I use white mineral oil, purchased from guardian pharmacy for use on all my rosewood fretboards.
No fragrances, no solvents, just pure white mineral oil.
It works great, no issues so far. Most commercial fretboard cleaners and conditioners use white mineral oil as a major component in their product.
Plus, its cheap. One big bottle will cost you around SGD3. Last probably a few years as well.
I apply it using a cotton cloth. A bit goes a long way.
Remember to wipe off any excess, you don't want oil lingering on top of the fretboard.
For the body and any other lacquered/painted/non wood fretboard, there is no conditioning required. Only wipe it with a cotton rag to clean off gunk.
To answer question 1 and 2.
Wood types for guitar building is a really subjective issue. There are "general" guidelines and perceptions from builders. But what really matters is the eventual end product. Btw, I'm talking about electric guitar.
For acoustic guitar, tops do matter as it is the soundboard. The top, bracing back and sides contribute to the eventual tone of an acoustic instrument. The combination of wood types will generally lead the tone to have certain frequencies that are more prevalent.
But, as with all guitars, it is better to be playing a guitar and listening to its sound rather than mulling over its wood type. General rule of thumb is that if purchasing an acoustic, ensure that the top is at least solid. Better if top and back is solid. Then choose a good sounding and playing piece from the lot. I personally think that many people are overly concerned about wood type, but I feel that sound, feel and quality of construction should be placed before wood type.
For electric guitar, my opinions are true as well regarding wood selection. Sound, feel and quality of construction should always come in before wood selection.
For fretboards, I feel that wood type has little impact besides aesthetics.
I can't feel the difference between fretboard types; maple and rosewood, of which both I have several guitars of.
I did a blind test with a very good guitarist friend of mine, he's been playing since 5, now he's 23.
I ran through several amps all at clean and dirty, letting him do blind testing of my guitars.
He played the same riffs, solos, chord strummings for all guitars and amps. Amp testing isn't part of it, I informed him the specific amp being used and the setting of the amps. Amp settings were not changed throughout the testing.
I controlled the pickup selection, tone and volume for him. He did the playing.
After which, he couldn't tell the difference between fretboard types by just playing. Trying to identify guitar body woods was also difficult or almost impossible in a blind test. This is for electric guitar.
The findings from the testing and my personal experience tells me that based on specs of a guitar, its difficult to judge how it will sound. The best is to try it out. For electric guitar, try it out with ideally the same amp you have, or a similar amp.
From the testing we did, the amps and speakers made the most difference in tone.
Take my words with a pinch of salt as there are others with different experiences from mine, but always try out a guitar before buying. If it doesn't meet your standards in terms of tone and feel, don't force yourself to purchase the guitar. The tone and feel will pretty much dictate how much time you'll spend with the guitar. A good sounding and feeling guitar will always make you want to play. A crappy feeling and sounding guitar will be left in a corner gathering dust.
