Guitar neck cleaning

SuperJemBoy · #1 04-19-2005, 03:46 PM

Hey guys,

Just restringing, was wondering (sure I've read this somewhere), can you use common household lemon juice to clean the fretboard?

Cheers guys
Joe

giannifive · #2 04-19-2005, 04:02 PM

Lemon juice? That doesn't sound like such a good idea. What you want is lemon oil, which you can get cheaply from a hardware store. Other oils do work, though. I once used olive oil, and although it smelled kind of strong, it seemed to do the trick.

Anyway, here's a good tutorial on neck cleaning (guitar cleaning in general, really):

http://www.ibanezrules.com/tech/grunge/grunge_1.htm

SuperJemBoy · #3 04-19-2005, 04:04 PM

Lemon OIL! I knew it sounded a bit wrong, it's lemon juice acidic?

Cheers dude!
Joe

toshiro · #4 04-19-2005, 05:34 PM

Lemon juice is fruit-based. Lemon Oil is petroleum based. Do not put lemon juice on your fretboard.

Olive Oil would be a very bad idea as well, IMO.

giannifive · #5 04-19-2005, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toshiro

Lemon juice is fruit-based. Lemon Oil is petroleum based. Do not put lemon juice on your fretboard.

Olive Oil would be a very bad idea as well, IMO.

Why do you think it's such a bad idea (aside from the smell)? I mean, it's a naturally-occurring oil that comes from a fruit. I'm not recommending it, I'm just saying that it would do the trick in a pinch.

toshiro · #6 04-20-2005, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by giannifive

Why do you think it's such a bad idea (aside from the smell)? I mean, it's a naturally-occurring oil that comes from a fruit. I'm not recommending it, I'm just saying that it would do the trick in a pinch.

Because it's a naturally occuring oil taken from a fruit, it can break down over time, and in a way decompose. Fruit juice can grow fungus and attract bacteria. Not something you want in the wood of your guitar.

In the case of lemon juice, it's has citric acid in it, which could do more harm than good to the wood, on top of this.

All fretboard conditioners are a mineral oil type substance, because this will not break down over time, does not contain any harsh solvents, and only evaporates off.

Baby oil would be a better choice, if you neeed something cheap and easy to get.

giannifive · #7 04-20-2005, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toshiro

Because it's a naturally occuring oil taken from a fruit, it can break down over time, and in a way decompose. Fruit juice can grow fungus and attract bacteria. Not something you want in the wood of your guitar.

In the case of lemon juice, it's has citric acid in it, which could do more harm than good to the wood, on top of this.

All fretboard conditioners are a mineral oil type substance, because this will not break down over time, does not contain any harsh solvents, and only evaporates off.

Baby oil would be a better choice, if you neeed something cheap and easy to get.

I think our wires have been crossed. I was asking why you thought using olive oil (not lemon juice) was such a bad idea. I agree that using lemon juice would be a terrible idea!

I think you are mistaken about your oils. Lemon oil, tung oil, etc. (most oils for treating woods) are plant-based. Lemon oil comes from the rhind of the lemon, tung oil comes from the nut of the tung tree, etc. The only exception I'm aware of, as far as oils that are used for fretboards, is synthetic bore oil, which is for the bores of woodwind instruments, but is also used for fretboards. Since it's synthetic, it lasts longer than other oils.

Mineral oil is plentiful and cheap, since it is basically a by-product of the production of gasoline. Therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if plant-based oils contained some mineral oil additives, but I would be surprised if they were primarily mineral oils.

toshiro · #8 04-20-2005, 02:25 AM

The lemon oil they sell in a music store is not from the rhynd of a lemon, it is a petroleum substance. I worked as a tech for 6 long years using this stuff.

Here, this might help you: http://www.muzique.com/schem/fret.htm

Tung oil is a finish, and most tung oil available on the market isn't 100% tung oil anyways.

Not something you'd put on a fretboard no matter what.

toshiro · #9 04-20-2005, 02:34 AM

Oh yeah, as for Olive oil, there's a reason the bottles of it say to keep it in a cool dark place. Olive oil is a food item, and as such will spoil. Rubbing this into the pores of the wood of your fretboard is like saturating it with a form of grease, much worse that weeks of your own finger oils, IMO.

giannifive · #10 04-20-2005, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toshiro

The lemon oil they sell in a music store is not from the rhynd of a lemon, it is a petroleum substance. I worked as a tech for 6 long years using this stuff.

Here, this might help you: http://www.muzique.com/schem/fret.htm

Tung oil is a finish, and most tung oil available on the market isn't 100% tung oil anyways.

Not something you'd put on a fretboard no matter what.

Thanks for the link, toshiro! I had no idea that the lemon oil I've been using on my fretboards is mostly mineral oil. I guess all that "pure lemon oil" labelling actually worked on me

And I agree with you now: food products on fretboard = really bad!

moro · #11 04-20-2005, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by giannifive

And I agree with you now: food products on fretboard = really bad!

Well, except for bacon grease. Because there's nothing in this world that can't be improved with a little bacon grease.

tone_connoisseur · #12 04-20-2005, 09:13 AM

I just conditioned my fretboard this morning. She looks beautiful

Drew · #13 04-20-2005, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toshiro

Baby oil would be a better choice, if you neeed something cheap and easy to get.

Wait a second, I'm confused... Oil made from lemons is bad, but oil made from babies is good?

I use bore oil - works like a charm. Rich's tutorial, by the way, is excellent. I'm surprised no one's mentioned it here yet.

-D

Flobanez · #14 04-20-2005, 01:17 PM

Rich also told me to use bore oil on my PWH. His tutorial is dead on!
BTW, A friend of mine uses pledge and he's had no problems,
Is it okay to do that? I have not used that on my PWH and dont plan to.......

giannifive · #15 04-20-2005, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew

Wait a second, I'm confused... Oil made from lemons is bad, but oil made from babies is good?

I use bore oil - works like a charm. Rich's tutorial, by the way, is excellent. I'm surprised no one's mentioned it here yet.

-D

That's lemon *juice* that's bad, not lemon oil.

And Rich's tutorial is mentioned in the second post in this thread.