Thanks for the lesson in babe care John! I only have 3 guitars (only one Paragon
so far) and all 3 have ebony fretboards. I only do the necks once a year as
well, unless I am in Utah for an extended period of time then I may do it twice.
I am still leary about using steel wool on the guitar though but I have heard
the same thing from a lot of fellow players here as well.

Mike

>  
> Actually, I have a regular annual routine for all my
> guitars. I take off the strings (duh), and then clean the
> fretboard with 0000 steel wool. Go across the grain like Rob
> described, and don't be afraid to polish the
> frets.........it makes them shiny. Then I clean the body
> with generic glass cleaner from Wal-Mart (a luthier trick I
> learned somewhere.........LOL). After that, it's a light
> coat of Virtuoso polish on the shiny parts, and Ken Smith's
> Pro Formula on the satin neck. Between body oil from
> playing and the Ken Smith's, the neck takes on more of a
> gunstock finish. As for oil, I just use Dunlop Fretboard
> Oil. But seriously, you have to really wipe it down
> afterward, and once a year is enough in my humble opinion.
> Then I snug up any screws or nuts, but a little candle wax
> on my bridge pins, and string them back up. Oh, and I always
> put a little oil on the bridge too, as it's unfinished ebony
> as well. To do my five guitars takes a full day, but
> it's a labor of love.
>  
> John
> --- On Wed, 6/3/09, robustos11 <rob.paragon@...>
> wrote:
>
>
> From: robustos11 <rob.paragon@...>
> Subject: [ParagonGuitars] Re: LEMON OIL ON THE NECK?
> To: ParagonGuitars@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 12:25 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hey Mike. I've tried a bunch of stuff for fingerboard oil,
> and this has been my fave
> http://www.lmii. com/CartTwo/ thirdproducts.
> asp?CategoryName =Finishes& NameProdHeader= Fingerboard+
> Oil
>
> On new guitars, I first wipe down the fretboard with
> mineral spirits--takes any gunk from masking tape off and
> really cleans it well. Then, apply this oil very sparingly.
> It's synthetic so it doesn't go rancid and doesn't build up
> too much, too. I used to use boiled linseed oil, but there's
> a big diff. I used lemon oil for a while, because I liked
> the smell, but it leaves the fretboard looking a little
> strange, the way it takes to the wood. It's actually not
> real lemon oil, but just made to smell like that. There was
> a really good post on "The Canadian Guitar Forum" about
> oils, and there are as many opinions as members there, just
> about. Bottom line is that this LMI stuff works better than
> anything I've tried in the past. I apply the oil across the
> grain, btw and make sure to get right up to the frets.
> Disposable shop towels work better than regular paper towel.
> Rember to really work it in and wipe off the excess till the
> towel is not really looking
> dirty anymore. And get it off the frets too. Hope some of
> that helps. I have no experience with lemon pledge, but if
> it has wax in it, you will eventually build up a gunk on
> your fretboard. The natural oils in the Ebony are very good,
> by themselves, and you don't want to over maintain the
> fretboard unless it really gets dry a lot. John Cooley has a
> pretty good program for maintaining his fretboards. Maybe
> he'll chime in.
>
> Rob
>
> --- In ParagonGuitars@ yahoogroups. com, mike fred
> <thevernorsguy@ ...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Tom;
> >
> > > And here is a link to other opinion (Ernie Ball
> Forum?):
> > > http://www.erniebal l.com/forums/ music-man-
> guitars/7982- lemon-oil- neck-cleaning. html
> > >
> > > Good luck in your decision,
> > > Tom
> >
> > Thanks for the info! Hopefully Rob will poke his head
> in here soon and give me "smore" info. I want to start
> recording this weekend and want to change strings probabaly
> Thursday night.
> >
> > MikeY
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> SAFTEY ALERT!
>
> Do not give personal information on this or any other
> internet forum, email, or media! It can be used to identify
> you or access other online or web site accounts!Yahoo!
> Groups Links
>
>
>     mailto:ParagonGuitars-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>