"Sticky" rosewood fretboard
Bob
friction, and seems to lend an acidic feeling to fingers after playing
for a bit. Not really 'sticky' in the usual sense, but I'm not sure
what adjective to use. It is not pitted. The rosewood is fairly
light in color (Fender neck, so I'm assuming it's not some other odd
type of wood).
Bottom line is that is seems to need conditioning of some kind. Maybe
a prelim wash with some kind of penetrating solvent (not sure which)
and subsequent treatment with some kind of non-polymerizing oil
(again, not sure which).
Or perhaps go a step further with 'Texas lacquer' or a thin coat of
diluted water-base urethane. (I won't use tung oil or anything like
that anywhere near a guitar neck, so it would have to be a harder
finish)
The reason that lacquer comes to mind is that it seems like sealing
the surface would correct the problem, and would provide a lower
friction surface. The approaches (oil vs lacquer) seem mutually
exclusive: If I use an oil treatment like lemon oil, that may preclude
the possibility of lacquer later on.
I've used heavier 'Texas lacquer' finishes on a couple problematic
necks with good results, but in this case, maybe there is a better way
to correct it? I don't recall seeing anything like this before, so
this is a new one for me.
Any thoughts?
Bob
wrote:
Nuthin? That's a surprise. I probably over-specified. To simplify:
What types of finishes or treatments have you guys used for rosewood?
David Hajicek
"Bob" <B...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:0qd325t53ceti6r4m...@4ax.com...
I can tell you that polyurethane varnish can have a problem with the oils in
Rosewoods. It can prevent proper cure and hardening.
I haven't seen a problem with NC Lacquer, Target waterborne finishes or
System 3 epoxy.
Dave Hajicek
Claude V. Lucas
Try some naptha to clean it.
I've used bore oil on ebony and kingwood fingerboards but
haven't tried it on rosewood... The wood likes it and it
soaks in well enough to keep it moist without causing
unsightly gumming of the strings.
David Hajicek
"Claude V. Lucas" <cla...@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:4a21d801$0$1659$742e...@news.sonic.net...
I've tried naphtha, mineral spirits and alcohol. They all help, but still
oil can bleed out from inside the wood. Shellac can seal it if you want to
use polyurethane.
Dave Hajicek
David Hajicek
"Claude V. Lucas" <cla...@sonic.net> wrote in message
news:4a21d801$0$1659$742e...@news.sonic.net...
Claude:
As you indicate, the stickiness may not be a problem with the rosewood, but
rather with some product put on the fingerboard. If it is a coating, your
suggestion should work. If it made the fingerboard finish tacky, then the
old finish may have to be removed. Alcohol is another good solvent (as
would be lacquer thinner which might attack the finish on the neck if you
aren't careful).
Dave Hajicek
Bob
<haj...@skypoint.com> wrote:
>> Try some naptha to clean it.
>>
>> I've used bore oil on ebony and kingwood fingerboards but
>> haven't tried it on rosewood... The wood likes it and it
>> soaks in well enough to keep it moist without causing
>> unsightly gumming of the strings.
>
>Claude:
>
>As you indicate, the stickiness may not be a problem with the rosewood, but
>rather with some product put on the fingerboard. If it is a coating, your
>suggestion should work. If it made the fingerboard finish tacky, then the
>old finish may have to be removed. Alcohol is another good solvent (as
>would be lacquer thinner which might attack the finish on the neck if you
>aren't careful).
>
>Dave Hajicek
>
Thanks for the replies. I usually try naphtha first but in this case
I wasn't sure whether it would be absorbed too far into the rosewood.
Naphtha feels a bit oily itself. I did try alcohol.
The neck was fairly new, so I don't think there was any finish
applied. It does look a bit unusual for rosewood... lighter and
redder. Maybe another variant species, which would explain the
different feel. But it is a Fender neck, so who knows.
I'll try naphtha and maybe a couple other solvents, but will probably
resort to light surface coat if that doesn't help.
David, you didn't seem to think that urethane would work directly
without a shellac layer. Does that apply to water-based urethane as
well?
Re shellac: I think I have Qualalac that I had bought a while back.
Does that qualify as shellac, or is there a better brand? I never
used it cause test surfaces seemed a bit sticky (which would seem to
defeat the purpose), but maybe it would work as a light intermediate
coat.
David Hajicek
"Bob" <b...@nospamspamspamorspam.com> wrote in message
news:lpn425tt15ie0dffe...@4ax.com...
The Qualalac (sp?) I have is a mixture of stuff including oils and various
solvents. It is sort of a French Polish kit in a bottle. I do not think
that would be a good choice for what you are doing.
I do not recall having a problem with waterborne polyurethane on rosewood.
But the brand might have an effect. The stuff I had problems with is the
solvent borne stuff (older style). Perhaps the solvent brings the oil to
the surface.
The shellac I have in mind is just Shellac flakes dissolved in high grade
alcohol.
You suggested wiping on a thinned out waterborne polyurethane. Give that a
try and check it out after the first coat has dried completely. I suspect
that will be ok.
The fingerboard may have been coated with an oil like Tung oil or Linseed
oil, which didn't properly polymerize. Solvent should remove most of that.
As Claude suggested, you could simply wipe the cleaned fingerboard with a
non-polymerizing oil (mineral oil, cooking oil) to protect the wood and make
it non sticky.
Let us know how it worked out.
Dave Hajicek
Cyberserf
> On Sat, 30 May 2009 23:27:10 -0500, "David Hajicek"
>
> Thanks for the replies. I usually try naphtha first but in this case
> I wasn't sure whether it would be absorbed too far into the rosewood.
> Naphtha feels a bit oily itself. I did try alcohol.
Naphtha has a very quick evaporation rate (it will be gone before it
is able to sink very far) and leaves virtually no residue making it
perfect for cutting through oils and finger goop for easy lifting
(turn your cloth over often)...it is lighter fluid, so no smoking.
Remember, always apply solutions to a cloth of pad, never squirt stuff
directly on the board.
If by alcohol you mean denatured alcohol (e.g. polluted ethanol), then
it is much dirtier and leaves a few unwanted hitchickers behind
(methanol, isopropyl and acetone are a few of the things added to make
it an undesirable subsite for store bought liquor...it is also the
reason why it is cheaper than pure ethanol...no liquor taxes). With
its heavier ketones, it is more likely to sink in and stay long enough
to dissolve things that shouldn't be dissolved (in fairness, you'd
really need to be doing some saturation for that worst-case scenario
to happen). For cutting your shellac flakes, the stuff is brilliant
and quite aromatic...but for cleaning the fret board of residue,
naphtha is, IMHO, far superior.
HTH, CS
David Hajicek
"Cyberserf" <cybr...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:001a9edf-540d-4187...@u10g2000vbd.googlegroups.com...
HTH, CS
_______
I use Everclear most of the time as I can smell the denaturant (Xylene or
something similar). But I cannot buy Everclear here in Minnesota. I have
to smuggle it in from South Dakota. ;>)
Dave Hajicek
Bob
<haj...@skypoint.com> wrote:
>
>I use Everclear most of the time as I can smell the denaturant (Xylene or
>something similar). But I cannot buy Everclear here in Minnesota. I have
>to smuggle it in from South Dakota. ;>)
>
>Dave Hajicek
If it's xylene, it would be good to keep that away from guitar
finishes, eh?
Bob
<cybr...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
>On May 31, 6:54�am, Bob <b...@nospamspamspamorspam.com> wrote:
>> On Sat, 30 May 2009 23:27:10 -0500, "David Hajicek"
>
>>
>> Thanks for the replies. �I usually try naphtha first but in this case
>> I wasn't sure whether it would be absorbed too far into the rosewood.
>> Naphtha feels a bit oily itself. �I did try alcohol.
>
>
>Naphtha has a very quick evaporation rate (it will be gone before it
>is able to sink very far) and leaves virtually no residue making it
>perfect for cutting through oils and finger goop for easy lifting
>(turn your cloth over often)...it is lighter fluid, so no smoking.
Or I could sell repros of Hendrix Monterrey guitars?
>Remember, always apply solutions to a cloth of pad, never squirt stuff
>directly on the board.
>
>If by alcohol you mean denatured alcohol (e.g. polluted ethanol), then
>it is much dirtier and leaves a few unwanted hitchickers behind
>(methanol, isopropyl and acetone are a few of the things added to make
>it an undesirable subsite for store bought liquor...it is also the
>reason why it is cheaper than pure ethanol...no liquor taxes). With
>its heavier ketones, it is more likely to sink in and stay long enough
>to dissolve things that shouldn't be dissolved (in fairness, you'd
>really need to be doing some saturation for that worst-case scenario
>to happen). For cutting your shellac flakes, the stuff is brilliant
>and quite aromatic...but for cleaning the fret board of residue,
>naphtha is, IMHO, far superior.
>
>
>HTH, CS
Definitely. Good info, as always, CS. I've used 'tape head' cleaning
alcohol, which is supposedly pretty clean. Usually available from pro
audio depts at local music stores.
Another interesting factoid re alcohol from my friends in bio labs:
Off the shelf alcohol is 70% alcohol (and denaturants) and 30% water.
You'd think that would be less effective at killing microbes. But it
turns out it's about the optimal blend for disinfecting things. The
70/30 ratio seems to more effectively decompose cell walls of little
nasties.
David Hajicek
You can get about 99% pure alcohol. Isopropyl is just fine for the
purpose. The water in 70% reduces the ability to clean off some materials
and the water is not good for the wood. Xylene is pretty inert for most
finishes. It could attack some unpolymerized oil based finishes or spirit
varnish (as can alcohol).
The 70% alcohol is a better disinfectant because microbes can be in a dry
and dormant state where they are more resistant to being killed. The water
kind of wakes them up so that they can be killed. They do this in medical
product sterilization. Namely expose the product to high humidity before
killing the little buggies.
Dave Hajicek