A question to gigging guitarists

kmanick

kmanick

Well-known member
my band does the majority of our gigging from March to October. I played one this weekend and Used my latest acquisition (Jackson Fusion Pro)
Gig went great but I noticed something with my Jacksons.
I used to gig my USA SL-1 a lot and I noticed this on Friday as well, ebony boards get really sticky feeling when it's hot.
I 've never noticed with my maple boards or even really my rosewood boards, but definitely feel it with my ebony boards.
Any one else ever notice this? I found it very annoying
I may have to retire my Jacksons from summer gigs and stick with my Charvels and Ibbys when it's really hot out
 
Can’t say I have, my JEM was my main gigging guitar for about 20 years, if anything the fingerboard would feel slick once I got sweaty.

I’m curious, is it a really tight grain on that Jackson? Between my JEM/Solar/Edwards and my Spector, you’d think the Spector were rosewood because the grain isn’t nearly as tight as the other 3 guitars with ebony boards, which you nearly need a magnifying glass to see the grain.
 
Ebony can be very prone to both drying and sweating with humidity changes. It's most likely just releasing moisture. The only way I would be overly concerned is if you begin to see splitting in the wood or it drastically receeding.
 
I don' think I've ever noticed an ebony fretboard getting sticky, and I sweat copiously when I perform.

Perhaps your fretboards were treated or over-oiled at some point?
People have been known to use conditioners which form a coating, like linseed oil or even Danish oil - which is almost like varnish.
I can imagine such a coating becoming tacky in Summer heat.

You might try a thorough cleaning with naphtha, to make sure anything on the surface is completely removed.

Ebony doesn't need oiling. (Neither does rosewood, really...)
I treat rosewood boards once or maybe twice a year with mineral oil, just to keep them looking glossy.
Ebony boards I only do every two to three years, if that.

As mentioned already, ebony does need to be kept well humidified; it absolutely will shrink if it gets too dry.
I had to refret a Guild Mk IV that had languished in storage for too long.
 
kmanick said:
my band does the majority of our gigging from March to October. I played one this weekend and Used my latest acquisition (Jackson Fusion Pro)
Gig went great but I noticed something with my Jacksons.
I used to gig my USA SL-1 a lot and I noticed this on Friday as well, ebony boards get really sticky feeling when it's hot.
I 've never noticed with my maple boards or even really my rosewood boards, but definitely feel it with my ebony boards.
Any one else ever notice this? I found it very annoying
I may have to retire my Jacksons from summer gigs and stick with my Charvels and Ibbys when it's really hot out
Click to expand...
Especially in high humidity
 
It's never happened to me, and I've done a large amount of outside gigs

It's probably either the wood itself, or the conditioner, danish oil, mineral oil, whatever you use on your fretboard reacting to heat and humidity

Unless it's cracking or splitting I wouldnt worry about it? Kind of odd though, nothing like that has ever happened to me with my ebony boards
 
kmanick said:
I think it was what I treated it with when I first go it. I usually use Guitar honey which I've never had an issue with but I grabbed a bottle of the "Fender Custom Shop Fingerboard remedy" and gave it a try, either I put too much on (which I don't think so, but I may have) or this stuff just didn't react too well under heat.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B0AQHVA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Click to expand...
Could've easily been something in there that gummed up when it got hot.

I usually just cut some murphys oil soap with a whole bunch of water in a spray bottle, sptray and wipe it clean. Never had any problems for a couple years of real hot gigs on an ebony board. 100+ degrees and it's cheap cause you barely need any murphys to whip up a small spray bottle full and all you need is two or three squirts.
 
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