Fret board cleaners

[eligilam]

So what would be best to clean a laquered fretboard (such as Rickenbackers have)?  Still use lemon oil or something else?  Thanks...

[elwoodblue]

I would bet the Alembic polish would work well for a laquered board. With good buffing action it has a silky and clean feel (no sticky residue).
 Lemon oil wouldn't be absorbed so I wouldn't use that as the strings would pick up the residual oil.
  I'm guessing any polish that you like for a finished body would be a candidate as long as it didn't have any cutting agent (abrasives).

[tomhug]

There used to be a pure lemon oil called Parkers. I bought a huge bottle back in the '80's and I am down to the last 1/2 inch. I've been trying to find a source for this for years. It's pure and  
I've used it on all my basses and guitars. Anyone aware that this can be purchased anywhere?

[David Houck]

This may be the company that is the Parker's you're looking for.  If so, they apparently no longer sell pure lemon oil.

[jeffbass4]

I wanted to add another option. A friend of mine who is a guitar tech for several big bands turned me on to a fret and fretboard cleaner called Gorgomyte. You can find it at Guitar Centers. It is a treated cloth that you cut up into small squares. I watched him use this and it was amazing! It did a great job cleaning and conditioning the fretboard,cleaning the frets and the brass hardware and it is really quick and easy. Afterwards I bought some and went over all my basses. I highly recommend this as my bass necks look like new again. He told me this is the product of choice for a lot of guitar techs these days.

[chuckc]

Has anyone been using extra virgin olive oil? I seem to recall a post on here that referenced using it instead of lemon oil but it's been a while.

[u14steelgtr]

For cleaning fret boards I use a ScotchBrite pad. These pads will remove all the dust/crud that attaches itself to the oils there-on, and it will polish the frets nicely (even on ancient corroded frets).  
 
I can not vouch for Olive oil but I can tellyou that it can go rancid so I have NEVER been tempted to experiment with it.

[keith_h]

Paul TBO used olive oil on his fret boards as I recall. I also remember him saying it worked well in salad dressings. :-)
 
Keith

[tomhug]

I did some more research. Apparently the company that made the Parkers was sold and is out of business. Too bad.
 
If anyone finds unused stock of this polish, I recommend it highly.
 


 
 
The companies address is/was C.W. Parker, 1415 - 2nd Avenue, Des Moines Iowa 50314
 
(Message edited by TomHug on January 02, 2010)

[poor_nigel]

I have been using Pure Lemon Oil for a long time.  I buy it off the internet at what ever the lowest price is at the time I need more.  The last bottle I bought is by Boyajian and I believe I paid $11 for a five ounce bottle and shipping was about $3.00.  The bottle I bought three years ago was about $6.  This is 100% lemon oil used in cooking.  However, I do not keep it in the fridge and it does not spoil or go rancid.  As far as logic goes, 100% lemon oil is about as pure of lemon oil as one can get?  A rose by any other name, perhaps?  As for using other things to treat my fretboards twice a year, I like the results I get from lemon oil, so to each their own.

[chalieholmes]

I started using Citrus Limonum (Pure Essential oil)From the HEalth Food Store for like 5.00

[xlrogue6]

While lemon oil can soften up fingerboard crud, on instruments with heavy deposits I usually use it just to condition the fingerboard after cleaning the gunk off with naptha and a white Scotchbrite pad.  The naptha will cut the crud much faster and more effectively than the lemon oil--just be sure to wipe the board thoroughly before applying the lemon oil.  BTW, Dunlop sells lemon oil ( www.jimdunlop.com/index.php?page=products/pip&id=222 ) in a bottle with an applicator that I've been happy with.  If your local shop doesn't carry it (and I suspect most of them don't!), Dunlop sells direct, at least for US customers.

[alembickoa]

Dr. Ducks Ax Wax...works on everything. Been using it for years.