Care and maintenance Rosewood necks?

[Richard Lainegard]

Hi all,

I have a (what is sure to be) a lovely charcoal P22 with all indian RW neck on order.
I have previously used the "EB" Tru-Oil/Wax gunstock finish on my maple neck SAS with great results.
With the "sunken in" finish of the SAS maple neck, they ended up getting sorta "blackish" from new strings.
After a coating of the Tru-Oil and Wax finish that problem disappeared. I also loved the smooth finish the neck got.

However, could/should this same treatment be used on RW necks? The PRS RW neck doesn't have any sunken in finish right?
Are they even oiled at all before shipping? What do you guys do to care for the wood and/or bring out the grain?
I've seen Tru-Oil/wax finished RW neck backs where the grain is just 3D almost after the treatment, but could it possibly
ruin the logo on the headstock or such?

What say the expertise?

Thanks//Richard

 

[clmazza]

First.... Congrats on your order . As for the rosewood neck ... I like to treat mine with a very light application of Fret Doctor. I apply a minimal amount once a year. I've found that the necks get "better" the more I play them.... They keep getting more slick (like glass)

Of the four PRSi that I have with IRW necks, all appear to have very minimal finish from the factory. They all had a rather raw feeling but very smooth. As they were broken in, they developed a semi gloss appearance and became rather slick. Perfection!

I would avoid oiling the front of the headstock. Fwiw, it offers zero benefit and may interfere with Paul's signature, especially if it's the gold sig.

Cheers!
Chuck

 

[JMintzer]

Play them. Repeat daily. My BRW McCarty is like glass. Smooth as silk and It's never been treated w/anything...


Jamie

 

[László]

RW is a very oily wood, it doesn't need to be infused with a finish. This is why RW fingerboards can be unfinished and last forever.

The oils from your hands are usually enough. It doesn't need gunstock oil.

 

[Richard Lainegard]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I think one thing I should have mentioned is that I have (unusually so) dry hands. I can play a set of 11's for 6 months daily and they looks as new with zero discoloration.
Thus, my fretboards never get "lubricated" what so ever. In fact the RW board on my McCarty even collects dust-particles in the pores just because there's never any moisture
there (and I live in northern Sweden, which is also very dry). Thus, I tend to oil the fretboard (for looks as much as anything else) about twice a year.
change strings about 4 times/year, not for dirt, but for beating them up to the point where the intonation starts to go.

So, with that in mind, Fret Doctor might be the way to go? What about Teak-Oil? I've used that for years on fretboards, and it doesn't leave a residue, but perhaps it
doesn't really help against drying either? Fretboards are one thing, but I really want to use the "right stuff" as this is my first whole RW neck.