BaZie Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Hi all, In my Chinese Epiphones (LP Studio and Explorer Pro), after playing a little, I have dirty fingertips in my left hand. After playing Nighthawk (made in Indonesia), I don't. Do you have the same? Is there a way to avoid this? Hmmm maybe the guitar wants to tell it wants "Dirty fingers" pickups ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I think it is dye from the fretboard. It will go away after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 My fingertips look like Buddy Guy's after I finish playing my ES345. The fingerboard seems to have some dye or something on it that paints my fingers black. I only wish I could play like Buddy Guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 My fingertips look like Buddy Guy's after I finish playing my ES345. The fingerboard seems to have some dye or something on it that paints my fingers black. I only wish I could play like Buddy Guy! You sir, are a racist! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disaster Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 High quality rosewood & ebony fingerboards are now considered "exotic" woods and are protected by almost every nation. As a result these exotic woods are reserved for high profit guitars. Which epis just ain't. They are very good guitars but they are budget instruments to be sure. My G400 suffers from the same problem. It has a marginal quality rosewood fingerboard from Indonesia or Africa (can't remember which) that just doesn't look very good in a natural finish. So epi gives them a coating of "something". I think it's shoe polish. It looks different with the coating, not necessarily better than the natural finish, just different. Mine has a washed out pinkish/orangeish color naturally. With "shoe polish" it looks more grey. Neither looks like rosewood at all. In time you'll get used to it. What's important is how it plays. And the fingerboard is VERY nice to play on my little SG knock-off. I like it JUST fine. It's one of the features that sold me on the guitar over the Gibson version. (Slim Taper "D" shaped neck w/ jumbo frets. Very sweet). Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 between the fretboard dyes, and (most likely unless you play stringless) the oils & dirt on the strings themselves it's going to happen. think about it, do you really touch the fb...or the strings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZie Posted May 8, 2013 Author Share Posted May 8, 2013 I think it is dye from the fretboard. It will go away after a while. This "while" lasts for at least half a year with my LP. Maybe I'll have to wait longer... I only wish I could play like Buddy Guy! Why not, for example, BB King? ;-) (Slim Taper "D" shaped neck w/ jumbo frets. Very sweet). Truly speaking, I don't see much difference between medium frets in my Epi's and jumbo in Ibanez. Possibly I would'n notice if I din't know it from guitars specs. think about it, do you really touch the fb...or the strings? Typically, I touch strings, but it may happen when pressing hard or bending I could touch fretboard as well. But even if I don't touch fretboard, why this happens in these two particular guitars and not in the others, if I use the same string types? I mean: I take two identical string sets. After playing one guitar, the fingers are relatively clean, after playing another - dirty if not just black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheapShoes Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 High quality rosewood & ebony fingerboards are now considered "exotic" woods and are protected by almost every nation. As a result these exotic woods are reserved for high profit guitars. Which epis just ain't. They are very good guitars but they are budget instruments Disaster: I think this must be true. However, both my Epi ES355 and Custom Prophesy LP have Ebony fretboards. No rub-off to be seen (yet), and Epi is responsible for truth in advertising, so these seem to be the legitimate article, and should be to published specs I have wondered whether they are skirting international law by importing into China, then into the US as a very minor portion of the instrument. Also both of these are bound boards - so no telling how thick of a plank it is. I also have a cheaper SG Pro and Dot Studio with the "cheap" rosewood, and neither are bad - and the SG board has beautiful stripes from nut to heel. Baked Maple? Plays great. No finger stain - but I think there is a layer of poly-X on top. No idea if genuine rosewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNick Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 More likely the strings reacting to your skin. Ether the oils or perspiration. Normally rosewood is not tinted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 The stuff that gets on your fingertips is most likely the filler used to fill the grain on the fingerboard, so it becomes smooth. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunner Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 This "while" lasts for at least half a year with my LP. Maybe I'll have to wait longer... Yep, that's about how long it took on my ES-355, though the 355 is "ebony". Depends on how much you play it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I noticed the same thing, but not just with Epis. So... I replaced the strings and did a heavy wipedown of the fingerboards of the offending instruments. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Why not, for example, BB King? ;-) That's easily asnwered. I think Buddy Guy is a much better player than BB. I admire BB don't get me wrong but Buddy is way out in front in terms of guitar playing (IMO of course). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluemans335 Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 I think Buddy Guy is a much better player than BB. I admire BB don't get me wrong but Buddy is way out in front in terms of guitar playing (IMO of course). BB in his prime was an impressive player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitmore Willy Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Personally, I just scrape and clean any new fretboard and then restring. Many, not all, use a sealer/dye that, if put on thick, is akin to shoe polish. It does wear off. You can clean it off with naptha (lighter fluid). There are also many cleaners on the market. Some folks even use steel wool. (tape off your pickups) I scrape the frets with a razor blade. I do not suggest this for others!!! (You can scrape the daylights out of your fret markers if you do not know what you are doing!) Try an old credit card for starters. After any of the above simply use a conditioner. As to myself... I like high quality lemon oil furniture polish. In any case...nothing with silicon! See if this sparks any interest: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/54572-wire-wool/ Willy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disaster Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 Disaster: I think this must be true. However, both my Epi ES355 and Custom Prophesy LP have Ebony fretboards. No rub-off to be seen (yet), and Epi is responsible for truth in advertising, so these seem to be the legitimate article, and should be to published specs I have wondered whether they are skirting international law by importing into China, then into the US as a very minor portion of the instrument. Also both of these are bound boards - so no telling how thick of a plank it is. I also have a cheaper SG Pro and Dot Studio with the "cheap" rosewood, and neither are bad - and the SG board has beautiful stripes from nut to heel. Baked Maple? Plays great. No finger stain - but I think there is a layer of poly-X on top. No idea if genuine rosewood. WOWsers! If you have an epi with a real, quality ebony board I'm jealous. I haven't seen any in my neck of the woods. Maybe I'm just looking at the wrong end of the spectrum. But I value the playability, tone, versatility, & build quality over cosmetics. Otherwise why on earth would I have an SG knock-off?????? The epis are bang on in my warped view of the world. Timeless styling, superior attention to detail, great tone, sweet instruments to play, great build quality (at least on mine), & priced to move. For comparisons I find the Student Edition PRS guitars far & away the highest quality "budget" guitars on the market. The elusive disco silver Tremonti SE is still on my "got to have it" list. It's the best guitar value I've found in many years. If you're shopping the epi LPs check out the Tremonti. If you can tolerate the subdued appearance you'll be VERY impressed. Thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheapShoes Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Hah. Yeah, my $350 SG Pro with the "cheap" RW is 'Da bomb. The 355 didn't wake up until I put a pearly gates Pickup in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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