I decided to sum up a lot of what I’ve read on this topic.
Very little oil is required when oiling the fretboard.
Wipe it on, wait 2 mins, wipe off the excess. Doing this once or twice a year is plenty unless you live in a very dry climate. Although, doing it every time you change your strings won’t hurt anything.
I’ve used boiled linseed oil but I like it better for using on outdoor furniture.
Lots of people say not to use plant based oils because they get rancid.
Some people are hell bent against lemon oil because the acids can hurt the fretboard. Other people say it’s been 50+ years since anyone used actual lemon juice in lemon oil. It just has lemon scent in it.
@Lanny uses gun oil and so do a ton of other people.
Martin & Co. Guitars are notoriously picky about what to use. They use 2 in 1 oil on all the machines, Dr Ducks Ax Wax on the neck, and their own products everywhere else.
Don’t oil a maple fretboard. They already have a coating and the oil doesn’t do anything.
MusicNomad F-ONE Oil Fretboard Cleaner & Conditioner seems to get the highest marks all around and I’ve never seen anyone say don’t use it.
There is a ton of misinformation about what is and isn’t good on the Internet. Most of it boils down to…
- Don’t ever use ‘x’ because your fretboard will fall apart. (Mostly backed up with zero reliable information. I mean, yeah, don’t used battery acid. That would be bad.)
- Always use ‘x’ because it’s magic tone juice. (Also not backed up with any reliable data.)
I got some Dr Ducks Ax Wax that I’m going to use next week. I figured if Martin uses it, considering how picky they are, it should be plenty safe and it has orange scent that people have reported “smells really good”.
So, let it fly folks! What’s your best fretboard oil recommendation?
