We all know that maintenance is better than repair. In some circumstances, without suitable upkeep, repairs are inevitable. When it comes to the good supervision of your guitar, it is important that you oil your guitar fretboard. Can I use baby oil on my guitar? Keep reading to find out more!
Speaking of keeping your guitar in a playable state, fretboard upkeep should be at the top of your priorities. While you can substitute most parts on your guitar without much problem, replacing a fretboard can be a pricey endeavor. In most cases, you will require to replace the whole neck, which could alter the way your guitar feels in your hand.
So, can I use baby oil on my guitar? Well, a tiny bit of a tip is fine for string durability on electric guitars. Place a bit of baby oil on some tiny fabric and swipe it all across the strings. Don’t worry about rust, it won’t occur!
Table of Contents
Routine Maintenance
A ton of it ends up getting crusted to the strings as well as the fretboard. Examine a guitar that doesn’t get washed frequently, and you will see the remains that your sweat and skin vacate. Kind of disgusting, right?
The way to stop this fanfare, or at the very least greatly lower it, is to wipe down your fretboard with a smooth microfiber textile after every exercise session. As a reward, by wiping down your fretboard, you will also boost the life of your strings.
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Why Should You Oil Your Fretboard?
As real wood ages, it manages to dry out. If the wood on your fretboard dries out extensively, your fretboard will break, wear out, and in severe cases, your frets may not pose as nicely in the neck.
By utilizing a genuine oil like Dunlop’s Lemon Oil Fingerboard Remedy, you can substitute the dampness that your fretboard is naturally renouncing.
It is crucial that you use an outcome created specifically for a guitar. Furniture polish, for instance, will do a cut-rate job of moisturizing your guitar. Moreover, some oils may have a negative reaction with the metal on your strings, and lower their lifespan.
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How Frequently Should You Oil Your Fretboard?
An oversaturated fretboard could, in severe cases, be as harmful to your guitar as a dry one. It is thus vital to recall that you should rehearse restraint when oiling your fretboard.
Most retail guitar manufacturers advise that you oil your fretboard once every six months. There are individuals out there who manage to oil their fretboard every time they switch their strings.
Not only is this a waste of oil, but it can also lead to harming your guitar. If you fall into this category, think about giving your guitar a few months before oiling it again.
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How to Oil Your Fretboard?
Less is more in regards to oiling. You want to utilize enough oil to coat the fretboard, but not so much oil that there are dots where it pools up. Specific brands nowadays have sponge applicators that can help you from over-oiling. If your oil does not have an applicator, you can get the corner of a rag and use that instead.
Use enough oil so that you can shield the fretboard, by all means. After that, by utilizing a dry rag (or the dry corner of your oil rag), pat the oil into the wood.
After it’s done, wait a few seconds and tap the fretboard with the length of your finger. Doing so will bring any leftover moisture to the surface of the guitar, which you can then brush off with your rag.
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Styles of Fretboard
The typical guitar fretboard consists of maple and rosewood. Yes, there are some guitars out there that may use a separate wood. Still, the same fundamental practices for oiling will apply.
There are two main finishes that a guitar fretboard will often arrive in:
- varnished
- unvarnished
The majority of maple fretboards will be varnished. On the other hand, rosewood and ebony are generally plain, or unvarnished, wood. If it is varnished, then that is truly amazing for us! You never need to stress about oiling your fretboard.
Notably, the varnish will stop the wood from losing moistness. Also, because the oil cannot infiltrate the varnish, oiling a neck that is varnished is truly a waste of oil.
If on the flip side, your fretboard is unvarnished, you will require a fretboard oiling. If you’re not sure if your fretboard has been varnished or not, what to do in that case? Try to hold it up to the light, by all means. Is it glossy? If so, your fretboard is varnished. If not, then it is most presumably unvarnished.
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How to Clean Your Guitar Fretboard?
Now it is time to take a brief look at how we can clean the fretboard. Stay tuned for more details below!
#1 Put the Guitar in a Safe Place
So, before beginning to cleanse your guitar, be mindful of something. It is extremely critical that you put it in a safe way. We want to avoid any potential damage.
For example, never cleanse the guitar on the underside. Try to remember this at all times! This will usually scratch your guitar’s body. Also, it will be entirely irritating for you to even cleanse it nicely.
What you can do is utilize a table and try to set your instrument over specific bedsheets or something with a similar texture.
As you can envision, the guitar won’t be damaged or scratched in any way by the table’s texture. Likewise, it’s just more convenient for you to nicely work on it.
#2 Dismissing All the Strings
Are you intending on doing a deep cleansing of your guitar fretboard? If yes, try to remove all the strings at once. Even if you’re not planning on removing them, it will be much better for you to have them all emptied, preferably.
If now is your first time doing this, try to relieve each string as much as you can. Then depending on whether you want to use them again or not, you would just trim them, or draw them carefully. Be conscious of this critical step!
#3 Scrubbing Your Fretboard
Before doing this, we need to protect the wood. Some people like to employ tape or a fret defense. So, let’s dive into more details.
If you are interested in doing it too, then the only thing you require is some kind of strong cardboard that bends, scissors, and a pen. These are the necessities that we must have near in order to perform this.
Just go to the last fret of your guitar, and draw some proportions. Next, cut a hole in the middle, broad enough that it could fully fit a fret. Periodically, even after cleaning the whole fretboard, you will find out that the frets are still messy.
One last thing to remember! You may also use a nail file with a tiny amount of toothpaste to cleanse the fusses.
Scour a Maple Fretboard on an Electric Guitar
Now let’s see how to clean a Maple fretboard on an electric guitar. You can clean a Maple fretboard with ultra-fine 0000 steel wool in fact. This pulls ground without causing wear to the frets.
What is more, a slightly damp material can also be good for this. Mainly on satin-finished maple, but normally, avoid using anything other than this.
Tip: Evidently, holding the guitar in its case or using a handcrafted guitar strap can be useful in the long run.
Final Words
To keep your guitar in a perfect state forever, always wipe down your neck and fretboard after each session. Also, remember to oil your fretboard regularly (every six months). This is vitally important, per se!