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Ebony fingerboard shrunk...will lots of oil pull it back?


Muzz
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Soooo, the other day I took one of my lesser-played Shukers off the wall, and I guess it must be the bout of unseasonably warm and dry weather we've had, but the fret ends were suddenly sharp. It's an ebony board, and I've never had a moment's trouble with it until now (it'd be about 15 years old, as far as I can judge - I've had it for probably ten), it's suddenly gone over the last few weeks. I hadn't played it in maybe a month.

Is it worth a sustained effort to oil and re-oil it (I'm in the habit of oiling it when I change the strings, so maybe twice a year), or should I just bite the bullet and have the fret ends dressed?

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When that happens to one of my cheapos - and it happens periodically - I tend to take the view that the frets popped up by a fraction of a millimetre, as opposed to the fingerboard shrinking. It usually happens when I have to tweak the truss rod due to changes in the season. I take a piece of fine sandpaper to the frets' ends, smoothing them very carefully, then clean the area with a damp cloth, make sure it's undamaged, then oil the side of the fingerboard.

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It’s the board shrinking, Rosewood and Ebony will do it more than (finished) Maple. Wood gains and loses moisture and the frets obviously do not, so it leaves sharp fret tangs and corners sticking out the side as the wood shrinks away from the frets. It can happen to basses of any price range and it’s just wood being wood. The chances of it happening can be minimised by making sure it never gets too dry in the room the basses are kept in, you want 40-50% humidity. Oiling the fretboard every 6-12 months or so can help as it acts as a barrier to stop the board sucking in moisture too fast or releasing it too quickly. But oil won’t actually add any moisture.

As for the fix, sometimes as the board takes on moisture again it can swell and the fret sprout will be gone. However it might not swell to the exact same level, so might still leave a bit of sharpeness. Also if you get it sorted now, it shouldn’t happen again, as the board is probably already at 0% moisture content (too dry).

Edited by Manton Customs
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