Question for all you guys who own a stratocaster with maple fingerboard. Can you tell me what's wrong with my fingerboard and how is this possible (see pic) Seems like the lacquer is getting under the fingerboard dots. It's a '05 American series.



Thanks,

- RG

Hi,

A common thing I'm afraid on modern Strats finished in poly.

The finish looses its adhesion to the maple (and the dots) and creates the 'milky' look you are seeing.

Looking closely, it looks to me as if it is just starting to lift at the top egde of the lowest fret in your picture too.

I don't think there is a great deal you can do with it to be honest unless anyone else has any tricks?

I personally don't think it helps the situation, the way they leave the finish built up the sides of the frets. This is always prone to chipping and flaking as you slide up and down the fretboard!

Russ

Oh sorry, welcome to the forum!

Thanks for your answer. Have to look really close to see it and it doesn't bother me when i play. I was just curious. And thanks for your welcome, love the forum. Long time reader, first time poster.

I have re-issue vintage-tint maple fretboards on two Strats -- one MIM (12 Y/O), and the other MIJ (5 Y/O). Neither of them exhibit that issue. It must be a phenomenon unique to Corona.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Are they Nitro or Poly Arjay? I think it's just the Poly which presents the problem.

Russ

Agreed. I still love american made guitars but i'm not sure it means as much as it did years ago. Nothing like that in my MIM classic series '50s. Who knows, maybe i'll get a fantastic "relic" fingerboard if those big chunks fall off

The MIM is definitely poly. I'm not sure about the MIJ but I'd suspect the same.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Some of the 90's MIAs have a similar problem. I've seen alot of them with chips on the lower outer edge of the fingerboard like the finish was too thick and lost its adhesion. It could be a humidity issue as well. Drastic temp changes or loss of moisture in the wood can cause the wood to shrink but the finish doesn't.

Of note too is the fact that most OEM 'nondescript' inlay dots nowadays are made from polymers. In this context, this means you are dealing with three never to be synchronized levels of shrinkage and expansion.

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You dig?

I think it could be the copper in the frets reacting to the sweat of the hand destroying the laquer. You can see the greenish oxidated copper at the bottom of the fretwire.

Cheers,
Robin

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http://www.youtube.com/robinstrower
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I've only seen this once before and it was the finish simply pulling away from the dot...it cracked, then flaked off. Not much of an issue after that, the dot stayed in place and unless you really looked at it close then you could barely see it.

Not sure there is anything you can do to stop it.

FWIW

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

Neither of my 08 or 09 show that.
Did it come that way or is that after time? How much time?

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

It's been like that from the beginning. I bought it new (2005). No changes in humidity or temperature, always been inside.