My poor guitar... :-(
Dave Hallsworth
but I inherited it from my Dad when he bought a Tayl.... Oh well. Anyway.
It has a mahogany fretboard which needs some love every now and again,
especially after playing it every day rehearsing for a gig (I usually play a
more resilient Epiphone as my 'unplugged' guitar). I use fast fret on it as
often as possible to keep it in reasonable condition, but I reckon about
once a month it really needs to be properly seen to.
So far, I've been using a thing called 'Liquid Gold', which is an antique
wood restorer containing white spirit. I go over it with this a couple of
times to strip off any crap that has accumulated. This seems to bring up
the look of the wood really well. I then leave it about 12 hours for that
stuff to properly soak in.
The Ovation manual recommends that once a month you use 'Trewax',
'Lundmark's Clear Paste Wax', or 'Butcher's Bowling Alley Paste Wax' to
treat the fretboard - couldn't find any of this (I assume it's available in
America, where I ain't), so I use antique furniture wax. I have done this
once before with pretty decent results. However, this time when I did it,
in places the wood has taken a pale colour, although this seems to be fading
over the last few hours. It's difficult to tell, but the paler areas look
like they're in positions I play the most (i.e. bottom 5 frets on all
strings and slightly worse in the upper frets around the 1st string).
Is this a normal consequence of what I'm doing? Or am I doing the wrong
thing and doing something unspeakable to my baby?
Cheers for any help you can give me.
Dave (wondering if he can sell a kidney to come to UK6, photos look so
cool!)
Chris Callahan
"Dave Hallsworth"
> So far, I've been using a thing called 'Liquid Gold', which is an antique
> wood restorer containing white spirit. I go over it with this a couple of
> times to strip off any crap that has accumulated. This seems to bring up
> the look of the wood really well. I then leave it about 12 hours for that
> stuff to properly soak in.
>
>
> thing and doing something unspeakable to my baby?
Dave, is this Scott's Liquid Gold? If it is, their website doesn't list
musical instruments at all as a use for the product.
I personally would avoid the Fast Fret AND the Liquid Gold. A damp cloth on
the fingerboard should do the trick, and very very fine steel wool can often
help remove goo from the fingerboard. Lemon Oil is useful in replenishing
the wood, but I wouldn't do even that but about once a year.
Just my two cents,
Chris
>
JimLowther
>The Ovation manual recommends that once a month you use 'Trewax',
>'Lundmark's Clear Paste Wax', or 'Butcher's Bowling Alley Paste Wax' to
>treat the fretboard - couldn't find any of this (I assume it's available in
>America, where I ain't), so I use antique furniture wax.
I'm tempted to say "What would Ovation know about wood?" but I won't.
I bet your fretboard is Rosewood of some sort rather than Mahogany. Really you
don't need to do anything with it but occasionally rub it down with a damp
cloth (and play with clean hands). Most Rosewood is naturally oily enogh that
it needs no more oil (MHO). However, if you insist on some sort of oil, what I
can tell you is that there seems to be a running debate around here whether
Lemon oil or mineral oil is better. I tend towards Lemon oil, but make sure it
is really Lemon oil without some of additives loaded up in furniture cleaners.
Also, use very little, and try to wipe off as much as you can (MHO). I would
skip the wax (MHO).
Best wishes,
Dr. Jim Lowther
bradleyb_2000
They have many helpful people there, including former and current Ovation
employees.
I'm not sure, but I can't remember an Ovation having a mahogany fretboard.
It could be rosewood or even black walnut. I would go to the ovation fan
club website and ask.
Bradley
"Dave Hallsworth" <david.ha...@wadham.oxford.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:b2ujec$jof$1...@news.ox.ac.uk...
Dave V
It's entirely possible that your fretboard has been dyed to more resemble
rosewood or ebony, or just to even out variations in color. I had an Ovation
for a while and the fretboard did start to lighten where I played most. I
figured it was just where the dye had rubbed off.
Liquid Gold probably has enough solvent in it to remove some of this dye.
Did you notice a darkening of the rag you used when you did this?
Most fretboards don't tolerate a lot of liquid oils. You also run the risk
of excess oil seeping under the frets and into the end grain of the fret
slots. In time this could loosen the frets and cause more damage than it's
worth.
The fretboard can be cleaned of finger "gunk" with plain water (mixed with
Witch Hazel works too) and scrubbing with a toothbrush around the frets
where most of the dirt gathers.
After it dries, if you want to use oil, I'd suggest a light "wipe down" and
not let the oil sit too long on the wood, especially don't let it soak in
around the frets.
Liquid gold might be just fine in moderation, but I'd prefer the specialty
fret dressings . Guitar Honey is quite good and it's what I'd use if my
dealers ever stock it again.
The fact that Ovation recommends paste wax instead of a traditional
treatment might indicate that their fretboards are something less than what
you'd find on other "quality" guitars.
David
"Dave Hallsworth" <david.ha...@wadham.oxford.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:b2ujec$jof$1...@news.ox.ac.uk...
Dave Hallsworth
anything it only needs a very light coat, and perhaps putting slightly too
much on caused a colour change in some worn areas. The colour evened out
when I managed to get the wax off.
As for the liquid gold, I have been reliably informed that this is a bad
idea!!
Someone should have told me these thing!
Dave