Hey everyone,

I purchased a 2007 American Standard two years ago, and although it plays like a dream, I cannot help but be bothered by one particular detail. The rosewood fretboard is REALLY dark, and resembles ebony more so than it does rosewood. In fact, there are barely any grooves on the fretboard, it is just a plain, solid black. Please excuse my ignorance on the matter, but is this normal or is it a factory defect? Here are some images I uploaded.
Any response is welcomed.


By rhcpfan, shot with DSC-W7 at 2009-03-11


By rhcpfan, shot with DSC-W7 at 2009-03-11


By rhcpfan, shot with DSC-W7 at 2009-03-11

My response? I may be in the minority here, but I think your fretboard is ... beautiful.

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I agree.

Rosewood varies quite a bit from species to species, even from tree to tree. But yours looks as if it has been dyed. It could be someone didn't like the grain and dyed it.

I think it looks way too good to be called a defect. It really sets off your paint job.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Is this guitar NOS or pre-owned?

Because if you bought it from someone else, I'd guess the board had been dyed with something like this:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_s ... Stain.html

Because I've never seen any rosewood that black. I like it: I have an ebony board on my Strat by choice.

Thanks for the replies everyone. In response to SlapChop, I bought the guitar brand new and ordered it from Fender themselves.

I like em dark. In fact, i can't say this for sure, but it seems as tho the darker ones have been the ones that sound best to me. One thing i CAN say is that i have noticed exceptionally light rosewood does seem to not sound as good. Could have been coincidence tho. In any case, i like it darker.

It could do with a clean. That may help things lighten up a little. It is slightly darker than normal but beautifull non the less, that darker than normal appearance is what i aim for when cleaning mine. The grey/white deposits in the grain are a pet hate on my guitars. Its caused by dry skin rubbing into the board.
Get a soft toothbrush and some lem oil. Absolutely douse the board in oil and scrub with the grain using the toothbrush. That should remove some of the duller blacker area's. What i do to stop the grey/white deposits is after treating/cleaning the board rub the board over with fast fret and leave it to dry in for a couple of hours.

Not a permanent solution but it keeps the white stuff out of the grain.

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No no and no

One thing we all leave out of this conversation on lemon oil is:

Only use lemon oil you get from the guitar store, or a hardware store, it is really mineral oil with lemon scent.

There is also lemon oil for cooking (for salad dressings and such,)which is actually made from lemon peel and is extremely acidic. using that stuff will eat the glue your frets were seated with. It may also bleach or pit your board if you are unlucky.

also i would suggest if you follow niki's advice(I did this operation on a board that was sitting in a gig bag for over 10 years,it needed a lot of love.)work in stages on the fret board. don't douse the whole thing all at once. maybe a 2 or 3 fret area. Work on that then move on. You don't want to oversaturate the board with the oil. And make sure you wipe off the excess. You don't want a lot more oil than the board will absorb easily. be careful to not slop stuff around the edges of the frets. You really don't want any kind of liquid to get between the freta and the wood. Personally I apply heavy coats of oil with a 'Q-Tip' swab. I apply heavy in the area between the frets, and work it slowly to the edges. My belief is that the wood will saturate , and absorb enough from the top, and I always try be careful around the frets.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Thank you for mentioning that. I have brought up that point in past threads. I pointed people to the Martin Guitar web site where they say about "real" lemon oil:



I use Bore Oil on my rosewood fingerboards. It's cheap from local music stores (in the woodwind section), but I think it just may be mineral oil.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I had an acoustic (Red Gibson Hummingbird copy) with a rosewood fretboard as dark as yours. Was virtually black and I think it looks great with the red finish.

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MIM Std Tele, MIM HSS Strat, Homemade Mongrel Tele, Blues Jr, Champ600, coupla pedals...sweeeet!

This one of mine has a very dark fingerboard:



Years and years of finger dirt and oil rubbed into it!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

It's a natural wood, and the coloration vary.

Myself, I much prefer the darker wood. In fact, I don't like the light rosewood necks - they look cheap to me. I've even stained them in the past to make them darker, which I find much more appealing.

in my experience dark rosewood is very desirable.

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Custom Shop '59 Strat with John Cruz Master Design Pickups
Vibro King
Fulltone Clyde>Deja-Vibe>TS-808>TS-9>Boss Tuner

Yeah man! Brazillian!

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Some information from a wood working site.

Rosewood is a common name for many different woods, often causing confusion. In general, rosewoods have deep red and brown tones and beautiful grain making them ideal for furniture and musical instruments. Some woods are known as rosewood as well as other names such as Cocobolo, Kingwood, and Tulipwood.

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