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Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Does anyone know of a good product to use to clean an old ebony fingerboard? Thanks. |
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Location: Scotland | fine-gauge steel wool & lemon oil, in that order. |
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Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Where can I get fine-gauge steel wool? |
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Location: SoCal | this brings up a question I have had...on Ovations, is the ebony natural or is it stained...for all models with the ebony or which ones?
from what I understand, although some guitars will come from some manufacturers w/ebony, it is stained if a lower quality. |
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Location: Brighton,MI | Paul,
I think lemon oil will clean as well as condition...apply and wipe off...if the rag shows alot of dirt do it several times waiting a few minutes before wiping off. |
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Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | Tony I am sure that the ebony Ovation uses is not stained. They use the good stuff. :D |
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Location: Scotland | "Ebonised" is a term that was coined for lower grade woods, rarely ebony, which were stained black. On Ovations if the spec says ebony, then it should be ebony and shouldn't be dyed
PH, Steel wool can be had from automotive or DIY stores. You should use 0000 gauge. If the crud is built up on the fingerboard lemon oil alone will not shift it. The steel wool is also good for polishing frets. |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | "Amen" to Paul T. I buff my frets and clean my fretboard with 0000 or 000 steel wool and lemon oil every time I change my strings. The steel wool is sold in little bags at any hardware store. One bag comes with several pads, so it will last a long time. |
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Location: SoCal | Last year in San Diego, Bob Taylor had stated that due to the grade of ebony, it is sometimes stained for a darker, more even finish. That a better grade of ebony is used in the higher cost models. In all fairness, he may not have been differentiating between intro and high-end Taylors. Have seen where (at least on some of Taylor's ebony buttons) it is actually ebony "dust". Quality of the ebony is probably more important on the bridge. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I can understand why he would need to stain his ebony but Ovation doesn't stain it. It is also very hard to get stain to penatrate ebony, it's so hard. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Bil,
Off subject and I promise to get back to golf!
The Polymer saturated Walnut of the Adamas process; unless it's a family secret - how was that done?
Tiger Woods needs an Ovation! |
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Location: Florida | I know that you can get ebony that has streaks in it. Not "macassar" ebony but just your plain jane ebony. I always thought thats just the way ebony grows. |
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Location: SoCal | Bill, thanks...I was always confident in Ovation and Adamas ebony.
All depends on how and what you buy. At least if it is a Taylor, Gibson, or Martin - all who do (or have) stain some of their ebony.
By the way, ever notice how Ovation's competition have to add expensive do-dads, materials, or signatures lines to justify their price. Sound and playability have become secondary. Sure, Ovation adds do-dads and material like abalone for guys like me in the Custom Legend/Elite but doesn't sacrifice the sound and playability. First, the guitar...then the flash. |
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Location: Scotland | Originally posted by CharlieB:
I know that you can get ebony that has streaks in it. Not "macassar" ebony but just your plain jane ebony. I always thought thats just the way ebony grows.
Not all Ebony is uniformly black, and there is negligible difference in terms of quality in Ebony that is streaked. Personally I think the stuff that is streaked in various shades of black & dark brown can be very pretty, but the industry seems to disagree |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | I agree Paul, some grain look to ebony can add character. A solid black board looks nice too but frankly they are less than 50% of the wood harvested.
I hear alot of talk about staining ebony and maybe by now someone has figured out a way to do it but we always found it so dense than stain really wouldn't take to it. If it did it was just the very surface and the first time you'd steel wool the f/b, the stain would be gone.
The acrylic was done in a vaccuum chamber. Put in the walnut and maple (inlays) and suck out the air and moisture and when it's out pour in this clear acrylic resin. It goes in where the other stuff was (highly scientific terms there). The f/b is about 30% resin now. We'd then take them out and wrap each in foil so it wouldn't leak out and cook them in an oven to cure the acrylic. (don't remember how long or hot). Then make fingerboards out of it. Walnut is a pretty soft wood and after the process it worked much like ebony.
We did a few maple fingerboards for Vipers as well. They came out great. We also tried black resin on maple(you guessed it, to make it look like, well you know...) It was an interesting look but it looked like colored maple. Would be good on a designer type of C-Series but fell well short of ebony.
I don't know if they are still using this process or not. Frankly the Adamas guitars I've seen with ebony look and play great. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | That works for me Bill!
Spent a couple of weeks at Reactor school so I would be qualified to soak up radiation. Lots of wizzbang explainations on what hot-n-Cold can do for you! I think it made my left hand longer.
Guitars are much cooler! |
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Location: Lafayette, Louisiana | When using the lemon oil and fine steel wool, is it ok to pass the steel wool over the fingerboard inlays? |
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Location: Minden, Nebraska | Just be a bit less agressive in between the frets. The ultra fine steel wool is the least abrasive. |
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Location: Central Oregon | My 1612 has an ebony fingerboard with some dark brown streaks in it. I like the way it looks almost as much as I like the way it plays & sounds.
/\/\/ |
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Location: San Bernardino, California | If you've got alot of gunk along side of the frets, a new toothbrush works well. Another thing I use for the whole neck (for cleaning) is a boar bristle shoe brush that I've had for years. I don't even know if they're still available. |
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Cleaning an ebony fingerboard