OK-I have an 89 USA STD (I bought new in 89 :-) A 2008 USA Strat DLX and a USA 2009 STD Tele. So today I bought my first non-american Strat. No hidden meanings please-it's Just a fact. Anyway I have never(been playing about 25+ years) played any Fenders with a rosewood fingerboard. Well not for any length of time I mean.
Tonight while breaking in the Blacktop(btw I like the oickups, don't like the knobs and already changed the tuners to some old locking schallers I had.
The rosewood is actually making my fingers black? Is this normal? Do I need to oil it or something? I bought this NEW today at GC-no used ones here in florida that I could find-plus I really wanted the Sonic blue.
Sorry for my rosewood ignorance :-(
The Strat is Sonic Blue-looks great-
Thanks
Frank

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11B4Y'Boxcars 69
1989 USA STD Strat, 2008 USA Deluxe Strat, 2009 USA Std Tele-Fractal Audio AXEFX II

Probably some stain or dye they used on the wood to darken it some. I'd take an old T shirt or some other soft cloth and buff it really good.

Never had that problem with any rosewood necks, but then again, the LP I have and my RW fretboard Strat were both bought used so I don't know what they were like on day one.

Jeff

OK-Jeff-Sounds like a good idea. I'll do that tomorrow.
Thank You

Not the strings? I have never had that with a RW board, only with 'new' strings on a new guitar that came with who-knows-what kind of corrosion on them. Change the strings and it stopped. But from the wood itself??

My Gibson Les Paul Studio used to give me black fingers for about the first week or so. Once the stain dries or wears off, it will no longer happen Good quality rosewood that is uniformly dark, or the same shade from one end of the board to the other is nice, but because not all of our rosewood is like that, they stain or dye it to be uniformly dark.

Definitely the fingerboard-I took a soft cloth to it this morning.
Thanks guys

Very, very typical of Rosewood fretboards. They absorb oil and it rubs off on your fingers for a while after they've been treated. Happens to me very often.

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Well, rosewood aside-as I sateed this is my first (and probably last) MIM Strat. I cannot set the intonation no matter how hard I try,. I do know what I am doing and i have all the right tools. The neck has a nice .10 amount of reliefI(like my USA Strats. Neck was a bit crooked but I straightened it and it's right on now. I cannot get the Low E to be anywhere near close to being intonated. It is extremely sharp. The saddle has no more play backwards. I have lowerred the saddle as much as possible, still no luck and that also takes the radius way out. I am very meticulous with the intonation and the bridge radius. The radius is "perfect". I give up on the low E. I guess my only choice is to return the guitar. The truss rod is also suspect. Nearly impossible to get the HUGE allen wrench out, that's if your lucky enougfh to get it in. The neck will not adjust anymore than it is. I figured maybe if I take out a bit more relief(flatten the neck, this would give the nut to saddkle more length. Well, cannot adjust the neck anymore.
I know I will get all kinds of grief about this but to me it's just inferior. I am not a USA made snob,Although I am a vet of a war. But this is ridiculous. Honestly otherwise the guitar plays and sounds real nice-such a shame
Just had to vent
Thanks
EDIT: I must add that I lock the bridge on all my Strats-yes I do and have done so since around the middle 80's. This MIM has the vintage bridge which I am not use to. But, I did try the intonation even before I tightened down the bridge. It was much worse. Logic dictates that raising the bridge so it floats moves the saddles even "closer" to the nut-making this situation so much worse. Back to GC unless someone here knoes a secret

Pathfinder,
could be the nut slot isn't cut right on the E string. If it's sharp all the way up and down the neck, my first place to look would be how high that string is off the first fret. Hold the string between the 2nd and 3rd fret. It should just barely clear the first fret. If there's a gap there, the nut slot can be taken down some. That would help a lot. If the nut slot is cut right, I'm not sure what to tell you. If the other strings are not going sharp, I doubt if it's the frets.

I've not seen a Strat that I couldn't get intonation right. I had a Les Paul that was a bear to get set up but once it was set up, it played right from that point forward. Even with a couple cheap Strat-like copies I've set up for friends, I have always been able to get them pretty darn close if not dead on. There will always be some compromise with intonation but I've not had one that could not be made to work with some fiddling around.

Question, did you change string gauge?

Hope you get it sorted out. If not, yes, return it for something that works better for you. No need to be frustrated with a guitar. Life is far too short.

Jeff

Hey Jeff
I've already put it away for the night-had something to finish so I got my 89 out. I will look at what you mention. Didn't look at the nut so I obviously don't know everything
As I stated-I like the sound, like the neck and love the body and the color. I did figure on changing the tuners and the pups. The tuners I already had-nice locking schallers fro th early 90's. But since I don't think I need to change the pups I am hoping I can get this to work. Even if I had to change the bridge assembly, which isn't real hard anyway.
I will post back tomorrow after work-I'll have my fingers crossed as I sleep
Thanks Jeff-
Frank
EDIT: what I really would like to do is replace the whole bridge assembly-either with a hardtail from Gotoh or a 2 point tremolo

I rub a few drops of olive oil in my rosewood necks and that protects and cleans them too, it also brings out a deeper colour / color ? hope this helps cheers Vinny Pop

I've heard of the saddles not going back far enough on occasion, did you cut the spring in half? It helps to pull the saddle back even further....

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Olive Oil? Must make your Strat finger licking good. Lemon Oil works great, olive oil seems to be a little too greasy, but you'll never worry about the strings rusting out...

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Hi pathfinder69: hmm, several issues here and I guess in the end you may just want to give up and take it back. Stop wasting time on it. But in case not...

For what it's worth, saddles not intonating because of faulty bridge placement is something that rarely seems to happen in these days of CNC building. Though it would be fascinating if you felt like taking a really accurate measurement of the speaking length of the string from the front edge of the nut to the breaking point on the saddle, just so's we can compare it to a normal measurement - we'll need to know the gauge of the E string you're using. It's not increadibly huge or anything, is it?

Of course, in the unlikely event you do have a mis-positioned bridge you have an open and shut case for replacement of the guitar under warranty. So that measurement will help.

Alternatively. Sometimes when people have this issue it is solved simply by changing the string - there are occasionally duff (or just old) strings out there that won't intonate properly. Cutting the saddle spring in half to give yourself more room to play with is the other common way to go, but of course that will make taking the guitar back difficult.

Regarding the trussrod: forgive me if I'm telling you stuff you already know. Obviously, I don't know your skill level. But trussrods often behave better if you slacken the strings right off so there is no tension on them at all and then make the rod adjustment. Sometimes techs even pull a neck into the position they want by careful clamping on a workbench and then make the rod adjustment to match - but I hesitate to suggest that on a guitar you might be returning. Your call.

Good luck with it - C

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Well, my skill level is pretty high but by no means a trained tech. just many, many years of guitars-all fenders
I am using 9-42's basic ernie ball slinks. I use them on my 89 and 08 deluxe strats. Also on my 09 tele. As i staed they are all USA Stds or deluxes. I only have had the Strat for 2 days so GC has the 30 day deal so I sure don;t want to break anything. I mentioned, I hope I lock down my bridges-I tighte the claw screw and add 2 springs to make 5. I just like the sound and feel I get that way. I haven't started again yet but taking the guitar out of the case I i=mmediately noticed the neck is flatter? I have plenty of strings so I will change the Low E and also loosen the tension if I need to adjust the truss rod. I am sure you and theothers are right about the bridge. The nut looks OK-perfect 9 1/2 radius. I was hoping it was the nut slot on the low E. It could go down a little bit so I should try that shortly.
You folks have been great and I sure appreciate it. I want this to work beciause I love the neck and like the body. I have heard and read so much about necks on MIM being hit or miss. This neck, fret and fingerboard and feel are fabulous so I will keep on trying things you guys mention.
I am not giving up just yet
Thanks
Frank