Rosewood Fretboard Care

**Jonmo1** · 07-01-2009, 12:00 PM

Hello everyone,

First off, Love my new ASS. Sweetest guitar ever.

I've read the FAQ on neck treatment

How do I clean and maintain my Music Man neck? | Music Man Guitars | F.A.Q.

but I'm still not clear on how to treat a Rosewood Fretboard.

Before it mentions rosweood boards, it says to clean with gunstock oil, then apply gunstock wax.

Then It says not to use Gunstock Oil on the rosewood, just use lemon oil instead.
But it doesn't say anything about using the Gunstock Wax after the lemon oil.

Also, do you put the lemon oil/wax on the ENTIRE neck, or just the fretboard?

Thanks

**patpark** · 07-01-2009, 12:13 PM

lemon oil on the fretboard (or the Ernie Ball fingerboard conditioner, works great and smells good too) wax on the back of the neck.

nothing a rosewood board that is cleaned and freshly oiled.

**MrMusashi** · 07-01-2009, 12:15 PM

that is intended for the backside of the neck.
the rosewood fretboard is cleaned and oiled up again with the fretboard wonder wipes.
if it is very dirty you might have to remove some gunk first. how this is done varies from person to person. personally i prefer to use some alcohol to soften up the gunk and then a moist and cold microfibre cloth. this seems to remove it without leaving the fretboard too dry or leaving behind small pieces of metal like steel wool can do.
then just apply the wonderwipes, let it soak in, and wipe off the excess oil. repeat with another wonderwipe if necessary.
it smells good, is easy to handle.. just pull the cloth out of the container, use and dispose afterwards and it does wonders for your wood! finally a name on a product that does deliver what it promises

hth!

MrM

**Jonmo1** · 07-01-2009, 01:07 PM

OK, Thanks. So

Lemon oil on Fretboard only, wax on back of neck only. Right?

Is there no cleaning of the back of the neck?

**Slav123** · 07-01-2009, 01:14 PM

Ernie Ball Fingerboard Conditioner Wipes, they are the best! I got a few samples about a month ago and they do an unbelievable job.

Slav

**wolfbone07** · 07-01-2009, 01:14 PM

I have been using bore oil (the kind used on woodwind instruments) for my rosewood fretboards. I like it a lot.

**Sweat** · 07-01-2009, 01:15 PM

Fretboard should be conditioned periodically with a proper oil, lemon oil is fine but I highly recommend the Ernie Ball Fret Board Conditioner, easy to apply and last a while, I condition my rosewood fretboards on every string change.

The neck is finshed with oil and wax what makes them so killer.

You only need to do a new oil and wax treatment very rarely, just wipe the neck down after each use with a good polish cloth, when it does need a slight cleaning I use the eb instrument polish, wipe the neck down and then use a dry polish cloth to remove any residue.

If the neck gets feeling a little grity I take #0000 stell wool and give a very, very light sand brings back that brand new feeling.

Hope this helps but please do get some of the EB care products they work great

**Jonmo1** · 07-01-2009, 01:44 PM

Thanks for all the tips. Think I have the info I was looking for.

Will get some wonderwipes / gunstock wax with my first string change.
The neck/board does not look/feel dirty at all, I just got it off ebay and it has what appears to be brand new strings already.