# New Gibson R7 Vos Goldtop ..........what oil to put on fret board ?



## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Hi everyone !

Just received my R7 ,it has a beautiful dark rosewood board
with nice paler streaks going across,

someone suggested to put Dr Stringfellow on and here at home ,I have some 
Dunlop 65 lemon oil , I don't want to darken the lighter color with the oil
so what would be your suggestion ?


Thank's !


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Use salami - like Neil Schon. And don't eat it.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

adcandour said:


> Use salami - like Neil Schon. And don't eat it.


Ha ha !!.......would Pepperoni work ?


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

OMG really? the fat would go rancid, wouldn't it? I use Tung Oil. its pretty nice.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

zdogma said:


> OMG really? the fat would go rancid, wouldn't it? I use Tung Oil. its pretty nice.



Does it darken the wood ...or it leaves the nice pale shades intact ?


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Just keep it clean. A damp rag with no cleaners. Wipe it dry. You could use a little lemon oil but many have never oiled the fretboard for years and it is fine.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> Just keep it clean. A damp rag with no cleaners. Wipe it dry. You could use a little lemon oil but many have never oiled the fretboard for years and it is fine.


Thank's !.......appreciate !


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

Louis said:


> Does it darken the wood ...or it leaves the nice pale shades intact ?


It does darken a bit.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

zdogma said:


> It does darken a bit.


Did you ever tried the Dr Stringfellow ?


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

http://www2.gibson.com/news-lifesty...ngs-to-keep-your-guitar-in-top-condition.aspx

Looks like Gibson thinks lemon oil is fine.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

This is a recent thread with a lot of information

http://www.guitarscanada.com/showthread.php?62391-Cleaning-my-LP-Trad-Fretboard

Enjoy the resulting confusion..LOL

Cheers

Dave


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Guitar101 said:


> http://www2.gibson.com/news-lifesty...ngs-to-keep-your-guitar-in-top-condition.aspx
> 
> Looks like Gibson thinks lemon oil is fine.


I've heard that Gibson put's something like Pledge for furniture in a bottle and
sell it 3 times what it's worth !

- - - Updated - - -



greco said:


> This is a recent thread with a lot of information
> 
> http://www.guitarscanada.com/showthread.php?62391-Cleaning-my-LP-Trad-Fretboard
> 
> ...



Thank's..........Appreciate!!..........I'll do some reading !

Lou


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

adcandour said:


> Use salami - like Neil Schon. And don't eat it.


Just came back from the store with some first grade Italian Salami
and rubbed it on the neck !...looks great and shiny but now my problem
is that my dogs can't stop lecking my neck !!


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Louis said:


> Just came back from the store with some first grade Italian Salami
> and rubbed it on the neck !...looks great and shiny but now my problem
> is that my dogs can't stop lecking my neck !!


I'm pretty sure Neil would also buy peanut butter (do divert their attention while he played some licks).


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

adcandour said:


> I'm pretty sure Neil would also buy peanut butter (do divert their attention while he played some licks).


We should get together and have a beer !!.........I'm sure it would be great !!.......lol

Of course play some good music !!


Cheers !


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

Plus, you have a whole salami to go with the suds.


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## LydianGuitars (Apr 18, 2013)

Lemon oil or mineral oil (pretty much the same thing) are good choices for a rosewood board.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

I use Dunlop 65 or whatever it's cslled on my R8. Can't remember if it darkened the board or not. Anything damp is going to darken the board I imagine. That's just the nature of moisture.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

:useless:

Sorry, it had to be said.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Milkman said:


> :useless:
> 
> Sorry, it had to be said.


I'll try to post some as soon as I can !


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Milkman said:


> :useless:
> 
> Sorry, it had to be said.


I'll try to post some soon !


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## dradlin (Feb 27, 2010)

I stopped using the Dunlop lemon oil, as it seem to me that it tarnished the frets after polishing.

Linseed oil is my current staple.


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## Erich (Apr 23, 2013)

I only use Circa 1850 Lemon Oil. You can find it at any Home Hardware store. The light streaks actually stand out a little more after a nice polish. Cheers!

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Paint-D%C3%A9cor/Painting-Supplies/Stains-Preservatives/Interior/Oil-Base/500mL-Lemon-Oil-Wood-Treatment/_/N-ntlt8Z2pph/R-I1874145


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Erich said:


> I only use Circa 1850 Lemon Oil. You can find it at any Home Hardware store. The light streaks actually stand out a little more after a nice polish. Cheers!
> 
> http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/i...-Oil-Wood-Treatment/_/N-ntlt8Z2pph/R-I1874145


Thank's Eric !

Appreciate


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Louis said:


> Just came back from the store with some first grade Italian Salami
> and rubbed it on the neck !...looks great and shiny but now my problem
> is that my dogs can't stop lecking my neck !!


We are all very interested in your results, so................

:useless:


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

worth reading................
Bore oil on fretboards?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

My 2013 R7 VOS









- - - Updated - - -



loudtubeamps said:


> worth reading................
> Bore oil on fretboards?


A very good read indeed.

Completely by accident I have ended up doing the best thing (using lemon oil to clean the fretboard and wiping it off right away) for my rosewood and ebony fretboards.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Milkman said:


> My 2013 R7 VOS
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful !!........the gold on those is awesome !


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> We are all very interested in your results, so................
> 
> :useless:


I took some !


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Few more !


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## bluzfish (Mar 12, 2011)

What an ugly guitar. Such shoddy workmanship. Bet it plays like crap with strings. Makes me wanna puke.



There.




I think I've stopped myself from running out the door to find such a gorgeous Gold Top for myself. Crisis averted. Congrats on being the proud owner of a fine instrument. Just keep it away from me.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

bluzfish said:


> What an ugly guitar. Such shoddy workmanship. Bet it plays like crap with strings. Makes me wanna puke.
> 
> 
> There.
> ...


Gee's !!......you scared me with the puke story but the more I read ,the more it ends up being a happy ending story !!


Thank's !!!


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

That is a superb looking guitar. 

I've used Fret Doctor on my rosewood boards for years and love it. Yes it is a Bore oil. No it is not the same as most "bore oils". Yes it will darken the fret board slightly. It's never done anything other than make my guitars look better.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

davetcan said:


> That is a superb looking guitar.
> 
> I've used Fret Doctor on my rosewood boards for years and love it. Yes it is a Bore oil. No it is not the same as most "bore oils". Yes it will darken the fret board slightly. It's never done anything other than make my guitars look better.


Thank's Dave !!...it is a very fine instrument !!

I stumbled across a nice post from someone who experienced with different oils , here it goes,....
................................................................................................................................

A while back I did a little study on fretboard treatments.

Mineral oil leaves a residue that eventually becomes sticky and attracts dirt. It sits on top of the wood. It will soften the top layer of the wood a little, which isn't necessarily a good thing on a fingerboard that deals with hard fingernails, metal string friction, etc. I've seen woods, including fingerboards, treated with mineral oil that you could sink a fingernail into. In fact, my wife used to treat our maple cutting board with it, and you could literally write your name in it with the edge of a finger. So be careful with that stuff.

Lemon oil is essentially naphtha with a little lemon scent so it doesn't smell like the dry cleaners (naphtha is the main ingredient in a lot of dry cleaning stuff). Lemon oil is good for cleaning the fretboard,* and should be wiped off immediately. 

Bore oil is for woodwind instruments that pick up spit and moisture from the instrument being blown into. The wood on such an instrument would rot unless it was treated with something that adhered to the outside of the wood and left a residue of oil. So its purpose is far different from the needs of a fingerboard, that gets moisture and oils at the same time from your hands, but isn't in a confined space like the inside of a blow hole, and it is open to the air for quicker evaporation, leaving the oils from your fingers behind. In many cases, woodwind instruments are also finished with a coating inside.

If you've ever looked inside a clarinet case, you'll see one of those disgusting looking cleaning sticks with cloth attached to it to dry the danged instrument after playing it. They need those. The things get sopping wet with smelly spit. And they need that oily goop on the inside of the clarinet to keep it from rotting outright from their breath and saliva. No wonder clarinet players can't get dates. Their cases are full of smelly goo.

But you're a guitar player. OK, maybe you have a harmonica, but they're so cheap no one cares if it rots. In fact, people will be happy if your harmonica rots, because then they don't have to listen to it.









There seem to be several schools of thought on fingerboards. Some people think that an oily fingerboard will somehow look better, or last longer. I can't speak to looks, but it sure won't last longer. I have a 1965 Gibson SG Special with a perfectly fine fingerboard that has never been oiled in its lifetime. Ever. And it has sat through neglect, Michigan winters, dry heated rooms, my kids' rooms, dorm rooms, winters in the equipment van, you name it. Not atypical, by the way.

How many cracked fretboards have you seen (where the cracks were from lack of oil)? I've never seen one. I've seen some broken ones from being dropped. I've got friends and session guys who come in with very old guitars to my studio, some dating back to the 30s, and none have a cracked fingerboard. And they don't baby them with anything.

I have never oiled a maple or ebony board. I had a tech who once nearly ruined my rosewood Artist II fingerboard, by gooping lemon oil on it and leaving it sit for hours, but other than a little swelling by the frets that eventually went down, all it did was discolor and aesthetically ruin the maple inlays. I could have killed him for doing me this "favor". It could have loosened the glue holding the inlays, but I was lucky.

I've used only lemon oil stuff to clean rosewood boards, immediately wiping it off as recommended by PRS. PRS' recommendation is a pretty good one. I haven't needed to use furniture polish on the fingerboard, but I tried it on a rosewood neck and it made it slick without any goopy buildup.

I'm of the school of thought that fingerboards are made with oily woods that generally don't need treatment of any kind. They need an occasional cleaning and that's it. A wipe down after play if your hands are sweaty (mine are very dry).

I believe that people love their guitars, and want to be good to them, and so buy products that somehow are touted to do good things, but they are usually doing more harm than good.

How often do you see a guitar with polishing swirl marks that wouldn't be there if only the owner had simply used a soft damp cloth to clean it and dried it with a microfiber or chamois? It's not like a car that sits outside and needs an occasional wax to keep the road grime and bird poop from abrading the finish!

But that's me. I'm a minimalist.

However, if you ask anyone who's worked on my guitars, or have seen them, they'll tell you that regardless of how long I've had them, they're in amazing shape. Except that old beater '65. But its fingerboard is in amazing shape. LOL!*


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> We are all very interested in your results, so................
> 
> :useless:


Finally went for lemon oil before reading the post above


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

_*"Lemon oil is essentially naphtha with a little lemon scent so it doesn't smell like the dry cleaners (naphtha is the main ingredient in a lot of dry cleaning stuff)."*_

I would really like to see this statement proven. I find it hard to believe that lemon oil is essentially naphtha.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Guitar101 said:


> _*"Lemon oil is essentially naphtha with a little lemon scent so it doesn't smell like the dry cleaners (naphtha is the main ingredient in a lot of dry cleaning stuff)."*_
> 
> I would really like to see this statement proven. I find it hard to believe that lemon oil is essentially naphtha.


Got this from Gibson Forum, go on post 19

.....................................................................
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/gibson-les-pauls/75062-purchased-my-lp-but-now-scared.html


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

_"Long before Gibson began slapping labels on their own brands of high-priced aftermarket guitar gunk,_ _*they recommended mineral oil for the fretboards (the furniture-type "lemon oil" that you buy at Walmart is fine; it's mostly mineral-oil based)*_ _and_

_*Naptha (the primary ingredient in traditional lighter fluid) for cleaning the fretboards and strings of clingy gunk, and carnauba wax*_ _(the non-silicone kind you put on your car) as a protectant for both finish and metal parts."_


I read this statement a little different. I wouldn't want to see "Lemon Oil" get a bad rap. I was surprised that they recommended "Naptha" for cleaning the fretboard. Seems a little strong to me.


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