You don't have to pull frets. Rockler has wood filler that you can use to fill the gouges with a putty knife. You can then use 1,200 grit to remove the excess putty and 4,000 grit, 12,000 grit to sand smooth. I sand every neck that I get and the 4,000 and 12,000 grit only smooth out the finish without removing it. I also use a felt block from Rockler with jewelers rouge aka buffing compound stick to shine the frets and remove dimples.
Care to elaborate?ABSOLUTELY FRICKING NOT!
Looks like rosewood...considered a "hardwood". If your fretboard wood is hard enough to hold the frets in, it's hard enough to resist wear from normal playing.
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Also, as someone else pointed out on here and linked an interesting article, being a "hardwood" has little to do with being harder to the touch or resistive to wear -many softwoods are much harder than many hardwoods. It had to do more with the growth rate and internal structure of the wood to classify it for industrial application -rather than the actual hardness.
That is a good point. Balsa is classified as a hardwood, in case you're interested.
I would oil it and let the oil soak in for a bit
The dents might just lift out
It's not like you've been chipping at it
Oh and trim your fingernails