Dry Faded Fingerboard - What can I use to make it dark again

[Tim Stahlmann]

Hi folks

The rosewood board on my PB1 is really dry and faded.
What do you recommend to use to make it dark again?

Cheers

Tim

[Sonic Mountain]

There are quite a few products available. Most people on here recommend Lemon Oil, but you should make sure it's the type recommended for fretboards, like this:

https://www.stewmac.com/Materials_an...Lemon_Oil.html





As a side note, I've actually just been made aware of the 'Great Lemon Oil Debate' via a Hagstrom page I'm on and there are people who are adamant it's a bad thing. There are some different sorts available and allegedly it can cause problem if you use the wrong one.

I am yet to have anyone provide a good example of how using the wrong one causes any problems. I think its all a bit of a beat up.

Personally, I think any furniture finishing oil should be fine. They are all designed to do basically the same thing, protect the wood and enhance the grain. It's one of those things with guitars there seems to be a bit of voodoo around.

[wazkelly]

Lemon oil is the easiest way to go or alternatively you could use a wax which requires a ton of elbow grease to apply and buff up.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...odkw=lemon+oil

I have used the Dunlop 65 on several guitars and prefer that to wax as it doesn't take as much effort. Here is a link to an Aussie supplier @ $14.90 delivered.

https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...odkw=lemon+oil

[Tim Stahlmann]

thanks guys. I have heard you can use Linseed oil. Is that true?

[wazkelly]

thanks guys. I have heard you can use Linseed oil. Is that true?

Works on cricket bats but not sure how good it would be on a guitar's fret board.

[Sonic Mountain]

A quick google reveals quite a few people using boiled linseed oil, so I'm sure it's fine.

The fret board is just wood after all, so long as you are consistent with what you uses to maintain it I don't see any problems.

I finally got an answer from one of the guys on Facebook who was very 'all caps' adamant that lemon oil is a bad thing. He made it sound like the guitar might burst into flames from all the 'acidity'. When I pushed him for specific documented examples of what can happen he said :

"Mainly fading of color, very small dry cracks that appear over time, and the fact that the pores (at least with Rosewood) seem to open up. It generally shows a lot of signs of something like a chemical burn."

Which to me sounds like garbage and he's just one of those people who wants to seem like an expert. He couldn't produce anything other than anecdotal evidence either.

[robin]

Hi Tim,

I've been a Dunlop 65 user for many years and have had no problems with it at all.

[PJSprog]

I've been using lemon oil for a couple of decades now. No signs of any catastrophic - or even minor - damage from it. I use it on everything from my inexpensive Squier Strat and Squier Jazz bass to my $4K custom Fishbone bass. Never any problems.