Every guitarist knows that good guitar maintenance is as almost as important as practicing or learning new guitar skills. If your guitar is not well maintained, it will be much more difficult to play and it will fail prematurely. Part of guitar maintenance is oiling the fretboard from time to time, but if the fretboard needs oil and you still have fresh strings on the guitar, is it possible to oil the fretboard without removing the strings?
You can oil a fretboard with the strings on. Simply loosen the strings and push them to the side without removing them to oil the fretboard, or use a string lubricant such as Fast Fret over the strings to keep the fretboard fresh until your next string change.
Oiling the fretboard on a guitar is an important aspect of guitar maintenance, but it is usually only done when the strings have been removed. Oil a fretboard is an absolute necessity for most guitars, and failure to do this from time to time will cause the wood to dry out, which will ruin the setup on the guitar, and make it very difficult to play. Let’s explore the ins and outs of oiling a fretboard while the strings are still attached.
Do You Have To Remove Guitar Strings To Oil The Fretboard?
Using fretboard oil from time to time to keep the fretboard of a guitar in good condition is a basic aspect of guitar maintenance that every guitarist must do. However, using fretboard oil is very easy when there are no strings attached to the guitar, which is why this part of maintenance is usually only done during the process of changing guitar strings.
This leads many guitarists to wonder if it is possible to oil a fretboard without first removing the strings? If you have changed the strings but have forgotten to oil the fretboard, or if your strings are still fresh but the fretboard feels dry, can you apply the oil without removing the strings?
The answer here is yes. You can oil a fretboard without first removing the guitar strings. There are several methods and processes to achieve this, and it can be a challenge, but it is possible.
The main reasons why fretboard oil is typically applied before installing guitar strings is because the strings get in the way of oiling the fretboard thoroughly, and if oil is applied over the strings, it can make playing the guitar very difficult, and it may even ruin the strings altogether.
With that being said, the importance of oiling a fretboard may outweigh the potential issues in some cases, which may drive a guitarist to attempt oiling the fretboard without removing the strings first.
The process of oiling a fretboard without removing the strings can be challenging, so let’s explore some of the best methods to do this while causing as few problems as possible.
How To Oil A Fretboard With The Strings On
If you happen to be in a situation that requires oiling a guitar fretboard without removing the strings there are some methods that make the process less painful and that work better than others.
The first thing to remember when oiling a fretboard is that the wood will reject some of the oil after it has been applied. This is due to the fact that the wood will only accept or absorb enough oil to moisten it, and everything else will be rejected and pool on the surface of the wood.
This means that if you oil a fretboard without removing the strings, it is important to not use too much oil, or the oil may pool under the strings, leading to playing issues.
It is also important to oil the entire fretboard and do this as evenly as possible. This is very difficult to do, which is why guitar techs recommend loosening the strings and pushing them to the side of the neck to oil the fretboard as evenly as possible without entirely removing the strings.
Simply loosen all of the strings with the tuners, and pull the bottom three strings off the bottom of the neck, keeping them in place with the bottom edge of the frets. Push the top three strings off the top of the neck in the same way, and they should stay in place and out of the way for oiling the fretboard.
Among the potential issues with this process is getting oil on your guitar strings. This can ruin the strings if they are not coated, and the oil can be very difficult to remove, making the strings very challenging to play due to being slippery.
Pushing the strings of the fretboard will help to prevent this, but always be sure to wipe the strings off thoroughly to remove as much oil as possible. Using a microfiber cloth or something that is highly absorbent is a good way to remove as much oil as possible from the strings.
Maintaining A Fretboard Between String Changes
We have established that oiling a guitar fretboard is very important, but the truth is that oiling a fretboard with the strings on is very challenging and can make your guitar very difficult to play. For this reason, guitarists have developed methods and products to aid in maintaining a guitar fretboard inbetween string changes to avoid drying the fretboard out.
Maintaining a fretboard inbetween string changes is significantly easier than oiling the fretboard with the guitar strings still attached and it reduces the risk that you will damage the strings.
The easiest way to maintain a fretboard without oiling it is to use a product such as Fast Fret by GHS, Finger Ease by Tone, String Fuel by Music Nomad, or XLR8 by Planet Waves.
- Premium string and neck lubricant and string cleaner for all stringed instruments
- Silicone free cleaner is liquid in an applicator, not a spray
- Use it on strings, fretboard, back of neck
- Lets fingers slide freely and keeps strings clean
All of these products are what are known as string lubricants, and they are designed to apply a thin layer of guitar-safe oil or lubricant to guitar strings to make them easier to play, but when they are applied, a small amount of the oil gets onto the fretboard as well, which keeps the fretboard moist enough to prevent it from drying out between string changes.
These products may help your playing, and they will help keep your fretboard from drying out, eliminating the need to oil a fretboard without removing the strings, as these products are applied over the guitar strings and reach the fretboard underneath.
Conclusion
Oiling a guitar fretboard is a critical aspect of general guitar maintenance, but it can be difficult to do without removing the strings. If you have to, loosen the strings and push them to the side before oiling, or simply use a string lubricant to keep your fretboard fresh until your next strings change when you can apply oil properly.
It is possible to oil a fretboard without removing the strings, but it is better to remove them, so always try to save your fretboard oil for when you change strings and use string lubricant in between!