Ebony fretboard repair

[Sharkfin]

I checked my Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Erlewine and surprisingly didn't find any info there. The ebony board has a 3 spots where there are basically holes in the board. They aren't huge, but not tiny and doesn't appear to affect playability but I would like to repair it.

I had a StewMac newsletter with the steps to fix this but I deleted it months ago. I know I'll need ebony dust, some type of adhesive and various grits sandpapers. Is anyone familiar with this repair?

Even though it's not necessary to repair, I welcome the challenge to try and repair it. I think it's fun.

[Jacksonguy666]

Just don't wreck your jackson.

[sully]

if you can post some pix, that'd be helpful. Keep in mind that if it's larger areas, you're pretty much always going to see it. That said, in a nutshell, you'll need:

single edge razor blades
water thin CA glue
CA accelerator
00 - 0000 grade steel wool
fretboard oil

Scrape the area that you want to fill; this will generate the dust you need. Pile the dust into the craters, hit it with CA glue, then accelerator. File/scrape the area flush.

Hit the scraped area with your steel wool to blend it back to the rest of the board, then oil the scraped area.

[Sharkfin]

Just don't wreck your jackson.

Never! Especially if your careful, do the appropriate research and follow directions.

[Sharkfin]

Here's the best pic I could get. It's on the bass side of the 10th fret

[atdguitars]

if you can post some pix, that'd be helpful. Keep in mind that if it's larger areas, you're pretty much always going to see it. That said, in a nutshell, you'll need:

single edge razor blades
water thin CA glue
CA accelerator
00 - 0000 grade steel wool
fretboard oil

Scrape the area that you want to fill; this will generate the dust you need. Pile the dust into the craters, hit it with CA glue, then accelerator. File/scrape the area flush.

Hit the scraped area with your steel wool to blend it back to the rest of the board, then oil the scraped area.

sully is dead on with his info..Its the same thing I do here at the shop.
I do keep an old ebony board for extra dust when the need arises.

[sully]

oh! for that, you could try a damp rag and a soldering iron to steam the dents out. try that first, but don't soak the board or anything crazy like that.

[Sharkfin]

I found the newsletter: http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/...tboardfix.hzml

I also took another look at the fretboard and I do think something was dropped on it rather than being dug out. I may try the damp cloth and soldering iron method. That is in the Guitar Repair Guide. I may just leave it as is, but I appreciate the input

[sglguitars]

I would agree with the techniques Sullly suggested. However, if you're that much of a perfectionist to have your guitar blemish free, I would strongly advise you to find a pro in your area to do the work for you. Superglues are indispensable in the guitar workshop, but you can very easily wreck a guitar in less than 2 seconds with the stuff, especially when mixing it with dust etc! Same with the soldering iron repair... its a fine line between applying enough heat to draw the wood and enough to melt or burn the binding.
Good luck!
Simon

https://www.sglguitars.co.uk

[Sharkfin]

I hear you, especially since it's right up next to the binding. The last thing I want to do is ignite it, and cause more damage.

[sully]

judging by the pic, it's an easy fix, man.

sully

[sglguitars]

I agree but...

Yup I agree... its an easy fix. Trouble is I just spent the last 20 years making a big chunk of my living outa repairing other peoples DIY repairs... most of them starting off as easy glue jobs!
Had a guy a few weeks ago who is a reasonably capable fella who'd tried super-gluing a loose fretboard inlay in a Custom Shop Les Paul. Got a little too much glue on there, it ran all around two frets, dribbled around the back of the neck, ruined the nitro finish. While desperately trying to stop the impending damage he got glue on his fingers and stuck them to the lovely quilted maple front of the body.
Result: Major paint repair to the body, re-spray of the neck, tricky tidy-up of the fretboard and inlay, total cost £220.
The initial inlay repair would have cost maybe £20... and if (unlikely) the Tech messed it up, he'd have had to put it right. When someone does this kind of DIY job... he's on his own.
Super Glues can be very very destructive when things go wrong!!
Simon.

[Sharkfin]

sooo a year later... I went to a local violin shop and the luthier there was nice enough to give me some scrap ebony; a while LOT of ebony. I got a violin finger board for free. Nice guy... any how I'l gonna tackle this as soon as I get the CA accelerator. Or could I do without it and let the glue dry on it's own?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I personally don't use accelerator. Mainly because I don't have any. I just let it dry for 1/2 hour or so.

[Sharkfin]

Great! Thanks