TOPIC: fret board maintainance

As I perform weekly with others, I have noticed some instruments that have dry fret boards. Over time this could cause costly damage to the instrument. like a warped fret board, or prematurely worn fret bars ( this happened to 1 of my guitars). Now twice a year I apply lemon oil to the fret board , let it soak in and buff off the remainder with a soft towel.

How do you know if you have a "dry fret board"?

Mike @ Guitar Center showed me how to treat the fretboard. One time i was re-stringing it, he was showing me how to wrap the strings, and when we removed the strings, he polished the frets, and wiped the fretboard with a cloth. I believe the cloth i have stays moist as long as it stays in the baggie. It doesn't have to be wet, just cleaned like you would polish furniture. I think the oils from your skin is what does the damage. Probably pledge furniture polish would work. I have i cheap guitar, it's not like it has a rose wood fretboard anyway. Besides, you ever see the fretboards on those old blues guitarist's instruments? Talk about grunge! I don't think Robert Johnson or Muddy Waters cared too much about clean fretboards, and they played on the road.

I use fingerboard dressing on the rosewood and ebony boards. I think it's available at firstquality. Makes those boards shine.

GoGo, it is probably dry if it starts to develope an ashen, or light colored gray-ish appearance in the grain of the fretboard. We have an old classical guitar, the tech @ the shop showed me how to wrap nylon strings, while we had it apart, we conditioned it. It only took a few minutes, there's really no rocket science to it. Polished the frets,with a pad, being careful not to rub the wood, to remove the oxidation, and he rubbed the fretboard with, what i call a gargoyle cloth, which stays moist with the polishing oils in it's baggie. You could see the grain just magically "pop" out of the wood, and it came back to it's dark colored look. Makes a big deal in the appearance. I guess maybe a twice a year treatment would be good, but that probably depends on humidity, and the oils in your skin.

I suggest you use a small amount of fingerboard oil on a dry cloth every time you change your strings. Please .. don't use lemon pledge or any other furniture polish. You can get a small bottle of fingerboard oil at first quality and it will last a long time. It runs about $7.