets and the like. This was a pretty good, cheap and effective treatment.

These days I'm just using the "Fret Doctor" Oil which seems to work and last just a little bit better than my primitive method.

But either method does not seal the wood as tung or linseed oil does. Plus Linseed oil has a problem of turning black over time (see an old piano). Tung oil does not. Personally I prefer to keep the fretboard wood natural and unsealed. It's just a personal choice. I have some basses with poly on the fretboard. I don't like it much but they work OK.
 
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#9
bassbenj said:
I don't recommend linseed oil or tung oil as it SEALS the wood. Generally this isn't what you want, though some basses are that way, even with varnish of other types.

My original treatment for fretboards (especially rosewood) was first a good scrubbing with pure lemon oil. It's a great cleaner and will remove all the mung that builds up there. But it's a light oil and evaporates in a month or so drying the wood. So after the lemon oil (and note you want PURE lemon oil not furniture lemon oil which has petroleum distallates in it) I would apply "bore oil". This is an oil sold for treatment of the inside of clarinets and the like. This was a pretty good, cheap and effective treatment.

These days I'm just using the "Fret Doctor" Oil which seems to work and last just a little bit better than my primitive method.

But either method does not seal the wood as tung or linseed oil does. Plus Linseed oil has a problem of turning black over time (see an old piano). Tung oil does not. Personally I prefer to keep the fretboard wood natural and unsealed. It's just a personal choice. I have some basses with poly on the fretboard. I don't like it much but they work OK.
Click to expand...

+1... almost. I used to use Lemon oil too but never had a board dry out on me. Also used orange oil with good results, on unfinished boards I use Howard Feed-N-Wax. Pretty awesome stuff and has very good staying power and never gets sticky.

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Keep in mind that if you have unfinished wood it will usually need some sort of regular maintenance unless it's a super dense or oily wood.
 
#10
Linseed oil is great option for rosewood. Paul Reed Smith indeed used it for its expensive Brazilian Rosewood necks (option of BRW added 2000 $ to price of base guitar) and I have 4 of such axes. Those necks are to die for, overall feel, resonance and smell are the best one can find on any axe. I believe linseed oil has something with that. It is natural oil that well penetrtate the wood and gradualy hardens. Not as lacquer of course and there is no need. Not boiled, but just fresh, untreatened linseed oil.
Slight darkening ADDS to the nice, expensive look of the wood.
I use linseed on all of my uncoated axes, with all woods. Once in 10 years or lifetime is usually enough, as it stabilizes inside the wood, not on surface whre it can be washed out.
 
#11
Lonnybass said:
Boiled linseed oil is a great treatment for unfinished fingerboards like rosewood - use a rag or towel and rub a small amount into the wood. Let it sit for 20 minutes or so and then buff off the excess, and you'll be in good shape.

Lonnybass
Click to expand...

HOWEVER - rosewood does not need ANY oil treatment.

At all.

Ever.
 
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#13
If you insist on putting some kind of oil on a rosewood board, why not use something specifically designed for rosewood fingerboards? You could use Hippo Oil which was fabricated for wood floors, or neatsfoot oil used to soften leather, or mineral oil which is used for a million purposes such as the filler in oil-filled radiators, controlling aphids on plants, and as the fuel in scented candles. But you would probably be better off with something developed specifically for rosewood fingerboards, like Planet Waves Hydrate, Jim Dunlop's Fingerboard 01 Cleaner, or Music Nomad's F-One oil. Sure they cost a little more, but a single bottle will last years.
 
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#15
Can anyone please help me? I have a lighter color rosewood fretboard that had a spot that looked like something had dripped on it and dried. I tried to use a piece of very fine sandpaper to get it off but soon realized it was part of the wood or a spot they filled in at the factory. Needless to say after I sanded that spot slightly and applied lemon oil to the entire fretboard, that area between the 2nd and 3rd fret stands out like a sore thumb because it is now darker than the entire rest of the board. If anyone can help I would be very grateful because I feel like I have ruined my bass!
 
#17
Thanks 96, but the spot wasn't darker until I started screwing with it. I can live with it but my OCD is getting the best of me because of the fact that it would have been better if I had just left it alone!!!
 

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