im confused

[marshmellomann]

hey sorry to bother everyone but is orange oil bad or good for the neck on my guitar? some people say lemon oil is good and some people say its horrible for the guitar whats the difference between orange oil and lemon oil?

 

[bovinehost]

We're talking about the fingerboard, not the neck, aren't we?

I hope so.

They say that orange oil is better because it doesn't contain mineral spirits and so is non-flammable.

If you read the caution statement on, for example, the lemon oil product that comes with some guitar care kits it will say that the petroleum distillates (mineral spirits?) in the oil can be toxic and irritating to skin & eyes.

Dunlop makes a "rosewood board" care kit and whatever is in that stuff works pretty well.

 

[bovinehost]

By the way, the above applies to rosewood boards, not maple. I sometimes make assumptions I shouldn't make.

 

[Estin]

orange oil works pretty well for fretboards. i tried it on a ibanez 7 string i have with a rosewood board and it worked very well. not to mention the lack of mineral spirits like bovine mentioned. *its smells good too!* i'm reluctant to try it on maple tho, don't know if the orange color will stain the maple or not. that would be bad. *tho the neck will smell yummy *

 

[tom_683]

Is lemon oil for the back of the neck or the fretboard? Should you put anything on the back of the neck?

 

[Fretbuzz]

Some put Tung Oil on the back of the necks.

 

[tom_683]

Should I put lemon oil on it? Will it do any damage?

 

[marshmellomann]

hey yea does it do any damage? what if i put orange oil on the back of the fret board is that like a total no no or what? i also have a maple neck so yea i dono

 

[Aussie Mark]

Here's another vote for orange oil. I use it to nourish all my rosewood and ebony fingerboards. It's also a good all purpose cleaner for necks, but make sure you wipe off any residue once you've finished cleaning.

 

[Fretbuzz]

It sounds to me like Orange oil is more popular and has better results than lemon oil. I would go with Orange to be on the safe side.

 

[marshmellomann]

so orange oil it is, just checkin twice .but is it ok for a maple neck and fretboard? sorry to bug everyone truely am

 

[tom_683]

Is lemon oil supposed to be used on the back of the neck, or just on the fretboard?

 

[Estin]

you can really use orange or lemon on the necks or fretboards for cleaning. i have and have used both with good results. after you clean the neck and fretboard with either oil *your choice* i'd get some "000" grade steal wool and rub them down very slightly. then you can seal with birchwood casey's gunstock wax. don't clean the wood often, aside from too much moister damaging the wood in the long run it can also cause it to bow and frets to lift out. like EB reccomends maybe 1-2 times a year at most.

 

[Estin]

also i would avoid tung oil, the neck has already been sealed with EB's wax blend and at most just needs a minor coat here and there with their reccomended birchwood casey gunstock wax.