How To Clean, Oil, and Condition Your Guitar's Fingerboard

Hello, I'm Jim Dicola, master luthier of Gibson

guitar

s. I'm going to show you how to

clean

the oil and

condition

the fretboard of

your

guitar

. Cleaning the oil and

condition

ing

your

guitar's fretboard is very important because it will make your guitar look and feel better. Replenishing that oil on the fretboard will make it sound like butter, give the fretboard a rich, deep tone in the wood, and will also make the guitar more stable because once the oil soaks into the fretboard, it will be less likely to spread. expand and contract due to humidity fluctuation. You know, in case you know about climate change, etc., the first thing we are going to do is prepare the guitar for this process.

I already removed the strings and I already put low tack tape on the bridge posts to prevent the bridge from moving since there is no tension on the strings. The next thing I'm going to do is protect the surface of the body. The oil from the process can sometimes get dirty and stain the body, no, not terribly so. harmful but it is better to protect it if possible I like to use a sheet of leather that I cut specifically for this purpose if you do it often enough you may want to do the same you can also use a rag you can use paper towels, something like that to protect the surface of the body , since I do this all the time.

I prefer leather as it is reusable and very durable. I will also use low tack tape around the fretboard and that will not only hold it in place but will also. uh, keep debris and stuff from getting under this mask and again, you know, keep the surface of the body

clean

and protected. Next, I'm going to use fretboard oil. Here I am using Gibson fretboard conditioner, which is available at many music stores. It is a type of lemon oil if your store does not sell this you can also use lemon oil like you can get at your local hardware store you can even use mineral oil or even baby oil that you can find at the pharmacy they are all products of mineral oil.

They just have different scents and different viscosities and colors, but they will all protect your fretboard the same way. I like Gibson lemon oil, you know, fretboard conditioner because that yellow also helps bring out that color and give it a nice warm tone when I apply it. the oil I like to have a specific rag for that and I like to keep it in a ziploc bag that way it prevents the rag from collecting dust and contamination that could scratch the surface of the fretboard and I want to apply that oil generously to that rag so here you can see me work it on that fretboard you can already see how deep and dark it will start to get you want to apply it liberally but you don't want to make a mess you don't want the oil to run off the fretboard onto the neck but you want to saturate that fretboard so apply it a little at a time and re-wet it as needed, working along with the frets to fully saturate the fretboard and once fully saturated, the fretboard to where it is slightly moist.

Placed on top of the fretboard, I like to let it sit for a few minutes, you know, maybe even five minutes, to let it soak in as much as it can. If you do it too quickly, it will sit on the surface and then wipe it dry and it hasn't really penetrated and really done the job that it needs to do, so just keep it there so it's completely wet and let it sit, you know, maybe up to five minutes to fully penetrate that fretboard if your fretboard is especially dirty. You know over time you know that when you play you can pick up a lot of dirt and funk that will stay on that fretboard.

You can use a toothbrush, a regular toothbrush, apply that oil and you can wet the brush again. necessary and then just rub along the frets and the bristles of that brush will sit next to the fret wire and remove any dirt and once you've treated the entire fretboard with that process you can go back to the grain and work. Put it back in, but you can see how I'm going to stand on one side and then turn on the other side of that fret and repeat that will ensure that all that dirt and funk that has gotten into the grain and inside you know the cracks of the It takes off the front wire, another tip if your

fingerboard

, again, is dirty with that stuff, in addition to the toothbrush, you can also use a synthetic steel wool, in this case I'm using a white Scotch Brite pad, it's equivalent to four odd or to four zero. steel wool, but it's a lot less messy, so again I like to put the oil in the whiskey brite and work it in and now here you don't have to put as much, you can see that it's wetter because it doesn't absorb into that cloth. as a polishing cloth and you can rub the fretboard to remove all the debris from the fretboard and polish the fret wire, so if you go in the direction of the grain along the length, it is recommended, however, you may have cases where The ones you have go against the grain to get some of that dirt out, but then follow the direction of the grain to ensure you don't have cross scratches on the fretboard.

It's very fine and unlikely to leave any objectionable scratches, but it's just good safe practice once you're done cleaning and polishing with that brite again, like oiling it with the rag, let it sit for a few minutes and then you can wipe it again. with a dry cloth, keep it in a ziploc bag which will ensure that it doesn't collect dust or debris or anything that could scratch your fretboard or your guitar, so here you can see that the oil has been sitting on this fretboard for several minutes, so that has penetrated so much. since that means the job is done, now I'm going to use a clean rag and I'm going to wipe away all the remaining oil from the fretboard that is on the surface and again I'm going to try to wipe along the fret wire to make sure there are no puddles or stagnant oil so you know it doesn't create a mess, you want to dry it off and you will see that it is a much deeper and richer rosewood tone than it seemed before, after that we can remove the wipe off any residue along the side of the fretboard and now it is ready to string.

You can see how deep and rich the rosewood looks compared to how it was before, so again the guitar will play much smoother and more effortless. more stable because the oil stabilizes the wood. Thanks for watching, be sure to check out the next episode of Gibson's guide to guitar setup and maintenance.