The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I did not want to ruin it for you in case you wanted to find out for yourself, but this oil just devastated this Gibson ES-175. I am glad I never used this oil on my guitars like someone recommended years ago.

    Here is the video.


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  3. #2

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    Video is 40 min. long ... what oil was it then ?

    what I learned on the internet: Rosewood contains some oil in itself, there is no need to oil

    rosewood fretboards.

    thank you for listening.


  4. #3

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    "Video is 40 min. long ... what oil was it then ?". Ans: Olive Oil

  5. #4

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    I have never oiled a rosewood fretboard and have had guitars since the 60s.
    An old friend used to spray his 1949 175 with WD40 after a gig. Don't know if it was just for the strings but it must've penetrated the board. Not sure if he still does it. He emigrated about 20 years ago.

  6. #5

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    So, you could by a Murphy flake relic for a fortune or just ruin your guitar on shoe string using olive oil

  7. #6

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    is this a guitar salad ?


  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by rob taft
    "Video is 40 min. long ... what oil was it then ?". Ans: Olive Oil
    Does it offer an explanation of exactly what reacted and how/why?

  9. #8

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    Believe it or not, even mayonnaise is recommended by some as a wood polish. But the experts say "Hold the mayo!" There's an old adage in the furniture industry that you should never try to fix your furniture with food

    From Bob Kennedy (who's apparently a famous furniture guru) comes this detail: "Since oils penetrate the wood fibers, using oil products on hard finishes such as lacquer can cause damage by seeping through microscopic finish cracks and staining the wood underneath. Oil products also amplify scratches and gouges. In extreme cases where a piece has been routinely saturated with a lightweight, non-drying oil, it can even cause swelling of the substrate."

    Putting the oilve oil on nitro (which is a lacquer) is probably what did in that 175. I'd bet that it was applied over a checked finish in an effort to "fix" it, and that made the problem worse and worse as it got under the resin layer. Remember that show cars and hot rods are finished with nitrocellulose and are routinely waxed with a compound of oils and waxes. The two differences between them and guitars are that their finishes are completely intact (i.e. without crazing etc) and that the material under them is metal rather than wood - so oils will not penetrate or cause any dimensional change in the finished surface.

    I've used nothing but a slightly damp soft cloth (cotton for many years, now good microfiber) followed by a clean, dry one. I do use a bit of pure mineral oil on my fingerboards no more often than yearly, and I wipe it off carefully and as completely as I can.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
    Believe it or not, even mayonnaise is recommended by some as a wood polish. But the experts say "Hold the mayo!" There's an old adage in the furniture industry that you should never try to fix your furniture with food

    From Bob Kennedy (who's apparently a famous furniture guru) comes this detail: "Since oils penetrate the wood fibers, using oil products on hard finishes such as lacquer can cause damage by seeping through microscopic finish cracks and staining the wood underneath. Oil products also amplify scratches and gouges. In extreme cases where a piece has been routinely saturated with a lightweight, non-drying oil, it can even cause swelling of the substrate."

    Putting the oilve oil on nitro (which is a lacquer) is probably what did in that 175. I'd bet that it was applied over a checked finish in an effort to "fix" it, and that made the problem worse and worse as it got under the resin layer. Remember that show cars and hot rods are finished with nitrocellulose and are routinely waxed with a compound of oils and waxes. The two differences between them and guitars are that their finishes are completely intact (i.e. without crazing etc) and that the material under them is metal rather than wood - so oils will not penetrate or cause any dimensional change in the finished surface.

    I've used nothing but a slightly damp soft cloth (cotton for many years, now good microfiber) followed by a clean, dry one. I do use a bit of pure mineral oil on my fingerboards no more often than yearly, and I wipe it off carefully and as completely as I can.

    Well said!

  11. #10

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    Don’t know what all the fuss is about, I’ve been applying olive oil to my guitars for years.

    I am glad I never used this oil on my guitars like someone recommended years ago-00ad9d8a-19a0-4364-a752-06e2fb84fe6b-jpeg

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Don’t know what all the fuss is about, I’ve been applying olive oil to my guitars for years.
    Of course - it’s the dressing of choice for that vintage fetacaster!

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
    Of course - it’s the dressing of choice for that vintage fetacaster!
    Also a good fix for 60 cycle hummus.

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by gggguitar
    Also a good fix for 60 cycle hummus.
    I recommend it with a side of fret dressing.

    I am glad I never used this oil on my guitars like someone recommended years ago-beer_drinking-gif

  15. #14

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    Goes well with tuner steak.

  16. #15

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    Need better puns.

    I don't think oil is a good idea on any finished surface. Mineral oil is fine on fretboards, used sparingly, but I would be careful to keep it off the finished part of the neck. If the finish is completely intact, it shouldn't be a problem, but if there are checks it can seep into the cracks and then it is a problem. An oil finish such as Tru-Oil is fine, and I like it a lot, but over bare wood, never over nitro or poly. The problem with olive oil is that it's a vegetable oil, and all vegetable oils go rancid over time when exposed to air. If you're going to use oil, use mineral oil, not any type of vegetable oil. At least that's my opinion, and like everyone else, I have one.

  17. #16

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    I rarely oil my boards unless they really need it. Usually natural oils from my fingers are enough.

  18. #17

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    I seldom oil mine either, unless it's one that has been sitting for months without being played and has dried out. I have a few that don't get played. Mostly I just let the FastFret do the job. Enough transfers from the strings to the fretboard to keep it oiled enough. But even if the fretboard is really dry and needs oil, I don't use vegetable oil.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    don't use vegetable oil.
    Note that most of what we call vegetable oils are in fact fruit (or rather, seed) oils ... and fruit oil is apparently what you need to use for fretboards


  20. #19

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    Oils sold as 'lemon oil' are mostly mineral oil, d-limonene added. D-limonene is a chemical distilled from the peel of citrus fruit, mostly from oranges because they contain more than other citrus, and the peel is readily available as a by-product of orange juice. I can't find a list of ingredients for the Dunlop product posted, but I would be surprised if mineral oil wasn't the first on the list, usually 90+%, and I would expect d-limonene to be one of them, although dimethicone is often more abundant in these products. D-limonene, although produced from citrus fruit peel, isn't actually the full oil, just one of the many chemicals in the oil, and it doesn't go rancid. I agree that most 'vegetable' oil is pressed from seeds, but it's vegetable as opposed to animal or mineral.

  21. #20

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    I put linseed on the neck and use furniture polish on the rest. No prob.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    Oils sold as 'lemon oil' are mostly mineral oil, d-limonene added. D-limonene is a chemical distilled from the peel of citrus fruit, mostly from oranges because they contain more than other citrus, and the peel is readily available as a by-product of orange juice. I can't find a list of ingredients for the Dunlop product posted, but I would be surprised if mineral oil wasn't the first on the list, usually 90+%, and I would expect d-limonene to be one of them, although dimethicone is often more abundant in these products. D-limonene, although produced from citrus fruit peel, isn't actually the full oil, just one of the many chemicals in the oil, and it doesn't go rancid. I agree that most 'vegetable' oil is pressed from seeds, but it's vegetable as opposed to animal or mineral.
    I used to rub orange peels on my FBs. Smelled nice, worked well, bypassed all the chemistry.

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    I used to rub orange peels on my FBs. Smelled nice, worked well, bypassed all the chemistry.
    Heh, I hope you use non-treated oranges in that case

    I used to know a sackbut player who'd show up at rehearsals with an orange in the bell of his (vintage) instrument. When questioned he'd say it explained his sweet tone

  24. #23

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    I've used bore oil (sparingly), which you can find anywhere they still sell wooden clarinets. I have heard lemon oil will eat through nitro-cellulose, so I've never used it.