Hi y’all.
I have this furniture oil at home.
Can I use it on my maple fretboard (Marcus Miller U5) or do you recommend something else or nothing at all?
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It depends on whether the fretboard is finished or unfinished. If it’s finished, it’s probably lacquered, which means it won’t absorb any oil whatsoever. In that case, you might as well clean it with any regular mild detergent.
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As @Mike_NL said, this is useless on a maple fretboard because it is lacquered and waterproof. But this oil should work perfectly for rosewood or ebony fretboards.
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Resist the tendency to over apply and leave the excess oil on the fingerboard hoping it would absorb more, it won’t. It would turn into a stick mess. Don’t ask me how I know, lol.
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especially true with linseed oil
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So maybe im doing this wrong, but this had come up-and i did what i thought was best. I don’t have anything with a maple fingerboard ( i hope to remedy this soon) but i noticed some drying on the gretsch junior jet. So I’ve been using wood bore oil-i actually have zero idea if this is wrong or bad, but i figure woodwind players use it and they know how to take care of their wood?
It seems to work good, and it doesn’t take much. A very small amount goes a really long way.
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I have a few wood cutting boards, my favorite are Teak and Bamboo, they are fast.
Anyways, I have a big bottle of Teak oil and I’ve been using them on my fingerboard and it works really well, doesn’t smell lemony but works, lol.
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It’s a good solution, I know french luthiers who use this kind of oil. I’ve been using linseed oil forever (works very well already), but I plan to switch to teak oil very soon. At least to try, but I’m pretty sure it will work as well while being more durable.
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Yeah it’s a pretty fast absorbing oil. I oil my cutting boards a few times a month, the cutting action, soap and hot water can do numbers on a wood cutting board and they are not cheap, so regular maintenance can make it last a long time.
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Teak oil sounds good. I am using Dunlop lemon oil right now, which as far as I can tell is mineral oil with a small amount of lemon extract in it. Which is fine for now as actual lemon oil (or any citrus oil) would be a very bad idea for fretboards.
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I’ve tried the Nomad F1 oil(lemon) on the cutting board before it left a bit of the residue on the board. Maybe it’s thicker.
The dunlop stuff I have is pretty thin, kind of like light machine oil.
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Oh yeah that’s the best kind. Wood needs oil but can’t absorb much on the surface.
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I use 3 different products depending on the fingerboard material and other factors:
Fender Custom Shop Fingerboard Remedy - Thick, has beeswax in it, not the greatest cleaner but absorbs well and leaves a nice protective shine on the fingerboard. I like this in the winter when it’s really dry or for an old fretboard that hasn’t had recent care. Works great on my ebony fretboard.
Music Nomad Fone - Medium, good combination of cleaner/conditioner great hydration for rosewood; this is my favourite for regular use.
Planet Waves Hydrate - thin, works better as a cleaner and on fretboards that are rougher or don’t absorb much like Pau Ferro or Indian laurel.
Pau Ferro is the roughest, driest looking fingerboard wood I’ve ever owned 
once it starts getting worn in it starts to look better though 
my first 5-7 frets look great 
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My Revstar was new and it still drank up a ton of oil, and it’s rosewood. I applied three coats and it felt like I could have kept going. String change coming soon, I’ll probably oil it again then.
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I use Montypresso (from Monty Guitars) on my bass and guitar pau ferro fretboards.
It is wax (not oil) and it is almost black. It makes your fretboard look darker.
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Lemon oil is used to clean the wood, not to oil it really. You can use lemon oil but you have to add another oil after that, like linseed oil or teak oil.
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it’s not really lemon oil, it’s lemon scented mineral oil.
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yeah I know but it’s still more a cleaner, very thin, almost like WD40 or gun oil
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