Double Bass Oiling your Fingerboard (Olive Oil)

[s_wood]

I use pure lemon oil on the ebony boards of my Alembics. That's what Alembic recommends, and if it's good enough for them it's good enough for me. One thing, though: it's got to be 100% pure lemon oil. If it doesn't say so it isn't. The other stuff is full of various additives that will gunk of your fingerboard, particularly the stuff labeled as "lemon oil" that is designed to clean and polish furniture. That stuff has wax in it as an additive, which is exactly what you don't want to put on your fingerboard. The best source for 100% pure lemon oil is usually a health food store of some sort.

 

[robobass]

A lot of woodworkers use walnut oil, which I guess dries and doesn't go off or get sticky. I have always oiled both my strings and board a few times a year with sperm oil (Yes, have your fun guys!), but it is almost impossible to get. I do think that a drying oil is probably good protection for the FB.

 

[drurb]

I don't know of any reputable luthiers who use any of the oils mentioned here as alternatives to the drying oils that such luthiers do use. I figure there's good reason for that.

 

[RHayton]

I have a friend who told me he rubs down the ebony fingerboard on his Carlo Giuseppe Testore bass with olive oil. I expressed a concern that it might go rancid, but he said it doesn't. Thoughts?

I use artist grade linseed oil, get it at Michael's crafts and art supplies.

 

[Nuggulux]

The less you do to the wood, the better. Ebony very rarely needs any oil added (unlike rosewood, but that's not important right now), but if you do use some, I totally agree with the mineral oil/lemon oil crowd. Plant-based oils, like olive or walnut oil will go rancid, especially once they are outside of the bottle and oxidize in the air. (That's the primary reason why professional chefs do no use them to oil wood cutting boards and tools; they use mineral oil.)

 

[robobass]

The less you do to the wood, the better. Ebony very rarely needs any oil added (unlike rosewood, but that's not important right now), but if you do use some, I totally agree with the mineral oil/lemon oil crowd. Plant-based oils, like olive or walnut oil will go rancid, especially once they are outside of the bottle and oxidize in the air. (That's the primary reason why professional chefs do no use them to oil wood cutting boards and tools; they use mineral oil.)

I'm on board with discouraging the use of olive oil, but I think you may not be informed on walnut oil.
http://www.finewoodworking.com/how-to/article/food-safe-finishes.aspx
This page describes various finishing options for kitchen items. Since I've started doing some cup and bowl turning, I've been reading up on this subject. The page says: ... Walnut oil dries and won't go rancid. Easy to apply, frequent reapplication.

So, maybe oiling the FB isn't necessary, but it does look nice, and a drying oil shouldn't cause any harm. I'm not sure mineral oil would be a good choice for a fingerboard though.

 

[Jake deVilliers]

a drying oil shouldn't cause any harm. I'm not sure mineral oil would be a good choice for a fingerboard though.

Exactly.

You need to use a drying oil to prevent the oil from migrating right through the board. When a DB board is saturated in oil, it degrades the bond to the neck and the board comes off. When a fretted board becomes saturated with oil, the fret slots become soft and the frets are no longer held firmly.

Both are serious ie expensive, problems.

 

[Nuggulux]

Hi Robobass,

I'm no expert in wood finishing, that's for certain, but over the years I have talked to many luthiers, furniture makers, and chefs (my ex-wife is a renowned professional chef) about oils to protect and preserve wood. The conclusion from all of these conversations is that mineral oil is the best, followed by lemon oil, and that I should stay away from using plant-based oils, which can go rancid. Their collective wisdom was that walnut (and other veggie based oils) don't always go bad, but they can, so why not stick with the stuff that is safe.

If mineral- and lemon-oils are good enough for Steve Jobs' breakfast table (a friend made it along with his cabinets), the finest violin-family instruments being made today, and my (very particular) ex-wife, it's good enough for my bass.

 

[drurb]

Hi Robobass,

I'm no expert in wood finishing, that's for certain, but over the years I have talked to many luthiers, furniture makers, and chefs (my ex-wife is a renowned professional chef) about oils to protect and preserve wood. The conclusion from all of these conversations is that mineral oil is the best, followed by lemon oil, and that I should stay away from using plant-based oils, which can go rancid. Their collective wisdom was that walnut (and other veggie based oils) don't always go bad, but they can, so why not stick with the stuff that is safe.

If mineral- and lemon-oils are good enough for Steve Jobs' breakfast table (a friend made it along with his cabinets), the finest violin-family instruments being made today, and my (very particular) ex-wife, it's good enough for my bass.

A DB fingerboard has requirements very different than a piece of furniture. I don't know what you mean by "the finest violin-family instruments" in terms of oils but I do know from first-HAND experience that mineral oil on a DB fingerboard is an awful choice compared to what reputable bass luthiers use.

 

[Major Softie]

Admittedly, a double bass fingerboard may require different care than an electric bass. Fender, Gibson, and Peavey all say to use lemon oil on their fretboards. I haven't the slightest idea why so many owners of electric basses have strong brand loyalty to a manufacturer, but refuse to believe that the manufacturer knows how their fretboard should be treated. Yet, there it is, and they all seem to frequent this site.

Likewise, for a double bass, I have zero comprehension why owners seek advice from luthiers or (far more commonly) anonymous opinionated people on the web, when the bass manufacturers give specific instructions for the care of their instruments. Why would you think that these companies should be trusted to know how to build and finish your expensive instrument, but you shouldn't take their recommendation on how to care for it? Go to their site, call them, write them, or just read your manual (if you have bought an instrument new), do what they tell you, and stop listening to 20 contrary opinions by people on the internet who have far more opinions than data.

There are many different opinions about this on this site. Some of them will be right, some will be harmless but useless, and some will be simply bad and wrong. None of the people expressing these strong opinions made your instrument.

 

[robobass]

...There are many different opinions about this on this site. Some of them will be right, some will be harmless but useless, and some will be simply bad and wrong. None of the people expressing these strong opinions made your instrument.

True, but TB isn't a worthless content farm like Yahoo Answers or E-How. Sometimes there is conscientious discussion here which can help lead interested parties to a better understanding of the topic at hand. I make an effort to not simply state factoids, but explain why I hold the opinion I do, and I often change my view when others share some information I wasn't aware of.

Even a great bass maker or well known manufacturer might have some ideas based on what he was (they were) taught, but turn out to be wrong in the end. A forum like this can be very valuable in teasing out fact from conventional wisdom. I feel I have learned a lot, at least.

What is lemon oil anyway? Is it a drying oil?

Also, I love your postscript about Zappa records. I can't help but play Zappa at home with my preschoolers present. I don't necessarily want them to repeat some of the language, but we can't stop them from talking about poop and farts anyway, so we see no harm.

 

[Eric Hochberg]

If mineral- and lemon-oils are good enough for Steve Jobs' breakfast table (a friend made it along with his cabinets), the finest violin-family instruments being made today, and my (very particular) ex-wife, it's good enough for my bass.

I don't think I would base the care of my instruments on what someone does with their breakfast table, but your ex-wife's opinion is another matter entirely.

 

[robobass]

... but your ex-wife's opinion is another matter entirely.

You are wrong by default just by reading this thread!

 

[drurb]

...Likewise, for a double bass, I have zero comprehension why owners seek advice from luthiers or (far more commonly) anonymous opinionated people on the web, when the bass manufacturers give specific instructions for the care of their instruments.

Anonymous opinionated people on the web are one thing. Some of those people can be quite knowledgeable. Luthiers are quite another thing! I'll take the word of a reputable and trusted luthier any day over that of the instrument manufacturer. Often the maker IS a trusted luthier. We seem to agree that one should defer to the experts. That's what I've been advocating. Perhaps we disagree with regard to who are the experts. There really is no mystery about how to care for an ebony fingerboard. There's no reason to believe that one maker's ebony fingerboard requires or is best-served by treatment any different than any other ebony board. The repository of knowledge is the expert luthiers. I advocate doing what they do and abiding by their recommendations. Typically, they do not use anything but the drying oils.

 

[Major Softie]

What is lemon oil anyway? Is it a drying oil?

No. Lemon oil has a mineral oil bass. I know of zero electric bass manufacturers that recommend a drying oil for their fretboards/fingerboards. There's some confusion about Lemon Oil because there's some supermarket products that call themselves "Lemon Oil" that contain silicone. I use Old Masters, a fine furniture finish manufacturer, but many of the big instrument manufacturers also market a lemon oil fretboard conditioning product, and those are, of course, all free of silicone.

 

[drurb]

...I know of zero electric bass manufacturers that recommend a drying oil for their fretboards/fingerboards.

EBs (save for fretless) have fretboards; DBs have fingerboards that are most often ebony. This is, of course, the DB side and the OP asked about what to use on an ebony DB fingerboard. I know of zero DB luthiers who recommend lemon oil for an ebony DB fingerboard. There may be some, but I don't know about them.

 

[Lee Moses]

EBs (save for fretless) have fretboards; DBs have fingerboards that are most often ebony. This is, of course, the DB side and the OP asked about what to use on an ebony DB fingerboard. I know of zero DB luthiers who recommend lemon oil for an ebony DB fingerboard. There may be some, but I don't know about them.

Alembic primarily uses ebony fretboards/fingerboards. And they specifically and strongly recommend using lemon oil for ebony: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I'm not taking a side in this issue--I have no idea what is best, myself. I'm just responding to this particular point.

 

[drurb]

Alembic primarily uses ebony fretboards/fingerboards. And they specifically and strongly recommend using lemon oil for ebony: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I'm not taking a side in this issue--I have no idea what is best, myself. I'm just responding to this particular point.

I was and am talking about double basses with ebony fingerboards.

 

[Lee Moses]

I was and am talking about double basses with ebony fingerboards.

Understood, but you were responding to a post that cited information about what electric bass manufacturers recommend, and you seemed to be stressing the ebony composition of the fingerboard as being the primary factor. No?

 

[JoeyNaeger]

Fingerboards should be finished with a drying oil(linseed, walnut, watco danish) after a dressing. I don't understand the need or desire for anything more.