Oiling fingerboards (again)

[grateful]

I've gone through the FAQs and haven't found the answer to this.  Should one oil the edges of the fingerboard or just the top?  Is the finish on the rest of the instrument impervious to lemon oil?
 
Mark
 
(Message edited by grateful on May 11, 2006)

[bsee]

I would oil all of the exposed ebony.  The purpose of the process is to restore the natural oils to the unfinished fretboard that has a tendency to dry out over time.  
 
You use a very small amount of oil to begin with, so it isn't likely to harm anything at all that it gets onto.  I would let it sit for 15 minutes or more after application and then wipe down the sides of the neck with a soft cloth to pick up any that didn't soak in, or that ended up on a finished part of the neck.
 
-bob

[kungfusheriff]

Good advice you got from Bob; the only thing I'd add would be to rub the oil into the wood with a fingertip before letting the instrument soak it in and then daub excess oil off the fingerboard with a paper towel or soft cotton cloth before re-stringing and polishing. Oil kills roundwounds.
Poly finishes are impervious to pretty much everything except C&W belt buckles, and Alembic fingerboards seem to be thin enough so that an application of oil onto the playing surface always seemed enough to do the job.

[bsee]

Yeah, the oil doesn't soak into fret wire or inlay materials, so a wipe is a good idea in any case.  I do the whole board in about six drops of lemon oil, so there isn't much excess at all.  Admittedly, it's a narrowed short scale neck, but there's nothing to be gained from over-oiling.
 
-bob

[lbpesq]

One other suggestion:  After oiling I always put the old strings back on for a few days, never a new set of strings.  Invariably some of the oil  comes off on the strings for a couple of days or so.  Mine actually seem to blacken where I finger.  I seem to remember Mica suggesting leaving the old strings on in an earlier lemon oil discussion.  It seems to work for me.
 
Bill, tgo

[grateful]

Thanks for that you guys.
 
Edges and all it is.
 
Mark

[David Houck]

I'm not certain, but I believe it is actually against the law to play an Alembic while wearing a C&W belt buckle unless you can prove that your strap is adjusted to keep the instrument above the offending buckle or that you always cover the buckle with a polishing cloth.  But again, I'm not certain; perhaps Bill knows for sure.

[lbpesq]

Draw-string hemp pants work best.
 
Bill, tgo

[David Houck]

Thanks for the suggestion Bill; I'll have to try a pair!

[dfung60]

This is only tangentially related to where this thread is going, but in Terminal A at the San Jose Airport, they security folks made a short video that you watch while waiting in the security screening line.  It tells you about all the things that you can't bring on the plane, that you need to have your laptop computer out separately, and that it might help to remove your shoes for screening.  
 
But the best part of the video is that they tell you to remove metal objects that you are wearing before going through the metal detector.  To illustrate, they have a totally normal looking California guy wearing the BIGGEST cowboy belt buckle I've ever seen.  I mean, this thing is the size of a license plate.  
 
I went through a period where it seemed I was picking up and dropping off people at the airport quite frequently.  I brought my 5-year old son along once and showed him the video which got him laughing as did the people near us in line.