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Post subject: How do I darken my fingerboard?
Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:17 am
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How do I darken my fingerboard?
Is rosewood naturally brown, or are they stained at the factory? I like them as dark as possible. Any advice?
Any pics of successful work you have done?


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 7:57 pm
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The fretboard should be a deep dark brown color. As the wood dries out it fades to a lighter color.

To darken it, before your next string change apply pure lemon oil, or fretboard conditioner to the fretboard. Let it soak in overnight. Wipe off any excess that was not absorbed the next day. Then do your string change.


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:27 pm
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But, I see some fender basses with almost black boards, and the same model with very light brown boards. I am under the impression that it is their permanent color.

I have a very dark board, and even though I haven't put oil on it in years it is still very dark.


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:16 pm
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Are you talking about the difference between a maple fretboard and a rosewood board? They are two different fretboard woods. Maple is the lighter color and rosewood the darker.


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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:02 pm
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No, I'm definitely talking about rosewoods that vary in shade from light brown to almost black, and how to make a lighter fboard dark if I want.
Do they stain the fboards at the factory, or is rosewood naturally that color? I think they must stain them, which would account for seeing the same model basses with different fboard shades.
I like the darkest possible and sometimes you don't have a choice, which means you have to darken it yourself. I was wondering how.


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 12:24 pm
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some are just made darker than others, my P bass has a dark rosewood but if you look at other brands like ibanez they have lighter shades. i do believe that you can alter that yourself with some kind of fretboard solution like lemon or somethin


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 2:30 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
The fretboard should be a deep dark brown color. As the wood dries out it fades to a lighter color.

To darken it, before your next string change apply pure lemon oil, or fretboard conditioner to the fretboard. Let it soak in overnight. Wipe off any excess that was not absorbed the next day. Then do your string change.

+1


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:21 pm
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I prefer the darkest possible fret board as well and the lemon oil REALLY works. I got some last time I changed my strings (begining of summer) and it's still lookin' great!


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Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 6:09 pm
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Fender has used other dark fretboard tonewoods besides rosewood. Ebony and pao ferro have been used on some high end basses.

There will be variations in color of the rosewood. Lemon oil (or Fender fretboard conditioner) will darken it a lot until it gradually dries out again over time. A good tech will do a fretboard treatment as part of a setup. It is just something that should be done and right before a string change is the best time because the oil will get onto the strings and deaden them.

Raw tonewoods of all varieties will vary in color, grain and quality. Rosewood is not the only tonewood that lightens in color as it dries out.

On top of the variations in color, grain and quality there are actually several varieties of wood that are all called rosewood and they each look quite different. Initially Brazilian rosewood was used on the early Fenders but for cost reasons as the supply dwindled the switch was made to more abundant Indian rosewood. Brazilian rosewood grows in the rain forest and is now an endangered species that is protected by law from harvesting. So if you have a 1960 rosewood slab neck, you are playing an endangered species!

All raw woods that come in at Corona are sorted by quality and that includes fretboard woods. The very best of the best goes to the Custom Shop, the next best to regular USA production and what is left that is worth using goes to Ensenada.

Rosewood is a very hard and resonant wood, which makes it ideal for use on fretboards and on acoustic guitar bodies. It gets it's name from the flowery fragrance of the wood which can last for years, not from the color.

Another point about rosewood in Fender history is that Fender made some solid rosewood bodied Telecasters in the late 60's. George Harrision had one and played it in the rooftop concert in the film, "Let It Be." The Custom Shop is said to be reissuing this classic instrument. Many acoustic guitar makers offer models with rosewood sides and backs.

Part of the increase in the price of quality guitars over the past 20 years has resulted from the world's supply of tonewoods diminishing which naturally caused prices to rise due to the law of supply and demand. Martin is now making an economy range flattop mostly of composite materials that actually contains hardly an solid wood at all and is mostly laminate material. This is evidence to me that in the not so distant future, a real tonewood instrument will be very, very expensive and Martin is pioneering how to make affordable guitars out of less than ideal materials for the average Joe.


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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:34 am
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Not that I'm going to soak my bass in it or anything, but are there ANY problems associated with the lemon oil treatment?

I want a darker fretboard too!


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Post subject: rosewood fingerboards
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 10:16 am
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I don't think that you will have any problems using any lemon oil product on your bass, if you use a reasonable amount.

A lot of lighter colored rosewood is being used on all instruments made today, and these light boards will never be as dark as Brazilian RW used on Fenders in the 60's.

The other way to darken it is to play it. A lot!

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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:37 pm
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Thanks for all the help, guys.

Does anyone know if the rosewood naturally is colored brown, or if it is stained?


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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:17 pm
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john11.2526@gmail.com wrote:
Thanks for all the help, guys.

Does anyone know if the rosewood naturally is colored brown, or if it is stained?


Yes it varies from brown to almost black. Different pieces of rosewood will be of varying shades as you can see from this photo made in the Fender Corona factory:

Image

It is not stained, otherwise the stain might bleed onto your fingers or into the maple of the neck.


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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:44 pm
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rufus mangler wrote:
Not that I'm going to soak my bass in it or anything, but are there ANY problems associated with the lemon oil treatment?

I want a darker fretboard too!


If you have a rosewood board, a treatment once or twice a year is a good idea.

Apply pure lemon oil or Fender Meguiar's Fretboard conditioner, let soak in overnight but about 24 hours is better. After time is up wipe the excess off, then buff with an old sock and then do a string change. I use an old white sock to remove the excess with a buffing motion under the strings like shining shoes. Just keep rubbing till you don't get anymore product off. It tends to collect around the frets so I pay special attention to both sides of each fret. Lemon oil isn't beneficial for the strings but it won't hurt your instrument. Once you buff off any excess you can safely put fresh strings on.

Some people will remove all the strings to treat the fretboard or even to just change the strings. However I only remove one string and replace it and tune to pitch before removing another string to keep constant tension on the neck. This way the neck remains more stable so that neck adjustments are minimized so long as I keep using the same exact string set.


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Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 9:52 pm
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Roadie
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I just did my neck last night and it drank the fender fretboard conditioner right up. Doing a second round tonight.
Thanks for all he amazing info Brother Dave. I bookmarked your page and read around some. Fascinating info! I just ordered the Carol Kaye book. Can't wait to go through it. Do they sell all her books in a set?


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