A quick reminder about oil-based guitar cleaners

[Aerie]

A word to the wise,

During the dry winter months ( and throughout the year in the western US ), it is crucial to keep your guitar properly humidified to at least 40% as best you can- especially those hardwood instruments.

Remember, this does NOT mean to oil the neck and bridge all the time. Give the neck and bridge ( usually rosewood or ebony ) a good drink of oil a couple times a year, but no more is necessary.

Though you mean well I know, you are actually handicapping your guitar's potential if you constantly slather it with that beauty enhancing oil.

Think of it this way. Remember the purpose of the bridge is to transmit the vibration of the strings to the soundboard. If the bridge is too soaked with oil, it will vibrate less giving your guitar a muted sound. Another danger is that over time the oil can weaken the bond holding the bridge to the top. As for the neck. The fingerboard is a transmitter of a great deal of sound. If you don't believe me, stick your ear right up to the back of the neck and strum. The ringing in your ear should cease after a few minutes. If there is too much oil soaked into the fingerboard you will compromise the sustain.

That oil is really to clean and shine the glossy finished parts. For those, use that stuff to your heart's content.

-Brad

 

[TonyT]

So lighter fluid and steel wool isn't a good thing?

 

[kostask]

A word to the wise,

During the dry winter months ( and throughout the year in the western US ), it is crucial to keep your guitar properly humidified to at least 40% as best you can- especially those hardwood instruments.

Remember, this does NOT mean to oil the neck and bridge all the time. Give the neck and bridge ( usually rosewood or ebony ) a good drink of oil a couple times a year, but no more is necessary.

Though you mean well I know, you are actually handicapping your guitar's potential if you constantly slather it with that beauty enhancing oil.

Think of it this way. Remember the purpose of the bridge is to transmit the vibration of the strings to the soundboard. If the bridge is too soaked with oil, it will vibrate less giving your guitar a muted sound. Another danger is that over time the oil can weaken the bond holding the bridge to the top. As for the neck. The fingerboard is a transmitter of a great deal of sound. If you don't believe me, stick your ear right up to the back of the neck and strum. The ringing in your ear should cease after a few minutes. If there is too much oil soaked into the fingerboard you will compromise the sustain.

That oil is really to clean and shine the glossy finished parts. For those, use that stuff to your heart's content.

-Brad

Brad,

This has been gone through a number of times already. While I can appreciate your wanting to keep folks aware of over oiling, and the ever present dangers of low humidity in the winter (and year round for some locales), I will state my position on what you have written above.

Fingerboards do NOT transmit sound. Ths string is terminated (the point at which the string doesn't vibrate, for all intents and purposes) by either the nut when an open string is struck, or by a fret when being fretted. The fingerboard's only real purposes in life are to stiffen the neck/bear any pressure from the truss rod, and define the position of the frets in relation to the scale length, and to feel good under the fingers when playing. What you hear when you put your ear to the neck is the sound transmission going through the neck from the nut or frets. If there were vibrations at the fretboard, you'd have a fret buzz, as it would mean that vibrations were getting over and across the fret. The main purpose of putting (true nut or fruit based) oils on the neck is to slow down the drying out of the fingerboard wood. The oil does give the fingerboard a nice look, but it is mostly a protective function. Do NOT use silicone or pretroleum distillate containing products (almost all of the commercially sold guitar care products do contain one or the other). You shouldn't be doing this more than once a year in very dry climates, once every two years is fine for climates that have higher levels of humidity.

Do NOT use oil on the finish. There is no need to add anything to a guitars finish. Just wipe the finish after you are done. Even more critically than the fingerboard, silicone and petroleum distillate based products are not to come anywhere near a nitrocellulose finished guitar. If you must use a polish of some type, use a pure carnuba wax type product. If you have a polyurethane or polyester finished guitar, feel free to use anything, as there really is no way to harm these finishes (unless you take a belt sander to them).

The ideal humidity level is 45%, which is the humidity level at which most guitars are manufactured at, as well as the humidity level in most handbuilder's shops.

Kostas

 

[Aerie]

Very true Kostas. You make an important point I failed to include. Guild does use a nitrocellulose formula for its finish. It's not the same as the old original formula, and is not as reactive. However, it is still important to avoid cleaners that contain silicone. I use one called 'Guitar Honey' from Gerlitz and can tell you it is a mineral oil based formula which gives a smooth feel - not greasy - finish to an instrument's fingerboard. It contains NO silicones or other ingredients which might harm an instrument's fingerboard, frets, binding, finish, inlays or structural adhesives.

The neck and fingerboard are by no means the primary sound source of a guitar. They do contribute to the overall sound output, however. For example, if the truss is too tight (aside from probably causing string buzz from back-bowing) it will dampen the neck's ability to vibrate freely and the guitar will sound slightly muted. Also, a truss that is too tight can vibrate sympathetically with the neck which will cancel out some of the necks ability to vibrate normally. This affects sustain.

My point is simply this. The neck and bridge of acoustic guitars rarely have a finish and they can, over time, absorb so much oil that they can't resonate properly. It's a fine line - I realize. You don't want the guitar to dry out. But you don't want to drown it either.

 

[john_kidder]

I've been given to understand that the problem with silicone in polishes is that it can become difficult to treat other finish issues if they should arise.

I can see that a guitar neck might be a resonating body, I can imagine if I really push it that such resonance might make some marginal contribution to the overall sound, but I cannot stretch it enough to see a way that any amount of excess oil on the fingerboard (short maybe of a quart of 10-30) could have any effect at all. I'm no physicist, though, and I'll expect my elders and betters to correct me.

 

[kostask]

I am definitely not a better, or elder (although I may be, I don't know).

Fingerboards are glued directly to the neck, pretty much through their entire lower surface. They do not have the freedom to vibrate. They will vibrate along with the neck due to the string vibration coming down from the frets or nut. The neck's contribution to the overall sound in a guitar is behind the soundboard, saddle, strings, picks/fingers, nut, bridge, back and side wood . There is an extremely minor contribution to the overall sound, in acoustic guitars.

Mineral oil is a petroleum distillate. It can and will wick into any finish checking, and make them look far worse. Over time it has the tendency to dry the fingerboard out, not retain moisture, and they are not usually ph neutral. The only oil, in my opinion, to be used on a fingerboard is a ph neutral oil that is as close as possible to rosewood oil. As pure 100% rosewood oil is over $125/gram, the most usable, easily obtained alternative is 100% pure walnut oil, which is usable for both rosewood and ebony fingerboards, and costs about $15/quart, which should last for at least 2-4 lifetimes. It can be had at Lee Valley Tools, or I am told that some health food stores carry it as well. The wood ends up looking better, and it feels like it did before the oil was put on it. It can be used on bridges as well.

Kostas

 

[adorshki]

I've been given to understand that the problem with silicone in polishes is that it can become difficult to treat other finish issues if they should arise.

I can see that a guitar neck might be a resonating body, I can imagine if I really push it that such resonance might make some marginal contribution to the overall sound, but I cannot stretch it enough to see a way that any amount of excess oil on the fingerboard (short maybe of a quart of 10-30) could have any effect at all. I'm no physicist, though, and I'll expect my elders and betters to correct me.

I've experienced neck resonance in my D25, it was a major surprise to me as it was the first time I ever experienced it, I'm pretty sure it was sympathetic vibration transmitted from body/heelblock to the neck. I thought it was really cool! It occurred a short while after the guitar's first refret, the truss rod may have been a tad too tight. Up to that point had never treated the fretboard with anything. I think there IS a "sweet spot" on the fretboard where it's in direct contact with the top. I like to play there for a real woody tone, especially fingerpicking, but when I noticed the neck resonance I was in full "Richie Havens" mode and was playing right over the soundhole. Just offering up anecdotal evidence and observation of the resonating neck phenomenon. The fretboard "sweet spot" could just be a result of string dynamics from being struck at that location.
Everything I've read (and trust me it's a lot!) supports both Kostas and John K's observations, although as John says Kostas may be voicing the extreme end of the cautionary spectrum. Can't fault the "better safe than sorry" philosophy when it comes to a Westerly Guild though!
I've used Guitar Honey also and I only recently found out it actually has mineral oil althuogh it is silicon free. It DOES dry out overnight, which I thought was a good thing. But next year when it's time to dress the bridges and frets I'm gonna try walnut oil.
8)

 

[Bobby McGee]

I have spent hours researching oils and have found the fifer bore oil to be the most recomended. I bought some and it seems to be ok.

http://www.beafifer.com/
Click on FRET DOCTOR on the left. It is the same as bore oil, just a larger quantity.

I use it on ebony and rosewood fingerboards and bridges.

Bobby.

 

[6L6]

There is no need to add anything to a guitars finish. Just wipe the finish after you are done.

+1

 

[chazmo]

I think the only thing I would impart to you folks is that "less is more" when it comes to this stuff. Avoid silicone-based products for sure (it makes it harder to repair glue joints in the future), but jeez if you like to clean and polish your guitar have at it! For cleaning, I usually use Murphy's oil soap cut with water. I soak a cotton sock in it, squeeze is mostly dry, and then clean... Never had a problem with it, but it won't really remove difficult stuff that might require naphta or something more potent. I've never used that myself.

I have found that a wax/polish is a good idea to protect nitro from sweat damage. I use just a couple of drops of liquid polish. I've had the same bottle of the stuff since the 1980s. Yup, less is more. Pure Carnauba wax is also recommended, although I've never used it.

I've also been using bore oil (a woodwind instrument product) to oil the fretboard and bridge maybe once a year. Rosewood fingerboards and bridges absorb the stuff a lot more than ebony, but we're talking about a couple of drops. Once more, less is more. I have a tiny bottle of this stuff, and I expect it to outlast me. BTW, before I treat a fingerboard, I usually run 0000 steel wool along the board to clean up the frets and get any grime off the board. Be wary of steel shavings so cover up the soundhole when you do this and have a vacuum handy when you're done; then apply bore oil.