Can you dye a board safely with the frets on?!?

[gemini8026]

Might seem like a N00b question, but can you do ebony/rosewood boards safely on a completed neck? OR is it best to do it with the frets off in case of shrinkage or other factors?!?

[quiksilver]

I dyed mine with frets installed and have had no problems.

[gemini8026]

Quik, any pictures or advice?!!? I'll elaborate more on the project once it's a go. Im in negotiations for some gear, and it might involve a little patch work!

[quiksilver]

Sure. Here's a neck I experimented on, with the first fret done in India Ink:

. . . and here's the actual project neck, which I also dyed with India Ink:


You can probably see some variegation in the Jackson fretboard. I should have applied it more evenly. I'm still happy with it, though.

I understand that you can buy actual fretboard dye, and if I were to do it over again, I guess I'd probably buy the real fretboard dye and give it a shot, but India Ink actually worked quite well for me. It was a PITA keeping it off the sharkfins, though.

P.S. That "binding" on the Jackson neck is actually good ol' automotive tape stripe, which I thought looked good. I later stripped the finish off the back of the neck, though (I'm not a fan of painted necks) and haven't yet got around to "binding" it again.

[St.James]

This is the stuff I use to dye my boards with, works great, http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishin...ard_Stain.html

Before you dye it you will want to clean the board thoroughly with Naptha. It will strip it of dirt and oil. Once cleaned and completely dry simply saturate one end of a Q-Tip and from the center of the board start working your way to the edges and be careful because this is oil based dye and it bleeds.

If the board has binding try to get as little as possible on it because its a real pain to scrape off. You can try to avoid getting it on the inlays, but good luck. You can wipe it off as you go with a clean q-tip.

[RacerX]

This was done using Mark's secret technique (not dyed):

[zeegler]

I thought about dying a couple of fretboards, but I'm glad I didn't. It still doesn't look like ebony, just dyed rosewood. Besides, rosewood looks nice.

[toejam]

Might seem like a N00b question, but can you do ebony/rosewood boards safely on a completed neck? OR is it best to do it with the frets off in case of shrinkage or other factors?!?

Just how would you go about taking the frets off?!? It's not an easy task.

[Nazgul]

This was done using Mark's secret technique (not dyed):

How did he do that? I wanna know .

BTW, what's that India Ink you're talking about?

[gemini8026]

ToeJam, I simply wanted to know if it is something you DONT do on a fretboard that is set up and fretted. Obviously wood acts in various ways when subjected to various elements. I wanted to know if it is safe to do on a pricey guitar.

[toejam]

Ah. You'll be fine, don't worry about it.

[gemini8026]

Ok well, here's the scoooooooop. I agree'd to buy a guitar off a fellow JCF'er. He bought it new a while back and it has a streak in the ebony. He is giving me a great deal on it, so I cant pass it up!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/pjg/IMG_0716.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/pjg/guitarsfromdisc001.jpg

Notice that nice streak (some of u may have seen it) Now, any ideas how one might go about patchign it?!? Im not worried abou tit too much, but it would like a little better without it there. Any tips/advice appreciated!

[MetalMedal II]

Wow, at first I thought it was a reflection, but that's a hell of a streak! I'm surprised it left the factory like that, as I thought all ebony boards were dyed just to make things uniform.

[gemini8026]

St James, that stuff u recommended looks great, but Stew - Mac wont ship to me because they say it's flammable

Would anyone have any they could send if I sent some loot there way ?

[toejam]

Wow, at first I thought it was a reflection, but that's a hell of a streak! I'm surprised it left the factory like that, as I thought all ebony boards were dyed just to make things uniform.

Not surprising at all. A lot of ebony has natural streaks in it.