dry fretboard?

[IronFlippy]

When I put a new set of strings on my guitar, they're good for about a week to 2 weeks and then they get crud all over them. It looks like rust, but it can be wiped mostly clean with an oiled rag (I use Dr. Duck's AxWax , which doesn't actually contain any wax). Is this natural? Is the sweat from my hands damaging the strings? I wipe the strings after I play (most of the time) and I play for about an hour daily. My fretboard looks kind of dry, but this AxWax says it's good to "prevent fret oxidation". It's really a turn off to pick up the guitar and have what seems like rusted strings after only a week and a half. The guitar is an old Casio MIDI guitar from the mid 80s (MG-510), and I believe it's a rosewood fretboard, but it might be ebony, I can't tell.

 

[iratecaller666]

Hey

Next time you slap on some fresh strings, you could try cleaning the fretboard with a sponge and some dish soap ... to get rid of that axwax. There may be a film on there. You may need to use a toothbrush. Get rid of all of it.

Loose the axe wax. 2 weeks isn't normal. Even if a car mechanic didn't wash his hands before playing the guitar, it shouldn't be that bad after a measly 2 weeks. (ok maybe it could .. but you know what I mean)

If you find things too dry, you can moisturize your hands a few hours before playing, then after your done playing, wipe the strings and really get in there.

Maple necks have varnish on them to make them "slippery" and to preserve the fretboard. They are dry however.

Rosewood finger boards tend to be dry. All my guitars are bone dry and work perfectly.

The only need for a bit of moisture is to prevent the "squeel" that occurs when you change finger positions. Most people fix the hands instead of the fretboard. (One famous guitar player puts a type of cheese on his strings before playing. hehe. no joke.) The solution to squeel, most often than not is to alter your playing style and actually lift the fingers away from the fretboard when sliding to a new position.

After loosing the axe wax and playing dry for a few weeks, you can slowly begin to use a bit of oil on the strings, but don't use the oil every time.

As far as oxidation goes, you can scrub the frets with a sponge and ensure that the guitar is properly stored. If your particular guitar is destined to have oxidized frets, then perhaps the guitar is destined to be replaced. (eventually).

If you love the guitar, then perhaps a fret job is in order.

Tristan

 

[espskully]

I can grunge up a brand new set of strings after 1 set. They go dead and get black crud on them. Some people's hands produce more oil/sweat. Plus I play really hard. 2 weeks is a long time for strings to last, for me anyway.

 

[iratecaller666]

hehehe

Ok I stand corrected.

espskully's in the same boat.

Maybe for the sake of saving money then, IronFlippy, maybe you could consider cleaning the strings with a good cloth every day.

Like wrap the cloth around the string and squeeze really hard, and run up and down the neck a few time.


Tristan

 

[Buck62]

Rosewood finger boards tend to be dry.

All my guitars are bone dry and work perfectly.

I have to take exception to that assertion.

A "dry" rosewood fingerboard shrinks to the point where the frets are literally sticking out the side and cutting into your hands when you play. When it's truly dry, it shrinks.

A friend of mine had a MIM Strat with this problem. The frets were protruding to the point that they would cut your hands and the neck was bowed. He left the guitar sitting in his basement, near his gas furnace, for 3 or 4 years. That's why it dried out really bad.

He doesn't know much about guitars and asked if I could somehow "fix it" for him. I put his Strat on a guitar stand in my bathroom and ran the shower and faucet full blast on their hottest settings, creating a room full of thick steam. After an hour in the steam I took it out and wiped it all down. The result was that the fretboard re-hydrated to the point where the frets no longer protruded and the neck became perfectly straight. So I don't think a dry fretboard is the problem. If it was, his hands would be scratched up and/or bleeding from protruding frets.

 

[iratecaller666]

heheh

Looks like I stand corrected again.

I did assume that the guitar wouldn't be abused like sitting it near a furnace!

My fingerboards are totally dry in terms of "I don't put anything on them", but they're in very good shape, and my guitars are stored in decent locals.

About the re-hydration trick ... hilarious, but it did the job. You learn things everyday!!!

Tristan

 

[SteveK]

Rosewood oil

This is the best thing you could do:
http://www.herballoveshop.com/product.asp?PID=7258

Adding back the oils that have evaporated makes a difference. I have 3 guitars with solid rosewood necks, and a number with flamed brazilian rosewood boards. The bottle I bought 2 years ago is still 90% full. It doesn't take a lot to return the moisture/feel. HIGHLY recommended! This is very different from the commercial "lemon oil" which is mostly Naptha...AKA lighter fluid!

 

[mishagolin]

i have 3 guitars with rosewood and 1 with ebony on the fretboards. i usually clean mine with the rough edge of a dish sponge and soap. soap however, removes the oils from the fretboard and leaves it dry. so, i rehydrate the fretboard with lemon oil. its cheap stuff but it works great. this is all what my local luthier told me to do.

as far as your hands. some people just have oily fingers, i do. so wash your hands often and wipe your fretboard after you play.

my strings usually don't last longer than 2-3 weeks for me. i've just come to accept it.

 

[Light]

. . . .
Rosewood finger boards tend to be dry. All my guitars are bone dry and work perfectly.


. . . . .

Not to be an ass, but when you have no clue what you are talking about, you should really keep your mouth shut. Your "advice" is awful.


First of all, a dry guitar is a VERY unhappy guitar. Guitars need humidity, or the wood will shrink. Fret ends will start to poke out, wood will crack, and necks will twist or even warp.

Second, two weeks IS on the short side of string life, but it is far from being out of the ordinary. I have friends who need to change strings every day or two. Some peoples biology is just more corrosive than others. It has nothing to do with hygiene, and everything to do with biology. If you have that issue, you have that issue. For some people, coated strings like the Elixirs or the D'Addario EXPs are the answer. For others, even those are not enough. It does, of course, help to wipe down your guitars when you are done playing, and some people like the various string "lubricants." Others, like myself, have no such problem. I can easily go a month on a set of strings these days. It was different when I was a teenager. Back then I needed to change strings on a much more regular basis (I usually did it once a week), but my biology seems to have calmed down since then.

As for the fingerboard crud, OOOO steel wool will get rid of it, and then some lemon oil (use good stuff, the only thing I KNOW I can recommend is Kyser Lem-Oil) to re-moisturize the fingerboard. You probably shouldn't have to do this more than once every 6 months or so, though some people need to do it more often. Once a month will not hurt your guitar, though only do it if you need to.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Light]

Oh, and soap and water have NO business near a guitars unfinished fingerboard. It will work its way in and will cause major damage to the fingerboard, including swelling, warping, and (potentially) damaging glue joints.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Dani Pace]

Body chemestry makes a huge difference in how fast strings corrode. My sweat is very acidic (I can't wear a wristwatch) and for me a few days is the life of a set of strings, any strings, even coated ones. So I have to change strings more frequently than most players but at least I don't have dead strings.
As for the dry fretboard, a dry fretboard is an unhappy fretboard. Especially rosewood as it is 1, unfinished; 2, open grain; and 3, very porous; these 3 factors cause it to dry out, shrink, crack, become brittle, splinter and simply feel rough and slow down your playing. Anyone who would clean a fretboard with dish washing soap is asking for problems, don't do it.
I've been playing and repairing guitars longer than a lot of people on this forum and over the years I've seen a lot of damage done by people who thought they knew what they were doing.
Bad advice is worse than no advice at all.

 

[noisedude]

Silvo is very good for getting the crap off the board and shining the frets up a bit. We use almond oil rather than lemon in the shop and the boards come up really nice. Because of time constraints we don't tend to leave the oil for ages to soak in, but if you give it five minutes the benefits last longer than if you just rub it straight back off.

 

[-=¤willhaven¤=-]

Body chemestry makes a huge difference in how fast strings corrode. My sweat is very acidic (I can't wear a wristwatch) and for me a few days is the life of a set of strings, any strings, even coated ones. So I have to change strings more frequently than most players but at least I don't have dead strings.
As for the dry fretboard, a dry fretboard is an unhappy fretboard. Especially rosewood as it is 1, unfinished; 2, open grain; and 3, very porous; these 3 factors cause it to dry out, shrink, crack, become brittle, splinter and simply feel rough and slow down your playing. Anyone who would clean a fretboard with dish washing soap is asking for problems, don't do it.
I've been playing and repairing guitars longer than a lot of people on this forum and over the years I've seen a lot of damage done by people who thought they knew what they were doing.
Bad advice is worse than no advice at all.

My best friend back home plays bass and has very acidic body sweat and oils too. Every time he plays my guitar, my strings die. It's usually worse for him, however, because bass strings are expensive, he plays with his fingers, and he plays with steels. HA!

I guess washing your hands with soap before playing would help the problem a bit. I always tell myself I'm going to but I never do.

As for cleaning fretboards, I usually just use a white cotton cloth and a lot of elbow grease to clean up. If you change strings, remove one string at a time and clean under that particular string. Clean between the frets and get all the shit off of the fret itself. I hardly ever have to use anything other than that to keep things clean.

Then again, my only wooden fretboard is ebony, so it is really tight grain and all the shit slides off easily. My other guitars are Parkers and have carbon fiber fretboards I believe. Easy to clean.