Amazing fretboard oil

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by thepacifist2013, Aug 9, 2008.

  1. thepacifist2013

    thepacifist2013 V.I.P Member

    For all you people having dried up fretboards, the Fret Doctor is an amazing product as I just found out.

    https://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm

    This is a completely non-toxic non-chemical based formula based on a blend of exotic oils. For more details refer to the product page.

    I used it on my guitar fretboard, and it virtually turned into a new guitar. The neck plays awesome, it's smooth dark and very fast now. It has returned back the original lustre of the wood. I could actually see the wood soaking up the oil.

    I have used around 3-4 brands of lemon oil, and they invariably contain petroleum distillates which are not good for the guitar. Over time, they would develop a film on the surface, loosen the frets, and add to the general grime on the guitar. Other products are worse off.

    I ordered the large bottle and its ~$25 including shipping to India. I recieved the product within 10 days if shipping. From the looks of it, one bottle would last me a lifetime, and I'm not exaggerating. I did not use more than 8-10 drops, and coated my guitar twice ! The first time the board was so thirsty it drank all of it. :)

    Some of you would know your fretboard is dry, and some of you wouldn't. Let me assure you, without sounding like a salesman for this product, that Fret Doctor is the panacea for most, if not all, issues you are having with your guitar. Do try it out, it's definitely worth it.
     
  2. redbaron

    redbaron New Member

    hey dude wat type of shipping did u choose???
    and ya did the indian post guy deliver it to u??
     
  3. thepacifist2013

    thepacifist2013 V.I.P Member

    I used the basic shipping that is offered on that site.
    By the way, the guy is quite cool, you can even email him and he will definitely reply. Just a remark on his service, he mailed me the stuff even before he recieved my payment. Ed Boyle is his name.
    I can attest to the quality of the product and the service offered by this guy.

    Regarding mail, I had that in my hands exactly 9 days after he posted it from US. I cannot take guarantee of mail, but I assume US-India mail service is good enough. The stuff that he makes is top-notch though. Google for "fret doctor" and you will not see one bad comment.
     
  4. nukeu666

    nukeu666 New Member

    noobq: if my fretboard is dry...how will that affect playing? assuming no physical damage like splintered boards, popped out frets etc ?
     
  5. thepacifist2013

    thepacifist2013 V.I.P Member

    Several aspects will be affected
    a) Playability
    - The guitar neck becomes slow when it's not smooth and oiled properly.
    - I've also found out that issues which I was attributing to misaligned frets on my guitar were actually due to a dry fretboard.
    - Your guitar is smoother while bending.
    b) Longevity
    - Woods on most of the guitars are kiln-dried rather than natural air-dried. This process is faster and allowed guitar manufacturers to roll out more guitars a day. However, this dried out the wood a lot. The wood structure is devoid of the natural moistness that it SHOULD have.
    Over time, the wood starts distorting (shrkinking) leading to loss of playability(as mentioned above), frets may become loose, the guitar will not stay in tune etc etc.

    Basically what this porduct does is to restore the internal structure of the wood to its original state, with the oil filling the space where there was water (or atleast thats what I think). Hence, the cellular structure of the wood doesnt collpase over time.

    Also, one of the reasons for "popped out" frets is actually a dry fretboard.

    It will be enlightening if you visit the webpage and see for yourself wat it does to wood. There are quite a few pics.

    A side effect is that since it restores the wood to its normal lustre, the board appears to darken in some cases. Which looks very nice.....

    However, this product will do no good on fretboards that have been covered in some sirt of film during manufacture process (like strat necks) or by abusing the guitar with such products that lead to development of film. The only solution is to scrape the fingerboard and then apply this oil.

    To cut a long story short, this will improve the playability and longevity of the guitar to a large extent, as I have already experienced (not the longevity part, the playability part).
     
  6. nukeu666

    nukeu666 New Member

    ive read this before but cant understand how does the neck make you slow? speed depends on how fast you can change your fingers and pick right?
    or by slow do you mean friction on the neck increases?
    i imagine playing on a neck made of ice or wood or plastic should all the the same?
     
  7. thepacifist2013

    thepacifist2013 V.I.P Member

    Just purchase a bottle of Lemon oil from some guitar shop and apply it to your guitar. You'll understand what I mean by fast necks :)
    Unless you've seen the difference yourself, you won't understand. A lot of it is indeed in the fingers and the strums and all, but a lot of it is also on how fast the neck plays.
     
  8. ambush

    ambush _RASTA_man_

    It wouldnt matter if you have jumbo frets..cause your fingers never comes in contact with the fingerboard.

    Does lemon oil help in longevity?
     
  9. highwalker

    highwalker New Member

    Exactly a non-noob Q maybe a just over noob Q :)

    How does it matter that the fretboard is oiled? Its the neck and the body which helps the sustain of the strings...
     
  10. thepacifist2013

    thepacifist2013 V.I.P Member

    lol, so many questions....sorry guys I don;t have the time to answer your quesitons in detail. I'll try though...

    a) Yes lemon oil helps in wood longevity. Any oil which helps support the structure of the wood help in longevity.
    b) The need for fingerboard oiling is even more emphasized when you have jumbo frets. It's because the base of the fret, embedded in the board (there's a name for this part of the fret I can't remember) shears and distorts the wood even more than normal frets.
    And yes, if not your fingers, fretted strings would definitely come in contact with the board. The only case where your fingers have the least contact with a fingerboard are scalloped fretboards aka Yngwie Malmsteen.

    "How does it matter that the fretboard is oiled? Its the neck and the body which helps the sustain of the strings..."
    In context of sustain, how is the neck and fretboard different? :)
    btw, the sustain comes from a lot many things apart from the neck and body.

    Also people, there are lot of these things which I still don't understand. What I do understand is that I've used the product and am pretty happy with it. If you have questions, they are best directed towards the maker of the product himself.
     

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