Need fretboard cleaning tips before "ebonizing"

[Inazone]

Got home today to find a package from Stew-Mac waiting for me: the fretboard stain I ordered! The rosewood board on my TH-2 Stealth is pretty craptastic, so I decided to try ebonizing it, along with installing some pickups and installing locking tuners. The tuners are done, so I want to do the fretboard next.

I have scraped most of the "finger cheese" off the board, but wasn't sure if it would be good or bad to use any sort of cleaner on it prior to applying the stain. The stain is oil based, and obviously I want it to soak in properly. Suggestions?

[DonP]

Naptha (lighter fluid).

[RobRR]

Good luck with it... I cant get the stain to stay on the neck I did... rubs off on heavily played areas. Oh well, at least it looked good when I first did it!

[37fiat]

I just ebonized the fretboard on my 650xl, and it came out great.

A lot of work, but worth it.

I used wash n' wipe (DuPont) autobody cleaner to get the fingerboard really clean. Naptha would work as well. I used a small bristle brush immersed in the solvent to get all the crap out of the rosewood, scrubbing with the grain. This helped remove the white crap that was embedded in the rosewood grain.

The dye I used was very similar to the one from Stewmac, but it's not oil based (guessing it's alcohol based). It's leather dye and I actually got it from the local shoe store. It's the same manufacturer (Flebing) as the oil based one from Stewmac.

You have to be REAL careful around the paint and the binding. It dyes everything quickly. Well almost everything. It didn't seem to color the inlays at all.

I used a q-tip, and applied it to 4 frets at a time. Wiped and rubbed them out thoroughly, then moved on to the next 4.
I had to scrape the binding next to the rosewood with a sharp chisel (razor blade would work too) after to get it back to it's natural color, as the dye colored it slightly. That was a big pain in the ass!

I let the dye dry for about 6 hours, then coated the fretboard with oil and buffed the hell out of it..
It's not solid jet black, as you can see just a few streaks of very very dark brown in a few areas. This is due to the original wood grain of the rosewood.

It almost seems as if there might be white specks in the grain from that picture, but there aren't any, it's just the way the light hits it.

[Niccolai]

first of all, painters tape does NOT work for masking off inlays and binding. the dye is the consistancy of water and seeps right under the tape.

your frets do not need to be masked off, as they don't stain, and usually inlays don't either (some inlays are cheap plastic and do stain though).


if you have a binding however, it WILL stain and it is the biggest bitch in the world to clean. So I recomend staying away from the binding and just doing the middle of the frets, then going back with a cotton swab and doing near the bidning carfully.


also, after your done and it's completely dry, lemon oil the fret board once or twice.


do NOT EVER use an alchohol bases fretboard cleaner after you stain the fretboard. even after two years, alchohol will make the dye run everywhere and it will look like crap.

[straycat]

Will the dye come off on your fingers?

[Inazone]

This fretboard isn't bound. Any advice for getting the edges dyed without it spreading to the maple?

[m2pmd70]

Carefully applied packaging tape maybe? Do let us know how it turns out.

[37fiat]

Always use vinyl or silicone gloves. That shit will turn your skin black for a long time!

Inazone, the dye you have isn't as aggressive as the alcohol based dye, so there's a good chance the following will work.

Clean the entire side of the neck with a good degreaser. Dish soap and water should work. That wash n' wipe stuff certainly would do it. You need it oil/grease free for the tape to stick well.

You should tape off the maple part of the neck starting with 3/8" autobody pinstriping tape next to the edge of the fretboard. Press it down well, use the back of your fingernail. Mask off all of the back of the neck with just regular masking tape, only because it's easy to have a bit of dye on your finger that you didn't notice and then you grab the neck = screwed.
Once the neck is taped off, take a folded piece of old t-shirt and pour a bit of stain on it. You don't want it dripping or really wet, just enough there to transfer on to the edge of the fretboard. You don't want it to seep under the tape. Don't push the cloth into the edge of the tape, or it will seep under, just rub up and down along the neck gently using one finger under the cloth.

Once one side is done, take the tape off to make sure no seepage underneath. If there is, you may be able to clean it off with a q-tip immersed in naptha, acetone or that wash n' wipe stuff. Time is of the essence here.

Retape the same way as before, then do the other side, then the top of the fretboard as I had mentioned in my previous post.

Only reason to retape is to prevent any accidents on the maple, as you shouldn't have to go over the edges again, but tape is cheap.

I like to use autobody supplies for these types of projects. They seem to work the best.

Good luck! The results are worth it!!

[mm2002]

Vodka is the best thing I've found for cleaning fretboards. Take about two shots before you start, and then a shot about every fourth fret. By the time you're done, the board will be clean and you'll feel great! By then you'll probably not even care about staining it.

[kelly user]

i prefer jack daniels, or maybe a little moonshine, that shit will melt your frets off

[RobRR]

Will the dye come off on your fingers?

Yes.

[Budman68]

Not sure why the dye is coming off in your hands, I have done this to 3 of my guitars: 2 Model 6's and a 750 XL all with open grained rosewood boards and none of them give me any black on my fingers. I use naptha and a good stiff brush to get into the grain and used one application of dye. After they dried I used lemon oil to "freshen" up the wood and never had a problem since. They've all been done at least 6 months ago (the Pink Model 6A Has been at least 2 years now I think!).


Just to add, this is the same exact material that high end guitar companies use to even out their streaky ebony boards...

[sully]

one tip about the pinstripers tape: DON'T pull it tight as you're laying it down (the tape, that is). vynl stripe tape will stretch back to how it was and can screw up your lines.

...don't ask how i know this!

[Special-K]

If you do it with winegear and steel wool does it come off?