Maintenance for oiled necks?

[Dave L]

Hi guys, I recently got my first guitar with an oiled maple neck and fretboard and I´m not really up to speed on how to clean and maintain it. Does anyone have any tips or can point me to some good info? Thanks!

 

[Racerxrated]

Pretty sure steel wool #0000 is all you need to maintain them. Your natural oils on your hands take care of the back of the neck and fretboard. I use that steel wool to take dirt/grime off the back of the neck and fretboard, and since your hands will oil the neck and fretboard over time no need to do anything else.

 

[Dave L]

Right! I saw some guys adding more oil from time to time, but maybe that isn´t necessary then.

 

[Racerxrated]

Right! I saw some guys adding more oil from time to time, but maybe that isn´t necessary then.

I remember asking Curt(Chubtone) about this years ago, and he gave me this info. He's been a Charvel dealer/fan for years, and now is building his own line of USA guitars that are similar to Charvel USA Customs so I trust his judgement!

 

[cardinal]

Yeah apparently if you just play it, there isn't an issue. Warwick basses typically have unfinished/oiled necks and bodies that have just a wax finish. You need to reapply the wax regularly to protect the wood against humidity changes, etc. But Warwick says not to put the wax on the neck but instead to just play it and let your skin oils protect it. I suppose maybe you could do away with waxing the body of you grope it a bunch.

 

[Dave L]

Right! I saw some guys adding more oil from time to time, but maybe that isn´t necessary then.

I remember asking Curt(Chubtone) about this years ago, and he gave me this info. He's been a Charvel dealer/fan for years, and now is building his own line of USA guitars that are similar to Charvel USA Customs so I trust his judgement!

Curt, that´s a name from way back, I remember him from the old JCF board and he knows his stuff for sure. But cool, then I´ll just pop out the wool once in a while and give it a slight rub

 

[dirtyfunkg]

I built an oil finished guitar. One thing to keep in mind: if you sweat a lot, that may offset the benefits of the skin oil.

I think it's up to you to assess how the wood is doing. I keep the same oil I used for finishing (Tru-Oil gunstock finish) for whenever I need to re-apply.

As for cleaning, I use mineral spirits. Naptha works also. If there are rough spots, I'd recommend scotch brite over steel wool, since the steel shavings can themselves be very tough to clean up (and are magnetic so may stick to your pickups or hardware if they get near them!).

Depending on the oil used for the guitar, you can likely apply more of the same finishing oil if the finish is starting to wear.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

tung oil, gun stock oil or boiled linseed oil. I do a light application every coupe of years on mine but I don't let them dry out. Depending on the climate and you natural oils you may need ore, less or not much at all

 

[Anonymous]

I never do anything to mine and they seem to be fine...

 

[Dave L]

I just thought I´d check back in after I´d gone over it with some wool, and first we have a work in progress:



... and the whole thing turned out like new!



There was a lot more flame to the fretboard than I had imagined with all that gunk on there, which was a pleasant surprise.

 

[MetalHeadMike]

I have a Carvin with a tung oiled walnut neck and haven't cleaned it/oiled since I got it going on 4 years ago. Still looks great.

 

[Racerxrated]

I just thought I´d check back in after I´d gone over it with some wool, and first we have a work in progress:



... and the whole thing turned out like new!



There was a lot more flame to the fretboard than I had imagined with all that gunk on there, which was a pleasant surprise.

Looks great!