Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

[Gearjoneser]

I was wondering if there's any risk in staining a light rosewood fretboard dark?

Is there a good shade of brown to use? Is there any possiblity of the neck warping or twisting from being soaked with stain? Good idea? Bad idea?
I'd make sure the binding or nut doesn't get stained accidentally.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

You might wanna check this out?StewMac finger board stain

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

Thanks for the link. It's interesting that guitar companies use it to hide grain streaks, or to darken light fretboards. As long as I'm careful to not get any excess on other parts of the guitar.

 

[Monty-Jay]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

I've stained dark rosewood with ebony stain and it turns out very nice

MJ

 

[big_black]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

I think Gibson used that stuff on my rosewood board (SG-X)...unless the previous owner did (don't know why they would). The board is rosewood, but it is extremely dark, darker on the face than on the finished sides (which are standard brown). I take some steel wool to it every now and then, the grain is coming through little by little. I really love the guitar, plays awesome. It doesn't really bother me, I just though it was strange to use black instead of a darker brown. It looks alright with the ebony color body.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

i was thinking of trying that stew mac stuff on one or two of my guitars but i just keep putting it off for fear it may look bad. hmmm i think i have an old rosewood board junk neck around here i can test it on now that i think of it.

-Mike

 

[big_black]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

It doesn't look that bad. It is just more noticeable because who ever did it, stained the face after the clearcoat was put on. The 1/8" on the sides are brown, but the face is black-brown. I would try it out on an old fretboard. If you take some steel wool to it, slight grain will show through. Watch out for light (pearloid) fret markers, that is how I first noticed something was not right. Cover them or steel wool them afterward.

 

[Curly]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

I don't get the deal with dark rosewood ... it makes no difference in tone, so who cares if it's light or dark?

 

[big_black]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

Why do you a play blue guitar?

I know, it's just cosmetic. I probably wouldn't do it. I've been scratching my head as to why someone did it to my SG.

 

[SwedeNuck]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

some guitars look akward in my opinion with a light rosewood fretboard, they could definently benefit with a little staining. Some people just wish they had an ebony board too sometimes, that may suffice.

 

[Stringmachine]

Re: Staining a Fretboard. Anybody done it?

I had it done to a LP I had a few years back, which had an extremely light fretboard. I told my gunsmith about it and he had some stain he used on gunstocks. I covered up the binding, nut and inlays with tape and the result was just like a darker rosewood.