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Fret Doctor (fretboard oil)

cesjr02

New member
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
455
rick66 said:
does anyone know if the formby's lemon oil treatment contains anything that would be harmful to my fretboard? i ordered some of the fret doctor oil and was curious if i had to clean my board with the other formby's cleaner before using the fret doctor stuff. (i looked at the ingredients but all it says is a blend of lemon oil and other penetrating oil.) thanks.


I'm not familiar with Formby's lemon oil. Just make sure it doesn't contain petroleum distillates. Petroleum distillates will eventually loosen any glue joints. Also make sure the lemon oil doesn't come into contact with your strings.
 

jon9

Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2005
Messages
245
Hey Ed. Do you sell your product in any stores in the South Jersey Area?
 

edboyle

New member
Joined
Dec 20, 2002
Messages
30
Only direct. Not enough profit on the stuff. I suppose I could mark it up, but then guitarists would beef about that. The web page is getting too long, particularly for those with dial up, but it has a lot of information. I still continue to see, "I use dog snot; works fine for me." It's pretty frustrating for me. I am just trying to protect fine guitars from their owners who love them too much and continue to recirculate a lot of hearsay.

It isn't about "darkening my board" at all. It is about preserving the wood in the same state it was in when the instrument was new, preventing shrinking, splitting, warping, cracking, etc., especailly Ebony. I have a letter from a guy who bought an Ebony clarinet, treated it with FD and had its value go up tenfold. Ebony will definitely crack some day and preservation is crucial! "I use Mayonnaise..." Most boards will never have a problem if the wood was dried properly in the first place. Unfortunately, some will. It is insurance, no more, no less.

Regarding fretboard darkening: drive at night and the road looks grey. Let it rain, and the road looks black. It is a matter of refraction of light. Put anything wet or shiny on a surface and it will usually appear darker. You could darken your board with Shinola if that's all you want, and someone out there probably does. The problem is that waxes, mineral oils, varnishes lie on the surface and prevent anything really useful from getting into the wood itself in the future. Stuff that contains silicone attacks the cellulose fibers themselves. Varnishes are forever. The only way to open up the surface is sanding it or stripping it. Fortunately, most of this crap can be removed with a good cleaner.That's on the page, too, if people would take the time to read it all.

Some stuff won't really do any harm, but doesn't really do anything. e.g.: Rosewood oil on rosewood seems to make sense. The Rosewood oil comes from a fast growing evergreen. The Rose wood itself comes from a very slow growing tree, They come from two different countries. It smells nice and is used in aromatherapy, whatever that is. Probably doesn't do any harm. I don't know if it does any good. Some vegetable oils aren't too bad, like Olive oil, but they contain no preservatives and can become rancid, eventually getting kind of schmutzy, but doing no real harm. Others, like Almond or Walnut oils aren't too bad if they don't contain any nasty solvents. If the label says "Combustible," don't use it! God only knows what's in "Lemon oil." Most of them are only lemon scented mineral oil. Clean it off and begin again.

A lot of you guys know that I never looked for this business. You guys found me. All I did was put it up larger bottles because the small ones were driving me nuts with orders for 8 - 10. Since then, all I have been trying to do is provide a little education from time to time. That doesn't work either. One of the next posts will say, "I use condom lubricant, works for me!" or "I use ear wax, works for me!" I didn't make those examples up. The list would be comical, if very valuable guitars weren't getting all screwed up, some permanently. At least the guy's LP isn't going to get pregnant.

I don't like to post stuff on the forums because I think it could turn some people off. I let users sell it for me, plus I don't really have the time. If I had to count on selling fretboard oil for survival, my family would be eating Alpo. "I use bacon fat, but it has to be Canadian!" Jeez! Where does it come from?

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

Ed
 
Last edited:

bluesjuke

Active member
Joined
Feb 6, 2005
Messages
7,007
Boy Ed those photo's on the Duncan forum show the effect on the fret board very nicely.

Any of you that are reading these posts & have not ordered any yet might wasnt to see the photos in the link.
 

cesjr02

New member
Joined
Dec 7, 2004
Messages
455
The product sells itself Ed. Word of mouth and forums like these. I'd personally recommend Fret Doctor and nothing else. But as you pointed out, most guitarists can be pretty "dead set" on what they use. I was the same way until I took a recommendation from a few guys on the LPF and realized I originally didn't know shit about Fret Board oils. Anyway it’s too bad selling Fret Doctor can't be more profitable, maybe someday?
 

fjminor

Active member
Joined
Apr 28, 2005
Messages
3,623
Hi Ed,

Sorry I have not had the chance to work on my guitars and give them a Fret Doctor treatment, but I had the chance tonight to treat the neck on my 59 Les Paul Jr DC. The Fretboard was in need of a good cleaning. Started with 0000 Steel Wool, then Formby's wood cleaner , then Fret Doctor. The fretboard was pretty nasty. The steel wool and cleaner got rid of the nasty grime. Fret Doctor made the brazilian rosewood come to life and showed the nice red streaks. Great Product Ed. I am so glad I found this stuff - thanks to Ed Boyle, the LPF and especially BurstMeUp for a thread I read in which he discusses using this product....

(sorry for the big pics, but it was the only way to get the fretboard to show)

Before:
BeforeFretDrLesPaulJrDC.jpg


820ecb76.jpg



After: :applaude :dude: :headbange

WithFretDrLPJrDC_2.jpg


WithFretDrLPJrDC_4.jpg


WithFretDrLPJrDC_3.jpg
 

talpa

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
193
Not sure if Ed is on the board anymore: question re. ebony board (oiling frequency)

Of all the musical hardwoods, IMHO, Ebony has the greatest tendency to crack, and requires oil the most. It is for this reason that fifes are no longer made from this wood, and 98% of the orchestral quality clarinets, oboes, etc. are now made from Grenadilla (Blackwood). If you look at the on-line auctions of old, top-notch clarinets they often have cracks. Edward, I wonder if many "ebony" fretboards are actually made from ebony; they may actually be Grenadilla, at least the more recent ones. If they are, in fact, made from ebony, it is a very hard, dense wood and can be slower to penetrate, requiring repeated applications.

sorry for retread - Ed (anyone) how often should FD be applied to ebony & jatoba fretboards ?

my most played guitars use ebony (LPC) & jatoba (FTM33 Stoneman)
 

corpse

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
4,876
Ed- how do you get rid of that "Photobucket" text that showed up?
I use walrus semen.

Not going to tell you how I get it though...

Love your Fret Doctor. No change in color of my IRW boards after it dries.
 
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