# oiling guitars



## CR355 (Dec 29, 2008)

I got an 18 year old jasmine 6 string passed down to me from my brother wich is in great condition. just wondering if its a good idea to treat the inside with lemon oil or some other kind of oil. I think I remember hearing doing so will effect the accoustics as when guitars dry out they take on a different sound and that its a personal preferance. by oiling they wont have as bright of a sound?


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

Hmmmm - never heard of oiling the inside of a guitar. Doesn't sound like a good idea. Are you thinking of oiling a rosewood fingerboard ? Some people oil a rosewood fingerboard with lemon oil, or some kind of commercial fingerboard treatment once in a while. However, you can probably find just as many people who dont bother.


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

*woodwind oil*

you can oil the rosewood fingerboard with woodwind bore oil. they sell it at most places that carry stringed (i.e. violins, etc) instruments. it is better than lemon oil, b/c most lemon oil is made with naptha.

or you could use linseed oil but it's very VERY flammable. i never use this.

all you need for the body is a good humidifier, i wouldn't put oil in or on the body. it sounds wrong. good humidifier is a must though, grover makes a good one for about $20 and it is a snake w/ soundhole cover.

good luck, 
cheers


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Gene Machine said:


> or you could use linseed oil but it's very VERY flammable. i never use this.


+1 to this with some more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linseed_oil#Spontaneous_combustion


It is not a bad oil, but it does need to be treated with suitable respect.


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Pop a tiny amount of this stuff  on the fretboard to clean it up. Rub it in well. 
Like everyone else, I'd leave the body alone.

As a thread hijack: Are those little guitar case (de)humidifiers a good idea? And when do you use which one?
I'm on the west coast so it's not very dry; I've always thought that dry air like from air conditioning (or in Calgary!) was a bigger menace than a humid atmosphere...


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

devnulljp said:


> Pop a tiny amount of this stuff  on the fretboard to clean it up. Rub it in well.
> Like everyone else, I'd leave the body alone.
> 
> As a thread hijack: Are those little guitar case (de)humidifiers a good idea? And when do you use which one?
> I'm on the west coast so it's not very dry; I've always thought that dry air like from air conditioning (or in Calgary!) was a bigger menace than a humid atmosphere...



I'm in Trenton, and since the furnace came on this fall my house is stupid dry. It is not realistic to try and humidify my entire house.

I use a L&M type clay humidifier in my martin case, along with a snake in the soundhole, and fill them regularly now. I was going to get the planet waves one like you posted, but there was a recall a year or so ago on those, and there was goo leaking out of it into the guitar... yech... so i went with the grover snake.

g.


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## Ship of fools (Nov 17, 2007)

*Bad idea*

Never put oil or anything inside the sound hole, except for a humidifier (Humi-pak or even a self made soap dish ) if you live in an overly dry area.Oil will help let the cement or glue eventually let go in area's and as for the finger board well I just dry it down with an old cotten t-shirt and some fine steel wool to help take care of any build up.
As for the case humidifier, well it won't hurt it. I live on the Westcoast and have never needed to use one but if it makes you feel better to use one you should.Ship


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## CR355 (Dec 29, 2008)

Thanks for all the helpful info, I appreciate it. Good thing I asked first.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

devnulljp said:


>


I have one of those for my 12 string--works well.
I do have a crack from before I got the humidifier--but that was caused by my elbow. I have a case one for my archtop, since obviously the other one won't work with f-holes.


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## timberline (Nov 22, 2008)

*lemon oil etc.*

Please don't use lemon oil on guitars, inside or out. It does nothing beneficial, other than perhaps helping clean grungy fingerboards, but can have truly detrimental effects.

I suspect that you may be confusing the lemon oil thing with the debate among some builders over whether or not to finish the inside of guitars, particularly classicals. That's another matter, and has nothing to do with lemon oil.

Using lemon oil as a cleaner and very temporary appearance enhancer for guitar fingerboards and finish was popular in the 60s, probably an offshoot from the use of the stuff as a furniture cleaner back then. It did manage to clean off goop from filthy instruments as it was solvent based, had a semi-pleasant smell, and made your guitar look shiny for a few hours until the solvents had evaporated.

To start off, you shouldn't let your guitar finish or fingerboard get dirty enough to need solvents to clean it. Every now and then just wipe it clean with a very lightly damped clean cloth, and that should be enough unless you play while eating jelly donuts and drop the ensuing goop all over the place. ;-)

If your guitar finish has any lacquer checks, dings or nicks the oil will go through those and stain the wood darker, also making it very difficult for any future refinishing or gluing operations which may be needed. Same holds true for any of the silicone based polishes, but those have the added attraction of being able to go right through most finishes to contaminate the wood. Leave them alone.

Once highly promoted as a fingerboard cleaner, lemon oil can actually seep under the fret beads, into the slots in the board and if used long enough will soften the wood in the fret slots enough that it makes future refrets very difficult. 'Difficult' translates to 'expensive' in the mind of repair techs.

Once a year or so when you are changing strings clean off the fingerboard with a clean cloth. If there's enough grunge and/or oxidation on the frets, use 0000 steel wool, preferably the stuff furniture finishers use ( oil-free) to clean the board, then apply a very light coat of a good, silicone-free paste furniture wax, buffing it vigorously to get most of it off and leave only a very thin layer to seal the wood and keep it clean.

Good luck.
KH
Timberline Guitars and Ukes,
Rockingham, Ont.


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## Guest (Jan 1, 2009)

devnulljp said:


>


If that is the Planet Waves one then it's the one I use. Looks the same. It works well. I use distilled water to prevent introducing chlorine, flouride or other chemicals to the wood through the vapours.

Check out Taylor's web site. They have some great info for the beginner or layman on how to determine if your gat is too dry or too wet.

http://www.taylorguitars.com/global/pdfs/greatest_hits.pdf


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

sometimes the fretboards on the old classicals I buy are bone dry and when I do use lemn oil I use a Q-Tip, I dip it into the oil, dab it on a rag to remove excess oil and do three or 4 frets at a time and rub them off immediately. Hasn`t seemed to hurt the wood or frets so far but if theres something better I`d like to know about it. I happen to have linseed oil, I paint so theres a small bottle here.
As for shining up a guitar once I clean it...and I don`t use lemon oil for that...I use the Gibson polish that comes in the orange bottle with the pump top...works great and I don`t over do it. always wipe on with a rag the wipe off with a second dry rag...always with 100% cotton T-shirts, fabric mixes tend to just move grime around instead of removing it, kinda like thos felty cleaning cloths you get when you buy a guitar...they just don`t work for me, I bought some micro fiber cloths that work great for wiping down after playing.


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## Gunny (Feb 21, 2006)

Tung oil is the product recommended for fingerboards (not on maple...I think it might stain it dark). Don't put anything inside the body. Tung oil isn't cheap but it's good stuff.  You put it on, let it soak in, wipe off the excess.


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## wlw_992 (Sep 18, 2008)

*oil A Guitar???*

I have never used oil on my guitars. Because I live in a very dry place the only thing I use is a guuitar humidifier. Ther don't cost a lot but WOW are they ever effective.kqoct


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