Whatever happened to.....

[bombtek]

The deep, dark, and rich looking rosewood fretboard wood that J/C used to employ on even their "cheap" import models?
Like this...


Non ebonized, simply lemon oiled.
(Fucking LOVE this guitar and will never get rid of it)

For comparison
On the left is my 2013 Fender Japan walnut stained ash Stratocaster. Awesome guitar that I was REALLY lucky to get (limited edition Japan only)
On the right is the 1988 Charvel 5FX. Honestly nothing special when new as in you could order or buy one pretty easily in 1988/89.
Both are of very similar build quality. Both have excellent components, and both are pro worthy instruments. High fucking quality.
I've oiled both necks (keep them oiled on a consistent basis), but look at that difference!

[Guitarkid8]

While the rosewood does get darker with age and oils, the quality of wood back then was better. It's such a problem with Chinese furniture making depleting the resource that it is included in the CITES. You can darken your new board to look like your older one, here's a link to my thread where I was thinking the same thing.

http://www.jcfonline.com/threads/151184-Minwax-Ebony-Stain-Pen-on-Rosewood-Fretboard

[toejam]

I don't know, but the lighter rosewood looks great to me, and it matches well with your walnut stained body.

[bombtek]

Yeah, I think the same on that particular guitar. I used that one as the a/b example because it is my guitar with the greatest age span with the Charvel and it had just been oiled along with the Charvel.
I'd never ebonize that one because it does that guitar so well, but have considered it on some of my agile l.p. copies.

[bombtek]

With nothing lighting them, the Charvel board looks damn near black.

[Mudlark]

Could just be that they choose a lighter type of rosewood. Could've been an economic decision...better deal offered on the lighter type at that moment in time.
Could indeed be that darker rosewood is getting harder/more expensive to obtain.

That really dark stuff definitely isn't as common these days.

There are recent JS series models with 'rosewood' listed boards that are black. Pretty obvious they were stained or dyed.
I'd love to know what they looked like before being darkened.

I picked up a new Mexican DK2 a couple weeks ago with an ebony board that had a beige streak 4-6 inches long by 3/4 inch wide. I don't think I've seen that before on the many pics posted online of those models. It was coal black otherwise.
I'll be keeping an eye out on the ebony from the recent Pros now to see how common the streaking is, and the darkness of the rosewood on the X series.

On a somewhat related topic, in the very near future I'll be trying some India ink in my up-to-now futile attempt to ebonize my rosewood.

[bombtek]

Never used it on a fretboard, but kiwi black leather dye turns wood INSTANTLY black. Spilled some on a light oak hardwood floor in army housing back when I was in. It took HOURS of sanding then refinishing to fix it so I could clear housing.
That's the stuff I'm going to use if I do decide to ebonize one of my Agile guitar fretboards.

[Axewielder]

I'm convinced there is a secret vault somewhere with stockpiles of that old rosewood and ebony, chrome JT6 arms, chainsaw cases with all working latches, the Ark of the Covenant, and a couple VVV's.

Oh and Trump's tax returns.

[Mudlark]

Up until Guitar8 posted this video earlier this week, I would've used leather dye. I'm not saying leather dye won't work and won't fade, but this guy made me a believer in the India ink. A luthier told me a couple weeks ago he would dye my board with leather dye, but he all but guaranteed me it would fade with time. UV protection or something along those lines is part of the problem.

Troubling to me is: I'm certain many people have had good results with leather dye on here and elsewhere. So...:dunno:

At 18:40 he begins about the leather dye and a few minutes later is the ink. I ordered a $3.99 2 ounce bottle a day or so ago and am planning on posting my results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0E7E6uSPJY&app=desktop

[toejam]

Could just be that they choose a lighter type of rosewood. Could've been an economic decision...better deal offered on the lighter type at that moment in time.
Could indeed be that darker rosewood is getting harder/more expensive to obtain.

I got a brand new Fender USA hardtail double fat strat back in 2001 from Musician's Friend. The rosewood board was so pale and sickly from the factory, but it got oiled and looked amazing afterwards, pretty damn dark. I really couldn't believe it was the same board.

[Mudlark]

Damn, that's cool.

[TKEblue]

My RR3 is so dark people think it's ebony. I've done nothing to it, I suppose a previous owner could have but I've had the guitar for at least 4 years and it looks the same as when I got it.. My 650xl is about the same, perhaps ever so slightly lighter. Then with my ke3r there's no confusing it as anything else. I believe the ke3 serial starts with 96 and the RR3 with 98. Still both are fairly recently made, pretty big variation.

And sweet model 5! I have my eye on something very very similar

[Mudlark]

The KE3R is late '90s-early 2000's with the satin chrome hardware and a 96 serial.
The RR3 would be '07-'11 with a 98 serial.

I'd call my 2011 rosewood medium to dark...more medium than dark, though.

[bombtek]

Yeah, that RR3 is DARK. Nice!