Can dry looking rosewood be "rescued"?

[Philly Q]

Still trying to find a neck for my Strat and (ignoring Warmoth for the moment) I've been looking at Fender necks on eBay.  There seems to be a huge variance in the appearance of rosewood fingerboards.  Some look beautiful and glossy like this:



Others look hideous and dry like this:



Or even this:



The third one is an extreme example, most don't look anywhere near that bad, but those are all American Fender necks.   In general the Deluxes look amazing, the American Standards look good and the Highway Ones look dry - but it doesn't seem to be a simple case of different "grades" of timber, sometimes the colour and grain patterns are very similar but the H1s still look dry.

Now of course some lemon oil or similar would make those dry necks look instantly better, but I'm not really talking about that.  Can anything else be done to "repair" the dry looking wood?  Would simply sanding with finer grades of paper, for example, improve things?  Is there a way to "buff" the bare wood and give it a shine?

Or is it a simple case of "bad looking = bad" and there's nothing to be done?

[_tom_]

I use fret doctor for that, it made my epiphones board look pretty nice, worked quite well on the rosewood tailpiece/bridge on my acoustic as well.

[WezV]

most will polish up a bit more with wire wool and elbow grease.  for the really dry ones i would use an oil that actually sets in the wood like danish oil.  give it a few coats and buff of the excess after 5 minutes, then polish with wire wool after a few days

i dont think its going to be bad just because it lacks some of the natural oils but it might mean a little more care and maintenance

[Philly Q]

Yeah, I use Fret Doctor too, but some of these necks look "rough" as well as just dry.  I imagine the nore upmarket Fenders get a bit of extra work on the fretboards.

Fender says the new American Standards have "the maple or rosewood fingerboard buffed to a high gloss".  It's obvious what that means on the maple ones, but I wonder if the rosewood ones have been treated with something like Danish Oil as Wez described?

[Philly Q]

Just coming back to that Danish Oil point, would the oft-mentioned Birchwood Casey Tru-Oil gun stock finish be suitable for a fretboard?  Would it bring out the colour(s) in the wood and is it easy to clean off the frets?

[WezV]

i probably wouldnt use tru-oil for this as it sits on the wood to a certain degree.  i am sure it would workok but danish oil will better replace the missing oils rather than be an actual finish.  both will clean off the frets quite easily

[Philly Q]

Thanks Wez.  I've just been doing some research on Tru-Oil, I hadn't appreciated the extent to which it's a "finish" rather than an "oil".   I certainly don't want to be putting a finish, as such, on a rosewood fingerboard. 

This stuff is somewhat confusing without actually trying the products concerned!  :?

I suppose what I should really do is have the patience to wait for a neck with a fingerboard that looks fine to begin with  :roll: .   It's going to cost good money, so why try to rescue a problem one. 

[Ratrod]

I always use oil for my fretboards. I don't even know what kind of oil it is. It came with my mahogany recorder (some 25 years ago).

I once had a guitar with a very dry and anemic looking rosewood fretboard. First I oiled it, then I rubbed in a little dark shoe polish and then I gave it the beeswax treatment. Great results.

[Fourth Feline]

I always use pure raw linseed oil ( the un-boiled variety ) on my rosewood fretboards and it works a treat. I picked up the idea from Dan Erwlwine's book ' Make your guitar play great'.

I used to use Lemon oil, but now use the remainder of my lemon oil to clean the fingerboard ( if needed ) - then proceed with the Linseed oil treatment. Lovely dark, supple  finish . It feels like silk under the fingers.  :)

I read a lot on 'The Gear Page' forum about folks using 'bore oil' - as used to keep the inside of woodwind instruments from drying out. This is probably what 'Ratrod' refered to .   Meanwhile, I am more than happy with the raw linseed option.  :D

[WezV]

bore oil is supposed to work well but i havnt got around to trying it myself yet.

[Philly Q]

Thanks Derek.  I've read about the linseed oil option, but there seem to be very conflicting opinions!  Dan Erlewine says to use the un-boiled, raw variety, but other sources say you should only use boiled linseed oil as the raw type can remain slightly tacky and pick up bits of dirt, skin etc - which all sounds rather unpleasant.  I haven't tried either type, but I do have vague memories of linseed oil being used for school cricket bats, and that was horrible sticky muck.

I have some bottles of Fret Doctor which is basically bore oil.  The chap who makes it, Ed Boyle, is a fifer and that's what he originally developed it for.  It's good stuff, much better than lemon oil.

I'm still not entirely sure, though, why you can pick up two "identical" Strats and one will have a nice glossy fingerboard but the other will look dry, when presumably they've both been through exactly the same processes.  It seems to me that the dry piece just isn't as "good", even if it can be improved with oil treatment.

I feel like I'm trying to talk myself into buying a dry rosewood neck when I really should be waiting for a nicer one to turn up.

 

[ToneMonkey]

I'm still not entirely sure, though, why you can pick up two "identical" Strats and one will have a nice glossy fingerboard but the other will look dry, when presumably they've both been through exactly the same processes.  It seems to me that the dry piece just isn't as "good", even if it can be improved with oil treatment.

 

One might have been in Fenders shed for a bit longer than the other.

Remember to clean the figer poo off the board before treating it.

Also, I tried to clean a rosewood board that was very dry (not been touched since the 70's) with a bit of water and wirewool and managed to put fine scratches in it, so if playing with the wire wool and a really dry board, be extra careful.

[Ted]

C'mon Phil do the right thing!!!

[Philly Q]

C'mon Phil do the right thing!!!

 :lol:

I haven't seen that one on the Warmoth site, it must be one of the neck shapes I don't like!

You're right, getting a Warmoth neck is the sensible thing to do, it's actually cheaper (probably) than getting a Fender neck and I know I can get nice timber etc.  The only things putting me off are:

(a) It'll need some work on the frets and I really prefer "rolled" fingerboard edges - so extra cost or do it myself and potentially f*ck it up;

(b) I really want a logo on the headstock but I don't know what to get (if not Fender).  And it'll be a hassle to finish over the logo;

(c) I'd like both Strats to have the same neck shape, otherwise one will become the "favourite" and the other will gather dust.


(I know the answer to (c) is "buy two Warmoth necks" but I don't want to go there!)

[FernandoDuarte]

(a) Don't know how it's, as asked for have straight edge on my neck, not helping here

(b) There is a plenty of guys who makes logos, some does even Fender logos :lol: I would make something different but with the same font, gives the look but shows that is not Fender... If you played Punk or Metal I would say to put a F**ker logo :lol:

(c) You know, don't you?? :D

My feeling of guiltness by making you buy both bodies are falling, so I'll start to bug you about it :lol: