I have some pretty grimy fretboards, but that's just me. Thank you for making these videos. They're pleasant to watch and extremely informative. I'm just getting started on the DIY guitar builds and boiled linseed oil it shall be.
Tried & True Danish Oil is a 100% polymerized linseed oil that contains no VOCs and can be applied straight out of the can without a solvent. They recommend waiting at least 8 hours between coats which isn't bad for linseed oil.
Very interesting and helpful video. I didn't know about linseed oil. I like that it doesn't color the fretboard. About dirty, grimy guitars at around 13:56 : That's something a lot of guitarists going for maple fretboards actually desire. They want to get the grimy, blotched looking fretboard that shows the play wear. I personally like that, too. Though, I won't get rid of the satin finish on my necks just to achieve that. But when a refret is eventually needed, I will opt for a linseed oil finish instead of a satin laquer finish. :)
the only things I have discovered that affect tone and sustain are tone woods, wood density, precise layout, and bridge work. Assuming your guitar is good wood and density the layout of bridge mounting is critical for intonation and playablity. Centerline of the string path (you can't always trust the center of a glue joint unless you made the body), and the octave measurement are important. Bridge work? Leo Fender thought on solid body guitars getting the vibration into the end grain of the wood will add sustain. Before his death he patented a bridge called the saddle lock bridge. It does 2 things; 1. it locks the individual pieces of a tunable bridge into one structure. and 2. the bridge has a cleat cast into the underside the requires a router cut to install. This cleat introduce the vibrations of all the strings (they're locked into one after intonation) into the end grain of the wood. My experience as a player is I have to manage the sustain or it will over run the chord changes. This is something I've never had to do. Since many player customize their guitars or build partsocasters I thought more info about sustain would be a valid idea. For finishes, paint it, oil it, make it as you like. If the guitar is make good tone and good sustain paint won't matter. If it's not making good sounds, paint won't matter then either
Nearly all of the tones that we consider “great”, or “good” were created on necks that were lacquered, to include the fretboard on some examples; no one had ever said that they lack sustain or sound bad
It's the kind of wood that has an effect. Rosewood is slightly warmer than roasted maple, and roasted maple isn't as bright as regular maple. Another YT'r proved this perfectly. If the finish has an effect on tone, it's so negligible that even a spectrometer cannot tell the difference when played.
I know which video you are referring to. It's doesn't prove anything because you can compare five necks, each with Rosewood fretboards, and they will all sound different. That's just how wood is. Tone isn't determined by species, it's determined by the specific board. Also, a fretboard can change from one day to the next as humidity levels fluctuate. I can say these things because I have made hundreds of guitars and have experienced them many times.
Thanks Chris. Curious, if you want to add some color to your neck or maple fretboard (ie vintage amber) what type of product would you use and would you lay it down first or mix directly with the boiled linseed oil? Thanks!
i'm looking for a good and natural fretboard conditioner (just got 2 new guitars with rosewood boards) but my wife is allergic to etheric oils and chemical odours...so what can i use...??...i got some of "taylors" fretboard conditioner as it says it's all natural and without chemicals...but i'm still a bit sceptical....
I recently played a henrik D signature charvel, the neck was the best maple I ever played. It had the grip of a rosewood fretboard though it has a satin finish. Would linseed oil give a similar “close to the wood” feel?
Could you use the Japan dryer if you wanted the oil to dry quicker? I’d like to use this on a rosewood fretboard but it needs to be playable within a week. Thanks so much for the info.
Hey, can you please tell us more information on why you don’t like tru-oil? Personally, I’ve never tried it, but I have heard of lots of people using it over the years, and I would like to know more information solid before I try it. Thanks
Tru Oil works fine for folks who lack access to spray equipment. Especially if they want a glossy finish. I don't use it mainly because I don't know what's in it. I like to know what's in the products I use. These days, I prefer Sutherland Welles' polymerized tung oil because I know exactly what's in it. Pure tung oil.
@@HighlineGuitars Thank you for sharing your knowledge, when using these polymerized oil finishes on a body or neck can you hear any type of negative affect on the tone or sustain?
Don’t know. I tried it once about 15 years ago and I don’t remember how well or poorly it work. It must not have impressed me much because I threw out whatever was left in the can. I think it cured weird.
Hey Chris.. . New to your channel. Rosewood fretboards. What would you recommend, Cleaning off Sweat, dirt, crud. On the fretboard. That active, Playing a lot, guitar players accumulate between string changes. Or possibly something, Once, twice a month. conditioning. I'm constantly wiping down my guitar neck, during a night performance. Still, dirt, sweat, builds up. Any and all recommendation, appreciated. BTY.. a Satin finish. Much desirable. Less friction. Thanks Chris.. .
Brilliant video Chris - Thank you! Just one very quick question (if you have time) - Do you prefer to apply the BLO on the Fingerboard 'Before or After' Fret Installation? Thank you. Warm regards Jon.
Have you ever come across a tape for masking off the top of frets? To me that would be the easiest way to not deal with maple fretboards. I've seen some blue pinstriping tape that might work FWIW
I guess a finish has to have a small amount of flex in the cured resins otherwise it would crack like crazy paving. Although that's desirable in certain circles on aged bodies.
First, Thank You for what you do. Second, Wordy tee shirts are like lacquer on a fret board, unappealing. One should see you tee shirt not read. I would love to purchase the shirt with just your logo and the guitar. At 4X however , I am too large for that shirt. I do really enjoy and benefit from you videos. Thank You again.
I do wish we knew what's in Tru-oil. I note that Ken Parker finishes his archtops by first sealing with epoxy and then wiping on thin layers of Tru-oil to get a mat finish. He says in this video that it's mostly Linseed oil, but who knows what else is in there. th-cam.com/video/FzyDVP1Om9g/w-d-xo.html
Linseed and flax are the same thing. So this is flax seed oil with things added to help it dry faster. Linen cloth comes from linseed. - Well, it is an oil. So it is a fat. Which means if you want a fat tone..... Edit: To those not cleaning your fingerboard when you change strings. Where does the grime come from? So those new strings, you are picking it back up and applying to the bottom of your strings and rusting them out again and killing all that precious, precious tone. You are essentially taking grime and applying it to your stings over and over. If you think I am wrong, think on this for a moment. Notice how the grime it collects next to the frets and not in the middle of the fingerboard between the frets? Think about it for a minute. You keep lifting up the garbage in the middle with your fingertip. You don't hold down and press hard enough next to the fret to bend the string and lift up the gunk. You do in the middle though. that is why there isn't any there. It is on the bottom of the plain strings and in the winds on the large ones.
So if I understand the logic correctly, oil = fat, therefore applying oil to a fretboard = fatter tone. You've got me sold! Hahaha BTW linseed/flax oil is processed from the seeds, whereas linen cloth is processed from the fibrous stalks of the plant. I learned that the hard way when I wore a linen shirt and my guitar tone didn't get fatter.
@@HighlineGuitars we don't have a lot of the brands of finish or chemicals here in the UK that you none uk you tube guitar builders talk about I've never seen tru oil , wipe on polyurethane ect in our local big brand hardware store I was just trying to help UK side folks
You did a video years ago about applying BLO with Japan Dryer...I followed those directions on the very first guitar I built and to this day it's the silkiest, smoothest neck I've done. Over the years I've tried all the rest, Lacquer, poly, tru-oil but I always go back to the simple BLO. My question to you is, do you still apply it the same way now? You mentioned waiting a week between coats in this video, back then you basically said it was good to go the next day or so which is how I've been doing it. I know you update your techniques occassionally, any thoughts on this?
This is good to know as I use boiled linseed oil on my rosewood and maple fretboards, the reason is that when I was younger and doing my joinery apprenticeship one of the older guys told me to always treat maple with a bit of linseed oil, and it stuck with me for nearly 25years now. Plus I love the smell of linseed oil
To extend the shelf life of drying oil, when you are finished, spray a touch of Dust-Off in the can before capping. It displaces the oxygen, and prevents polymerization in the can. Dust-Off is a mix of flourocarbons and will not harm the oil.
I’ve worked in research labs that had a trick for this. In our lab we would flood a container with Nitrogen gas until it displaced the lighter, more volatile, components of air in hopes of stalling oxidation so reactions would happen more consistently. While we were waiting for our main objectives to yield, the real science began. Ha! It was a kind of game to see who could find a more perishable item and preserve it. Cut apples were my favorite but a friend kept yogurt on a countertop for a strangely long time too. We had access to lab grade gasses but I’ve been told you can find them at local Air Gas supply (ask for help on what regulators you’ll need to bleed it out-not a pressurized nozzle). All this works because Nitrogen gas is heavier than other air components and will displace Oxygen-pushing them up and out-leaving only trace amounts of the pesky oxidizers. I bet it would be cheaper than dust-off if you use it a year or two.
@@FuriousTortoise I love this - I will categorize this as - deep dives in cross-usage of workmen's/workperson's bag-of-tricks..!! keep em coming..!! thank you.
Question.. Can I use boiled Linseed oil, or Tru oil on my finished neck? And if I did would it darken it? Or is this just a bad idea all together. I'd love a fast fix for my squire neck. But there's probably not one is there?
@@HighlineGuitars I just bought one of those Squire Sonic guitars with the pale maple fretboards. how should I go about using the tru oil, or the boiled linseed oil on my finished neck? Will I need to wait a few days before I can play it? Or just wipe it off and string it after a few hours? Thank you for helping me out with this information. Peace. Joe
I'm sure your oil coat works perfectly, but I've never had good luck with oil. I used name brand tung oil (Formby, if I recall) on a few necks years ago, including a nice solid rosewood neck, and it never seemed to harden. Took the rosewood neck out of the 'extra necks' box recently, and it's still sticky. I've been trying to find good ways to remove the sticky tung oil without having to sand it all off. I've been wondering if stock 'paint remover' would be too brutal.
Chris - do you do any one piece necks? I saw on this that it is maple and maple but wasn’t 100% if it was a one piece neck. If you do, I would love to see how you do skunk stripes etc with the CNC.
Such well presented info. Thanks for your work! And that tru oil teaser is serious - I want to know what you think about it! I’ve finished two electric guitars entirely with it and had a nice (if time intensive) experience. Also, my first builds, so my ignorance is large - I just didn’t want to jump into spray technology off the bat. Make the tru oil video! : )
I just love Tung oil on my necks, especially with Maple necks. If you have a good sanded maple neck there,s nothing smoother feeling than Tung oil. I don't have much experience with boiled linseed but I could imagine it being more or less the same. I used Laquerd fret boards as wel but didn't like them as much. And a fat laquered Neck feels like plastic to me and also feels a little less smooth. But, to each his own. The only thing is it takes a little bit more maintenance in cleaning.
Hi Chris, love your videos! A Walnut neck I purchased, came with a coat of Danish oil on it. Can I use BLO on it to finish? Also, Walnut seems porous, does it need a sealer, or just sand silky smooth and apply BLO? After cleaning the fretboard with Naptha, can Carnauba wax be applied to fretboard? Thanks for all your work in creating a great channel!
Stick with the Danish oil and wet sand it in. Let it dry for a couple of weeks. If you use Carnauba wax, make sure it's pure and not full of other additives.
One, Tone & Sustain have absolutely nothing to do with the body's wood, nor does it have anything to with the wood on the Fretboard. Tone on all electric, guitars comes 100% from the guitar pickups. Sustain has to do with the bridge saddles and the nut. However, The string trees are said to have an effect on the Sustain. I'm pretty sure the quality or type of metal that's used for the frets would have a lot to do with sustain as well. Great video with a lot of education offered here. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Peace.
@@HighlineGuitars Pots can and do make a difference, as do capacitors. Thanks for pointing that out. But the pickups will sound exactly the same if they're attached to a 2x4 piece of wood. So many people think a strat sounds different that a Les Paul. Some say it's because of the wood. But it only has to do with the pickups. Place that same humbucker into a strat and get the tone of that les paul. But again, you're correct when you mentioned the different pots. But a 500 cts pot with an orange drop capacitor will sound the same no matter what guitar you throw them in. Peace..
@@thebluesrockers When you wrote "100%," I said to myself, "Now hold on there. The cap and the pots have a say as well." So I would say pickups account for 80-85% of the ton. Beyond that, I totally agree with you.
@@HighlineGuitars hahaha, I have no doubt that you would agree with me. you sure as hell no your stuff. great video by the way. I just bought a cheap, squire sonic and I'm going to have to fix the tone of that neck. you sure taught me how to do it. thanks for all your time, and effort teaching us these tricks of the trade. Peace..
So glad I found your video, I have a dulcimer kit and its all unfinished wood and the fret board is walnut I did'nt want to put anything on it that would mess up the fret board, thank you now off to get BLO
I built a guitar kit and finished it in tru oil. Was great for the body but I just didn't like the feel of the neck even after sanding it smooth. I eventually, in a fit of madness, sanded most of the tru oil off the back of the neck and gave it a very light coat of boiled linseed oil instead, I think I got the idea from an earlier video of yours. It felt perfect and for my next build (a from scratch 24" single p90 rustic project made from a bunch of scrap wood) I'm definitely doing the neck on boiled linseed oil. Still debating what to use for the body but I'll burn that bridge when I get there 🤣
Excellent! You told the truth without offending those with a 'need' to believe in alchemy and magic. All second rate musicians fall into the gear trap, whether they are rock, jazz, or classical hobbyists, and regardless of whether they play guitars, brass instruments or percussion. Those who 'can' play...DO! And those who can't...SPEND MONEY IN LIEU OF PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE! Brass...'hobbyists' think (amongst many other absurdities) that mouthpiece material, LOL, or the metal composition of an instrument bell can be heard and identified generally as causing a darker or brighter sound (or drummers who think the shell or its coating matters) when blind tests prove that...THERE IS NO DISCERNABLE DIFFERENCE! They make carbon fiber trumpets! The good of it is, that the rest of us never run out of bridges to sell to these people. Capitalism!
Hello is it possible to have an amber colored neck with the use of linseed oil? or do you have to dye the wood first and then apply linseed oil? and if so what kind of dye to use with linseed oil? thank you
I believe any finish will amber over time when exposed to uv light. Ive done it on a few of my basses. Leave them in front of a window on a stand for a few months and they will darken.
13:55 ,I'd like to think that the moment any player finds out how damaging it is to have grime, grit, dirt and even dust on a fret board and strings is the moment they start wiping down/cleaning;... the frets/fingerboard at the very least.👍 (I'm not sure if the increased fret wear & worse still fret slot damage is common knowledge:(, i very rarely hear it detailed,... people do love a "relic" look tho:)
Hey Chris, great video! Have you used boiled linseed oil or Tung oil on rosewood fingerboards or do you just use it on maple? I’ve just recently used Waterlox on a maple neck with really nice results, it is also available in gloss and satin too. It’s a kind of similar product to boiled linseed oil and it dries reasonably hard. Thanks!
I'm currently building a Yingway Woundstring strat. Got the scalloped neck if from Chinee. Off to Loew's today to buy some boiled lindseed oil. Gonna give it a shot.
And don’t you just love the smell of linseed oil? I do anyway. Thank you so much. I just love your videos. If you haven’t seen it yet, Stumpy Nubs (my favorite woodworker on here) has a video about the contents of ‘Tung oil finish’.
My brother and I used boiled linseed oil in his Tallahassee music store back in the early '70s, and it worked fine for us. We coated a LOT of fingerboards with it!!
Thanks for this. I want to build my own Tele because I just don’t like any of my options from Fender, Squier, G&L, etc in the sub $1000 range and I absolutely refuse to spend more than $1000 on a guitar as simple as a Tele. Right now I’m leaning towards a Warmoth neck for a 3+3 headstock and they seem to be well regarded in terms of quality. Price for a simple maple/maple neck is reasonable until you get to the finishing options, none of which I like so I thought I’d do it myself. I’m very pleasantly surprised to see that the process is as simple as it is. Oddly enough I’m trying to get a neck feel to match a Squier I have. In appearance the neck looks like a raw, very finely sanded piece of maple, but it doesn’t have the dry and chalky feel that raw wood can have. It’s wonderfully smooth… not “silky” or sticky, but just right. Now I’m guessing they use a product like what you’re describing to finish their necks because I have to assume that it’s dramatically less expensive than poly/nitro/whatever finishes.
I can only find the polymerized tung oil on that website for exterior, and I wish you would show us a finished product! You seem to know what you're talking about but I think I would go crazy waiting for something to dry that long so if you don't mind a bit of Sheen on your neck what do you suggest for somebody who's a little more impatient? The other thing I was going to ask is what if you want to put a little bit of stain on it first to give it kind of a vintage look? Last time I tried this I messed up because I used oil-based water-based oil-based water-based or half the time I didn't really know what I was using since a lot of products don't really even specify, well at least the ones you find in the local hardware store, not to mention I did not realize as dry as the fretboard looked it already had a satin polyurethane which and I wound up having to sand everything off down to the bare wood so now I'm at square One. And I'm noticing I have much harder wood but I'm really at a loss for how to stain and then put a nice finish on and you seem to know the ropes pretty well haha well maybe I'll get an answer thanks harder work
great tutorial..!! THANK YOU.. I am a budding Luthier and I am NOW contemplating refinishing me '75 TELE BASS (Ibanez) fingerboard in lindseed oil... do you have any thoughts on how the "meeting point" between the linseed and the original poly will - either look or weather (over time) or adhere..??? thank you!!
Anybody say anything about the fire danger? I happened to be starring at my rag box when it spontaneously combusted. I soak the rags in water after use and dispose of.
Exactly. I just watched your video on finishing a neck, the one you are obviously referring to, and I came to this to find out about fretboards. I'll be doing one soon (flame maple) and would love to not have to spray, but I do want a gloss on the fingerboard and front of the headstock. I hope you made the video you referred to at the end, I'll look for it now. I want to find out what issues you are concerned about.
I bought a '64 made J-50 Gibson in spring of '65 . The store that sold it to me said that to take care of the fret board in the. dry climate of Northern California where I was in the service and stationed there , I should apply a bit of boiled linseed oil once every few months or when I would change strings. He told me how to do it. So I went to a hardware store and bought a small can. It was enough to last me well into my 70s, which I was not. To make a story shorter, I put a coat on my guitar fret board and wiped off the excess. I did not ever leave it to dry for several days putting on additional coats. One luthier I follow tells how to apply it, and I did it that way for many decades. I always kept my finger nails clipped short as well. The rosewood FB was grateful .
Chris - I'm so thankful to have found your videos. Beyond educational. They are inspirational. Be creative, be curious, be patient, be organized, don't fear the reaper (ok, maybe a bit much there). So thanks. My question - Does this process for the fretboard also include the 1500 grit wet sand step? Sorry if this has already been asked and answered....
I love your chanel so much! Thx for taking time to do those videos and to share your knoledge. I use boiled linseed oil on my necks thx to you, it's awesome 👍
I have some pretty grimy fretboards, but that's just me. Thank you for making these videos. They're pleasant to watch and extremely informative. I'm just getting started on the DIY guitar builds and boiled linseed oil it shall be.
Tried & True Danish Oil is a 100% polymerized linseed oil that contains no VOCs and can be applied straight out of the can without a solvent. They recommend waiting at least 8 hours between coats which isn't bad for linseed oil.
What an amazing, intelligent, coherent & common sense explanation to putting on a 1st Class fretboard finish on your guitar. Thank you good Sir!
Yes! Thank him. And thank you for thanking him.
thank you for compiling years of experience and information into a video for us newbies !!!
You were great in Wayne's World
Love me some classic Zippo lighter fluid. Very pure and evaporates quick.
Thanks Chris. Extremely informative and timely for me.
man. this was great. I learned a ton. Thank you for uploading! I will 100% be trying this out on my neck. big thumbs up and sharing.
Very interesting and helpful video. I didn't know about linseed oil. I like that it doesn't color the fretboard. About dirty, grimy guitars at around 13:56 : That's something a lot of guitarists going for maple fretboards actually desire. They want to get the grimy, blotched looking fretboard that shows the play wear. I personally like that, too. Though, I won't get rid of the satin finish on my necks just to achieve that. But when a refret is eventually needed, I will opt for a linseed oil finish instead of a satin laquer finish. :)
the only things I have discovered that affect tone and sustain are tone woods, wood density, precise layout, and bridge work. Assuming your guitar is good wood and density the layout of bridge mounting is critical for intonation and playablity. Centerline of the string path (you can't always trust the center of a glue joint unless you made the body), and the octave measurement are important. Bridge work? Leo Fender thought on solid body guitars getting the vibration into the end grain of the wood will add sustain. Before his death he patented a bridge called the saddle lock bridge. It does 2 things; 1. it locks the individual pieces of a tunable bridge into one structure. and 2. the bridge has a cleat cast into the underside the requires a router cut to install. This cleat introduce the vibrations of all the strings (they're locked into one after intonation) into the end grain of the wood. My experience as a player is I have to manage the sustain or it will over run the chord changes. This is something I've never had to do. Since many player customize their guitars or build partsocasters I thought more info about sustain would be a valid idea. For finishes, paint it, oil it, make it as you like. If the guitar is make good tone and good sustain paint won't matter. If it's not making good sounds, paint won't matter then either
thanks for the video. you always seem to have a way of explaining and making it seem easy. Thanks for that.
Thanks for watching!
Great info. Thanks for making quality informed videos.
Very helpful video thank you.
I love this channel.
Nearly all of the tones that we consider “great”, or “good” were created on necks that were lacquered, to include the fretboard on some examples; no one had ever said that they lack sustain or sound bad
I think you exaggerate where lacquered necks are concerned.
yep... how many great classic songs were created with lacquered maple fretboards in the 60's, 70's, 80's... probably hundreds, thousands.
I love hardwax oil finishes like Osmo poly x or Saico
Is this the same as varnishing the instrument's neck?
Yes.
It's the kind of wood that has an effect. Rosewood is slightly warmer than roasted maple, and roasted maple isn't as bright as regular maple. Another YT'r proved this perfectly. If the finish has an effect on tone, it's so negligible that even a spectrometer cannot tell the difference when played.
I know which video you are referring to. It's doesn't prove anything because you can compare five necks, each with Rosewood fretboards, and they will all sound different. That's just how wood is. Tone isn't determined by species, it's determined by the specific board. Also, a fretboard can change from one day to the next as humidity levels fluctuate. I can say these things because I have made hundreds of guitars and have experienced them many times.
This doesn't require using the Japan dryer or mineral spirits as on the back of the neck?
Thanks Chris. Curious, if you want to add some color to your neck or maple fretboard (ie vintage amber) what type of product would you use and would you lay it down first or mix directly with the boiled linseed oil? Thanks!
I would mix it into the BLO and I would use an aniline dye.
Must be some thing in it because Britain military used boiled linseed oil to put on there lee Enfield rifles which were made of beech wood a hard wood
i'm looking for a good and natural fretboard conditioner (just got 2 new guitars with rosewood boards) but my wife is allergic to etheric oils and chemical odours...so what can i use...??...i got some of "taylors" fretboard conditioner as it says it's all natural and without chemicals...but i'm still a bit sceptical....
what about using this for a guitar body ?
th-cam.com/video/ZXQSPXHT0nA/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/XlysSHk-4KA/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/TfFEWmDVYZ4/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/qTsYbtOlLhQ/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/rWT-wz7h0W4/w-d-xo.html
I recently played a henrik D signature charvel, the neck was the best maple I ever played. It had the grip of a rosewood fretboard though it has a satin finish. Would linseed oil give a similar “close to the wood” feel?
🤷♂️
Helpful!
Glad you think so!
With a baked flamed maple fret board is it necessary to finish the board
No, but it may look nicer.
Have you tried odie’s oil? I use that on my builds and my customers love it
Yes, I have. Way, way overpriced.
Could you use the Japan dryer if you wanted the oil to dry quicker? I’d like to use this on a rosewood fretboard but it needs to be playable within a week. Thanks so much for the info.
Yes you can as long as the oil is linseed.
@@HighlineGuitars It would be BLO. Thanks Chris!
Hey, can you please tell us more information on why you don’t like tru-oil? Personally, I’ve never tried it, but I have heard of lots of people using it over the years, and I would like to know more information solid before I try it. Thanks
Tru Oil works fine for folks who lack access to spray equipment. Especially if they want a glossy finish. I don't use it mainly because I don't know what's in it. I like to know what's in the products I use. These days, I prefer Sutherland Welles' polymerized tung oil because I know exactly what's in it. Pure tung oil.
@@HighlineGuitars Thank you for sharing your knowledge, when using these polymerized oil finishes on a body or neck can you hear any type of negative affect on the tone or sustain?
@@nickmizell1141 The finish has no effect on the tone or sustain of an electric guitar.
Hello.) I from Russia. How are you?)
Can you please tell me how simple linseed oil is suitable for processing the fretboard?
That's what the video is about.
Super video. What about teak oil?
Don’t know. I tried it once about 15 years ago and I don’t remember how well or poorly it work. It must not have impressed me much because I threw out whatever was left in the can. I think it cured weird.
@@HighlineGuitars good to know.. Thanks.
Tung oil hands down over & out!
Did you hear it? Naphtha is harder to find and more diluted products contain it
Is there a vid you’ve done concerning the application of poly tung oil?
No.
@@HighlineGuitars same procedure putting the tung oil on as the linseed oil?
@@frankieu2598 www.sutherlandwelles.com/how-to-finish-guitars-ukuleles-mandolins-with-original-formula-tung-oil
How often would you use the boiled linseed oil.
Hey Chris.. . New to your channel. Rosewood fretboards. What would you recommend, Cleaning off Sweat, dirt, crud. On the fretboard. That active, Playing a lot, guitar players accumulate between string changes. Or possibly something, Once, twice a month. conditioning. I'm constantly wiping down my guitar neck, during a night performance. Still, dirt, sweat, builds up. Any and all recommendation, appreciated. BTY.. a Satin finish. Much desirable. Less friction. Thanks Chris.. .
Clean with naphtha. If you can't get naphtha, use a citrus based cleaner. Condition with boiled linseed oil.
Brilliant video Chris - Thank you! Just one very quick question (if you have time) - Do you prefer to apply the BLO on the Fingerboard 'Before or After' Fret Installation?
Thank you. Warm regards Jon.
After. It's easier. Wipe it on, let it sit for 30 minutes, and wipe off the excess. BLO can't soak into the frets, so it wipes right off.
@@HighlineGuitars Thank you Chris and for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated.
Have you ever come across a tape for masking off the top of frets? To me that would be the easiest way to not deal with maple fretboards. I've seen some blue pinstriping tape that might work FWIW
It doesn't work. I've tried it. The frets are too narrow to properly mask with thin tape and the lacquer build up too excessive.
I guess a finish has to have a small amount of flex in the cured resins otherwise it would crack like crazy paving. Although that's desirable in certain circles on aged bodies.
Hello ! is it ok to use boiled linseed oil on an ebony fretboard?
HI. Did you quit selling guitars? I don't see your Reverb channel anymore.
I not using Reverb these days. Don’t need to.
First, Thank You for what you do. Second, Wordy tee shirts are like lacquer on a fret board, unappealing. One should see you tee shirt not read. I would love to purchase the shirt with just your logo and the guitar. At 4X however , I am too large for that shirt. I do really enjoy and benefit from you videos. Thank You again.
I do wish we knew what's in Tru-oil. I note that Ken Parker finishes his archtops by first sealing with epoxy and then wiping on thin layers of Tru-oil to get a mat finish. He says in this video that it's mostly Linseed oil, but who knows what else is in there.
th-cam.com/video/FzyDVP1Om9g/w-d-xo.html
Linseed and flax are the same thing. So this is flax seed oil with things added to help it dry faster. Linen cloth comes from linseed. - Well, it is an oil. So it is a fat. Which means if you want a fat tone..... Edit: To those not cleaning your fingerboard when you change strings. Where does the grime come from? So those new strings, you are picking it back up and applying to the bottom of your strings and rusting them out again and killing all that precious, precious tone. You are essentially taking grime and applying it to your stings over and over. If you think I am wrong, think on this for a moment. Notice how the grime it collects next to the frets and not in the middle of the fingerboard between the frets? Think about it for a minute. You keep lifting up the garbage in the middle with your fingertip. You don't hold down and press hard enough next to the fret to bend the string and lift up the gunk. You do in the middle though. that is why there isn't any there. It is on the bottom of the plain strings and in the winds on the large ones.
So if I understand the logic correctly, oil = fat, therefore applying oil to a fretboard = fatter tone. You've got me sold! Hahaha
BTW linseed/flax oil is processed from the seeds, whereas linen cloth is processed from the fibrous stalks of the plant. I learned that the hard way when I wore a linen shirt and my guitar tone didn't get fatter.
Some serious guitar players like to record with decades old strings. Hot For Teacher is one example.
Naptha = lighter fluid in the UK
Easy to get from the local pound shop
In the U.S. lighter fluid is naphtha with other (?) ingredients.
@@HighlineGuitars we don't have a lot of the brands of finish or chemicals here in the UK that you none uk you tube guitar builders talk about
I've never seen tru oil , wipe on polyurethane ect in our local big brand hardware store
I was just trying to help UK side folks
You did a video years ago about applying BLO with Japan Dryer...I followed those directions on the very first guitar I built and to this day it's the silkiest, smoothest neck I've done. Over the years I've tried all the rest, Lacquer, poly, tru-oil but I always go back to the simple BLO. My question to you is, do you still apply it the same way now? You mentioned waiting a week between coats in this video, back then you basically said it was good to go the next day or so which is how I've been doing it. I know you update your techniques occassionally, any thoughts on this?
Hi, what is blo? And japan dryer?
@@losangulos Boiled Linseen Oil lol = BLO and Japan drier is just an accelerant drying agent.
Hint:L Use google
This is good to know as I use boiled linseed oil on my rosewood and maple fretboards, the reason is that when I was younger and doing my joinery apprenticeship one of the older guys told me to always treat maple with a bit of linseed oil, and it stuck with me for nearly 25years now.
Plus I love the smell of linseed oil
To extend the shelf life of drying oil, when you are finished, spray a touch of Dust-Off in the can before capping. It displaces the oxygen, and prevents polymerization in the can. Dust-Off is a mix of flourocarbons and will not harm the oil.
Great idea. I'll have to try this.
I’ve worked in research labs that had a trick for this. In our lab we would flood a container with Nitrogen gas until it displaced the lighter, more volatile, components of air in hopes of stalling oxidation so reactions would happen more consistently. While we were waiting for our main objectives to yield, the real science began. Ha! It was a kind of game to see who could find a more perishable item and preserve it. Cut apples were my favorite but a friend kept yogurt on a countertop for a strangely long time too.
We had access to lab grade gasses but I’ve been told you can find them at local Air Gas supply (ask for help on what regulators you’ll need to bleed it out-not a pressurized nozzle).
All this works because Nitrogen gas is heavier than other air components and will displace Oxygen-pushing them up and out-leaving only trace amounts of the pesky oxidizers. I bet it would be cheaper than dust-off if you use it a year or two.
@@FuriousTortoise I love this - I will categorize this as - deep dives in cross-usage of workmen's/workperson's bag-of-tricks..!! keep em coming..!! thank you.
Question.. Can I use boiled Linseed oil, or Tru oil on my finished neck?
And if I did would it darken it? Or is this just a bad idea all together.
I'd love a fast fix for my squire neck. But there's probably not one is there?
You can use both and yes, it will darken the wood.
@@HighlineGuitars I just bought one of those Squire Sonic guitars with the pale maple fretboards. how should I go about using the tru oil, or the boiled linseed oil on my finished neck? Will I need to wait a few days before I can play it? Or just wipe it off and string it after a few hours?
Thank you for helping me out with this information. Peace. Joe
@@thebluesrockers th-cam.com/video/rlkfUoWLH_o/w-d-xo.html
I’ve never used lacquer or poly just because they wear. Tung and linseed oil have staying performance. It’s just common sense
I'm sure your oil coat works perfectly, but I've never had good luck with oil. I used name brand tung oil (Formby, if I recall) on a few necks years ago, including a nice solid rosewood neck, and it never seemed to harden. Took the rosewood neck out of the 'extra necks' box recently, and it's still sticky. I've been trying to find good ways to remove the sticky tung oil without having to sand it all off. I've been wondering if stock 'paint remover' would be too brutal.
Thanks Chris.
Chris - do you do any one piece necks? I saw on this that it is maple and maple but wasn’t 100% if it was a one piece neck. If you do, I would love to see how you do skunk stripes etc with the CNC.
No, I don't make one-piece necks. I only make two-piece necks with modern two way truss rods.
Such well presented info. Thanks for your work! And that tru oil teaser is serious - I want to know what you think about it! I’ve finished two electric guitars entirely with it and had a nice (if time intensive) experience. Also, my first builds, so my ignorance is large - I just didn’t want to jump into spray technology off the bat. Make the tru oil video! : )
finishing does affect the tone. I realised that when I applied 3 layers of barnish to a cheap chinese strat neck 😂 sounded plasticker than ever
I just love Tung oil on my necks, especially with Maple necks. If you have a good sanded maple neck there,s nothing smoother feeling than Tung oil. I don't have much experience with boiled linseed but I could imagine it being more or less the same. I used Laquerd fret boards as wel but didn't like them as much. And a fat laquered Neck feels like plastic to me and also feels a little less smooth. But, to each his own. The only thing is it takes a little bit more maintenance in cleaning.
Hi Chris, love your videos! A Walnut neck I purchased, came with a coat of Danish oil on it. Can I use BLO on it to finish? Also, Walnut seems porous, does it need a sealer, or just sand silky smooth and apply BLO? After cleaning the fretboard with Naptha, can Carnauba wax be applied to fretboard? Thanks for all your work in creating a great channel!
Stick with the Danish oil and wet sand it in. Let it dry for a couple of weeks. If you use Carnauba wax, make sure it's pure and not full of other additives.
Can you use dye to color and then oil
I wouldn't. It won't last.
Thanks for the in depth explanation. Was always wondering how to maintain a maple neck with no finish.
I’d love to hear your opinion on Tru Oil. I haven’t used it yet and I know some people speak very highly, but I’m curious.
I think it's a good option if you want a high gloss finish, but lack spray equipment.
One, Tone & Sustain have absolutely nothing to do with the body's wood, nor does it have anything to with the wood on the Fretboard. Tone on all electric, guitars comes 100% from the guitar pickups. Sustain has to do with the bridge saddles and the nut. However, The string trees are said to have an effect on the Sustain. I'm pretty sure the quality or type of metal that's used for the frets would have a lot to do with sustain as well.
Great video with a lot of education offered here. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Peace.
So how come the tone changes when I change the pot and/or cap values?
@@HighlineGuitars Pots can and do make a difference, as do capacitors. Thanks for pointing that out.
But the pickups will sound exactly the same if they're attached to a 2x4 piece of wood. So many people think a strat sounds different that a Les Paul. Some say it's because of the wood. But it only has to do with the pickups. Place that same humbucker into a strat and get the tone of that les paul. But again, you're correct when you mentioned the different pots. But a 500 cts pot with an orange drop capacitor will sound the same no matter what guitar you throw them in. Peace..
@@thebluesrockers When you wrote "100%," I said to myself, "Now hold on there. The cap and the pots have a say as well." So I would say pickups account for 80-85% of the ton. Beyond that, I totally agree with you.
@@HighlineGuitars hahaha, I have no doubt that you would agree with me. you sure as hell no your stuff. great video by the way. I just bought a cheap, squire sonic and I'm going to have to fix the tone of that neck. you sure taught me how to do it. thanks for all your time, and effort teaching us these tricks of the trade. Peace..
So I followed these instructions and 11 days after the third coat my neck and fretboard feel sticky. What do I do at this point to remedy this?
Wait a few more weeks.
So glad I found your video, I have a dulcimer kit and its all unfinished wood and the fret board is walnut I did'nt want to put anything on it that would mess up the fret board, thank you now off to get BLO
Great video! May I ask how you approach sanding when it cures? I've always found penetrating oils to finish unevenly / blotchily
I built a guitar kit and finished it in tru oil. Was great for the body but I just didn't like the feel of the neck even after sanding it smooth. I eventually, in a fit of madness, sanded most of the tru oil off the back of the neck and gave it a very light coat of boiled linseed oil instead, I think I got the idea from an earlier video of yours. It felt perfect and for my next build (a from scratch 24" single p90 rustic project made from a bunch of scrap wood) I'm definitely doing the neck on boiled linseed oil. Still debating what to use for the body but I'll burn that bridge when I get there 🤣
Chris, do you pore fill your rosewood fret boards before you apply the boiled linseed oil? If so, how?
No.
Hey Chris, did I get that right, that in the case of a boiled linseed oil finish you don't bother masking off the heel of the neck?
That’s only the case with bolt-in necks.
Currently scalloping a guitar neck, thanks for the clear and concise info!
Doesn’t the fretboard get sticky? Even after it dries.
As long as you let if fully cure, no.
can you go over cured boiled linsseed with True oil to give it more shine ?
Yes.
Excellent! You told the truth without offending those with a 'need' to believe in alchemy and magic. All second rate musicians fall into the gear trap, whether they are rock, jazz, or classical hobbyists, and regardless of whether they play guitars, brass instruments or percussion. Those who 'can' play...DO! And those who can't...SPEND MONEY IN LIEU OF PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE!
Brass...'hobbyists' think (amongst many other absurdities) that mouthpiece material, LOL, or the metal composition of an instrument bell can be heard and identified generally as causing a darker or brighter sound (or drummers who think the shell or its coating matters) when blind tests prove that...THERE IS NO DISCERNABLE DIFFERENCE! They make carbon fiber trumpets!
The good of it is, that the rest of us never run out of bridges to sell to these people. Capitalism!
Hello is it possible to have an amber colored neck with the use of linseed oil? or do you have to dye the wood first and then apply linseed oil? and if so what kind of dye to use with linseed oil? thank you
I believe any finish will amber over time when exposed to uv light. Ive done it on a few of my basses. Leave them in front of a window on a stand for a few months and they will darken.
13:55 ,I'd like to think that the moment any player finds out how damaging it is to have grime, grit, dirt and even dust on a fret board and strings is the moment they start wiping down/cleaning;... the frets/fingerboard at the very least.👍 (I'm not sure if the increased fret wear & worse still fret slot damage is common knowledge:(, i very rarely hear it detailed,... people do love a "relic" look tho:)
Hey Chris, great video! Have you used boiled linseed oil or Tung oil on rosewood fingerboards or do you just use it on maple? I’ve just recently used Waterlox on a maple neck with really nice results, it is also available in gloss and satin too. It’s a kind of similar product to boiled linseed oil and it dries reasonably hard. Thanks!
@4:01
Why use it on rosewood when rosewood doesn't need any finish?
It enhances the beauty of the wood.
I'm currently building a Yingway Woundstring strat. Got the scalloped neck if from Chinee. Off to Loew's today to buy some boiled lindseed oil. Gonna give it a shot.
And don’t you just love the smell of linseed oil? I do anyway.
Thank you so much. I just love your videos.
If you haven’t seen it yet, Stumpy Nubs (my favorite woodworker on here) has a video about the contents of ‘Tung oil finish’.
My brother and I used boiled linseed oil in his Tallahassee music store back in the early '70s, and it worked fine for us. We coated a LOT of fingerboards with it!!
Thanks for this. I want to build my own Tele because I just don’t like any of my options from Fender, Squier, G&L, etc in the sub $1000 range and I absolutely refuse to spend more than $1000 on a guitar as simple as a Tele.
Right now I’m leaning towards a Warmoth neck for a 3+3 headstock and they seem to be well regarded in terms of quality. Price for a simple maple/maple neck is reasonable until you get to the finishing options, none of which I like so I thought I’d do it myself. I’m very pleasantly surprised to see that the process is as simple as it is.
Oddly enough I’m trying to get a neck feel to match a Squier I have. In appearance the neck looks like a raw, very finely sanded piece of maple, but it doesn’t have the dry and chalky feel that raw wood can have. It’s wonderfully smooth… not “silky” or sticky, but just right. Now I’m guessing they use a product like what you’re describing to finish their necks because I have to assume that it’s dramatically less expensive than poly/nitro/whatever finishes.
I can only find the polymerized tung oil on that website for exterior, and I wish you would show us a finished product! You seem to know what you're talking about but I think I would go crazy waiting for something to dry that long so if you don't mind a bit of Sheen on your neck what do you suggest for somebody who's a little more impatient? The other thing I was going to ask is what if you want to put a little bit of stain on it first to give it kind of a vintage look? Last time I tried this I messed up because I used oil-based water-based oil-based water-based or half the time I didn't really know what I was using since a lot of products don't really even specify, well at least the ones you find in the local hardware store, not to mention I did not realize as dry as the fretboard looked it already had a satin polyurethane which and I wound up having to sand everything off down to the bare wood so now I'm at square One. And I'm noticing I have much harder wood but I'm really at a loss for how to stain and then put a nice finish on and you seem to know the ropes pretty well haha well maybe I'll get an answer thanks harder work
great tutorial..!! THANK YOU.. I am a budding Luthier and I am NOW contemplating refinishing me '75 TELE BASS (Ibanez) fingerboard in lindseed oil... do you have any thoughts on how the "meeting point" between the linseed and the original poly will - either look or weather (over time) or adhere..??? thank you!!
Anybody say anything about the fire danger? I happened to be starring at my rag box when it spontaneously combusted. I soak the rags in water after use and dispose of.
From my own experience, tru-oil, polyurethane, and urethane in time will need stripping, linseed, and tung oil wipe clean, and new coat can be applied
Hi Chris, excellent, thanks for your video and information. I will now be using boiled linseed oil on my new build. Thank you.
Hard finish on the fretboard just feels bad. Especially after you get some sweat on there. That's why I don't own a Rickenbacker 4003 bass.
Excellent video! Thank you so much.
Exactly. I just watched your video on finishing a neck, the one you are obviously referring to, and I came to this to find out about fretboards. I'll be doing one soon (flame maple) and would love to not have to spray, but I do want a gloss on the fingerboard and front of the headstock. I hope you made the video you referred to at the end, I'll look for it now. I want to find out what issues you are concerned about.
I bought a '64 made J-50 Gibson in spring of '65 . The store that sold it to me said that to take care of the fret board in the. dry climate of Northern California where I was in the service and stationed there , I should apply a bit of boiled linseed oil once every few months or when I would change strings. He told me how to do it. So I went to a hardware store and bought a small can. It was enough to last me well into my 70s, which I was not. To make a story shorter, I put a coat on my guitar fret board and wiped off the excess. I did not ever leave it to dry for several days putting on additional coats. One luthier I follow tells how to apply it, and I did it that way for many decades. I always kept my finger nails clipped short as well. The rosewood FB was grateful .
Well this should be good, and I think I want to build one of your guitars , you have a great channel , I learn a lot 👍
You should!
Y shellac on alot acoustics but not so much on electric guitar. Beings acoustic is more well acustic.ud think shellac would be the choice for sound...
I have learned from my own experience because I love shaving the back of my necks, Tung oil in thin coats for me all the way.
Hey! Can you tint linseed oil?
Of course you can. That's what oil based stains are.
I just missed u live but thanks this is a good subject
Chris - I'm so thankful to have found your videos. Beyond educational. They are inspirational. Be creative, be curious, be patient, be organized, don't fear the reaper (ok, maybe a bit much there). So thanks. My question - Does this process for the fretboard also include the 1500 grit wet sand step? Sorry if this has already been asked and answered....
It can if you want it to. No rule for this.
Thanks for this great video. Is Boiled Linseed oil also good for an ebony fretboard? Or any better advice? Thanks a lot.
Oil feels great, once you try it you can't go back. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, what are your thoughts on using bee's wax polish for the neck and fretboard?
I prefer pure carnauba wax. It's harder and lasts longer.
Thanks! Incredible information like usual!
I love your chanel so much! Thx for taking time to do those videos and to share your knoledge. I use boiled linseed oil on my necks thx to you, it's awesome 👍
daM!!! your intro read my mind!!!!!!!!!!!
All good. Just want to clean fret board.