Maple fretboard and tru-oil

[Trevor Davies]

I'm thinking about getting a kit with a maple fretboard.

I have read that the fretboard can be finished with Tru-oil.

How many coats should be applied? Thanks.

[Bakersdozen]

If my memory serves correct, it only needed 3-4 thin coats. Still holding up very well.

[McCreed]

It see it as personal preference as well as what you wish to achieve.
I have not done Tru Oil on a maple board, but have used home-brew wipe-on poly on at least three. With Tru Oil and poly being very similar to use and yielding similar results, if you want a glossy look, go up into double digits (24+) if you want a more satin/natural look/feel, then just enough enough to seal it, (as BD has applied).

[Simon Barden]

What McCreed said.

The neck will get a lot more wear than the body. A few light coats can give a very natural, smooth and easy-playing feel to the neck. But you haven’t got much depth of finish there at all and so you will have to re-apply more TO from time to time, mainly to the back of the neck.

[DarkMark]

I used tru oil to protect the “engineered rosewood” () on my ES-5V. I used multiple coats but had to rub it back with steel wool, fret board and back of neck, because I personally find the glossy surface grippy. Other people seem to like the feel of the gloss tru oil surface so I guess it must be an individual thing.

[Trevor Davies]

I finally got my maple neck and fretboard. So I thought I would add an example for this thread.

The fretboard was given 4 thin coats of tru-oil. Lightly sanded back with 2000 g sand paper. I had to re-polish the frets to remove the tru-oil and make them shine again.

The headstock and neck have been given 10 coats of tru-oil with a light 1200 g sand after the 5 and 10th coats (and are looking quite glossy).

I will give the headstock a few more coats to embed the vinyl logo.

[Simon Barden]

As the fretboard will get a lot more wear than the headstock, I would personally add a few more coats on the fretboard, but it's a personal choice.