Darkening Rosewood Fingerboards

[dbirchett]

Has anyone "ebonized" their rosewood fingerboards? A rosewood board looks out of place on my black Sheraton.

 

I'm looking for something that is easily applied, won't stain the binding and won't come off on fingers when it is hot and I am sweaty.

 

Any suggestions?

[charlie brown]

That's kind of difficult to do, after the inlays and binding have been attached. You'd have to

tape off the binding and the inlays, too. Then...You could TRY an ebony wood stain,

followed by a clear matte sealer? I'm sure there are others here, far

more qualified, in woodworking, that might have better suggestions? But, if you were very

careful, you might be able to stain it, yourself? Good luck!

 

CB

[TWANG]

I totall agree about sheraton fingerboards. should be black!

I have been tempted to try the ebonol and never have gotten to it.

If nobody in here replys with some experience re: the inlays and binding...

I'll try it myself and post pics and let you know how it goes.

 

I know that the plastic wont take a deep stain.. it will stop at the top and a person should be able to

steel wool it to original color.. well.. I don't know that perfectly, but I'd bet ten bucks!

 

And i feel sure the same is true with the inlays. that's real stuff there. abalone and MOP.. the MOP being a bit more porous..

so care and patience would certainly be a factor..

 

but you guys have to admit.. that big black headstock face needs a pal! those black mounting rings would contrast less and harmonize more

with a nice ebony looking board.

[loudlikenature]

Actually you're in luck. Some of us over on the ESP forums have used a great product from StewMac. It's the same dye that Gibson and PRS uses and "ebonizes" rosewood fingerboards very evenly. It doesn't stain the inlays since plastic and abalone aren't porous. Just brush around them with a small brush and wipe off anything that gets on the inlays or binding quickly with a q-tip. Finish it off with some lemon oil for a nice sheen.

 

Here's the link:

 

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/Black_Fingerboard_Stain.html

 

One other product that works to darken a rosewood board is Old English Scratch Cover for Dark Wood. It actually works very well and doesn't not stain inlays. I've used it with great results, not completely ebony but a nice dark rosewood.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Old-English-Furniture-Polish-Scratch/dp/B000PECDCE/ref=pd_sim_dbs_k_1/104-4743304-5187957

 

Hope this leads you down the right path.

 

--Marc

[thunderstruck507]

I know a guy who stained his Gibby LP, just wiped off the inlays while the stain was still wet

[dbirchett]

Back in the '70s, I was trying to learn the Banjo. Gave it up when I became a father and the wife said that one screaming infant in the house was enough!

 

Anyway, I subscribed to The Banjo Newsletter and the editor, Hub Nitchie, claimed that Miss Clarol True Brunette Hair Dye did a remarkable job of creating the appearance of Ebony with multiple coats. He did caution about binding, tho'. The Stew Mac product is leather dye isn't it? Thanks to all. Twang, we are thinking alike on this. I did use some Fast Fret Oil on the board the other night and it did darken it somewhat and made it look a whole lot better. I have heard that some have used woodwind bore oil and that there is a product out there called Fret Doctor that will darken a board somewhat. The Fret Doctor is just a larger bottle of bore oil.

 

Anyway, Twang, if you do it, please share the results and I will do the same.

 

Funny, I am wanting to dye the rosewood on my Epiphone yet my Larrivee acoustics all have unstained ebony fingerboards and I wouldn't dream of changing those. Oh well ...

[theboatcandream]

Conditioning the wood with oil will darken it. I use olive oil. I've heard good things about bore oil. Rosewood oil would probably be the best, but you'd probably want to somehow find it without any added solvent.

[TWANG]

I think I've got some old english stain that for darkening scratched wood... I'll try that,and order some stuff from stew mac, too.

[OutoftheBlues]

Try this stuff www.beafifer.com on the left hand side menu click on Fret Doctor. It works wonders-I use it on all my fretboards. Never have to use anything else. Lemon Oil, Olive Oil etc., will eventually get gunky IMHO.

[carverman]

Why would you want to cover up the beauty of Indian rosewood?

Nevermind, it's a retorical question.

 

Stew-Mac do offer a black fingerboard stain (cannot be shipped outside USA)

for making streaked ebony fb blacker. It is an oil based stain and if you

are careful and not get it onto the fb bindings, it should work.

It shouldn't affect real MOP, but not sure about the pearloid (MOT) plastic markers.

If you get some on a fb marker, use a q-tip and some alcohol to get it off immediately

before it dries.

 

If you have some experience with stains, you could also try a ebony black analine stain that

mixes with water and apply that carefully to the fb. These stains do not mask the

beauty/grain of the rosewood and penetrate well into the wood. You can use

fb conditioning oil (or whatever) on the surface to give it some life after staining.

 

 

Note that most rosewood has some natural oils in the wood, so penetration of the stain may not be

consistent, but it should work.

[antwhi2001]

Being in the UK I couldn't get that StewMac product, I bought a liquid wood dye, ebony shade. I have painted 2 fretboards with it (including the BB in my avatar) using a very small brush, painting around the inlays. It looks good, but 2 minor issues; it dries semi-gloss rather than matt, and it hasn't really penetrated the wood, just put a coat on top, so it will wear off and need re-touching.

[matiac]

Has anyone "ebonized" their rosewood fingerboards? A rosewood board looks out of place on my black Sheraton.

 

I'm looking for something that is easily applied' date=' won't stain the binding and won't come off on fingers when it is hot and I am sweaty.

 

Any suggestions?[/quote']

 

Gerlitz's Guitar Honey darkens it up pretty nice. Not "ebonized", and don't use it all the time either. I'm told if overused, it'll actually loosen the frets. Cleans the strings too. I swear by it. (shameless plug)

[carverman]

Conditioning the wood with oil will darken it. I use olive oil. I've heard good things about bore oil. Rosewood oil would probably be the best' date=' but you'd probably want to somehow find it without any added solvent.[/quote']

 

I'm using a combo of olive oil cut with a bit of paint thinner to make it lighter.

Gibson offer a fingerboard conditioning oil, which is their secret recipe, but

it's still oil based.

[PP_CS336]

Has anyone "ebonized" their rosewood fingerboards? A rosewood board looks out of place on my black Sheraton.

 

I'm looking for something that is easily applied' date=' won't stain the binding and won't come off on fingers when it is hot and I am sweaty.

 

Any suggestions?[/quote']

 

I guess I was lucky when I bought my Sheraton II (and my Les Paul Standard Plain-Top VS) that the rosewood on

the fingerboard was already of a dark nature. Personally, I like ebony fingerboards, but unfortunately none of the

Epiphone electric guitars come with one. Even the Les Paul Custom, which surprises me. Whereas if Epiphone is

trying to have their own version of various Gibson models, you'd think they'd go all the way on the Les Paul

Custom (they did with the binding and headstock, but they forgot about the fingerboard). Sorry, I'm beginning to

digress. I don't know why that if you didn't like the appearence of the fretboard that you chose that one guitar

in the first place. Maybe it's because you wanted a black Sheraton, but you could have also shopped around to

find one that had a fingerboard that was more asthetically appealing to you. Unless you got your guitar through

a mailorder distributor; then you didn't have much choice.

 

I know I'm not answering your question directly about how to make your rosewood fretboard darker (yes, I know

some of those lighter rosewood ones can look quite hideous on a guitar, especially if it doesn't blend well with

the rest of it), but next time you go shopping for a guitar, don't just settle. It can be as bad as choosing the wrong

woman.:-

[dbirchett]

I know I'm not answering your question directly about how to make your rosewood fretboard darker (yes' date=' I know

some of those lighter rosewood ones can look quite hideous on a guitar, especially if it doesn't blend well with

the rest of it), but next time you go shopping for a guitar, don't just settle. It can be as bad as choosing the wrong

woman. [/quote']

 

Well,

 

A) I got what I think is a pretty good deal on Ebay. $295.

 

:- It is a great guitar.

 

C) Darkening the fingerboard should not be a hard thing to do.

 

D) The pictures of the fingerboard showed up darker than the guitar actually is.

 

E) It doesn't look that bad as it is, but I am trying to make it better.

 

F) I knew going in that I might have to change some things on it: pickups, electronics, etc. I also knew that the fingerboard could be darkened without too much effort. I'm just asking for suggestions.

 

G) I did very well in the woman department too. I married my trophy wife first. She has put up with me for 32 years.

 

I put some fretboard oil on the guitar and it darkened it somewhat. I think that I am going to get some fret doctor, which is really bore oil and see what it does. I do agree that it would have made a lot of sense on certain guitars: Emperor, Sheraton, LP Custom, SG Custom, Broadway, Blues Zephyr and maybe Joe Pass, for Epiphone to have ponied up for Ebony boards.

[jozluck]

Stew mac has an ebony oil for that specific purpose....as mentioned....get the right product for the right job and be done with it. Any vegitable oil will have surface rancidity ..it gets rancid when combined with O2 and will clog the strings ....I know it looks nice but...you want darker and this product is a dye and mineral oil combined.

[PP_CS336]

 

Well' date='

 

A) I got what I think is a pretty good deal on Ebay. $295..[/quote']

 

You're right there; that is a good deal! Brand new they go for about $599.99 now. When I got mine

two years ago they were going for $529.99. So you can already see that inflation/bad economy has already

affected the price of Epiphone guitars.

 

B) It is a great guitar..

 

You got that right! That's why so many of us on the forum have one. They are very versatile. You can play

most anything...except maybe country and western. You'd have to mod it and put in some twangy pickups. LOL!!!

 

C) Darkening the fingerboard should not be a hard thing to do..

 

Well on this one I'm not sure...Some of the more experienced guys on the web already told you there's some

considerations to make before you do that. My suggestion (and I shoud have said this in my first note) is that

if you have a good guitar technician (many of us usually bring that up) I would take it to him and ask his advice.

I wouldn't want to see you doing something that maybe you're not up to doing (mostly likely your reason for

posting the thread in the first place) and then not be happy with the results. Whenever I'm in doubt' date=' I always

seek a professional to do the work.

 

D) The pictures of the fingerboard showed up darker than the guitar actually is..

 

Yeh, crazy thing about pictures is that angle/shadows, etc. can have a lot to do with how something looks

and in some cases can be deceiving.

 

E) It doesn't look that bad as it is' date=' but I am trying to make it better..[/quote']

 

Owner's perogative.

 

F) I knew going in that I might have to change some things on it: pickups' date=' electronics, etc. I also knew that the fingerboard could be darkened without too much effort. I'm just asking for suggestions..[/quote']

 

Already answered the fingerboard darkening above (see under C.). Yeh, I understand. I bought a used Fender

Telecaster (MIM) and modded it (pickups, pickguard, selector switch, bridge). I still wasn't happy with it, so I traded

it in when I bought my Sheraton II NA. Getting the Sheri was one of the best guitar decisions I've made since

I had to let go of my Gibsons years ago.

 

G) I did very well in the woman department too. I married my trophy wife first. She has put up with me for 32 years.

.

 

Congratulations in this department=d> . I wasn't as lucky (thus the comment). Yes' date=' a good woman is indeed a treasure worth having and holding onto. (as you said, if they can put up with us...LOL!)

 

H) I put some fretboard oil on the guitar and it darkened it somewhat. I think that I am going to get some fret doctor, which is really bore oil and see what it does. I do agree that it would have made a lot of sense on certain guitars: Emperor, Sheraton, LP Custom, SG Custom, Broadway, Blues Zephyr and maybe Joe Pass, for Epiphone to have ponied up for Ebony boards.

 

I'd hold off on that (the bore oil, that is). Although it might make it (the fretboard) darker, it may also leave a residue

that will make your fretboard feel tacky and then you wind up smudging the nice finish on your guitar with oily finger-

prints.

 

I agree with you on what models it would makes sense for Epiphone to pony up with ebony fingerboards. It would

add a lot of class and would also most likely play easier, not to say sound better. But then again, that would drive

up the cost and Epiphone is probably doing what they're doing to make nice guitars more affordable for guys like us who would love to buy a Gibson, but don't have it within our budgets to do so.

 

Anyhow, lots of luck with your Sheraton II for many years to come, let's hope. My NA is getting darker as it gets

older and the grain in the wood looks more and more awesome. When I first got my Martin D-35 in 1983, the

soundboard (Spruce) was almost white. Now after 25 years it's really dark and looks totally different. Almost

like it spent time on the beach at Rio Di Jinero getting a dark, golden suntan.

[Ron G]

I married my trophy wife first.

 

"My friend has a trophy wife, but apparently it wasn't first place" - Steven Wright