Darken the fretboard

[Special-K]

I have a question...
For those who used leather dye...
Does it come off when you play ?

[straycat]

CR fender uses an amber tint in the clearcoat when doing a 50s reissue neck.

[S-man]

How about bore oil. It's used to condition the bore of woodwind instruments.

[emperor_black]

Thanks for the info guys. I will stay away from over-the-counter products. The article Jacksonwarrior pointed to was very good. I usually dont apply too much of the "cleaning stuff" on my guitars. Just wipe them down with a microfiber cloth and they are as good as the day I got them. Unless they were already battered and bruised before I get 'em. :ROTF: The fretdoctor seems good. Maybe I will order it.

[gemini8026]

I have a question...
For those who used leather dye...
Does it come off when you play ?

I bought the Flebens black leather dye that was recommended by a few people on various boards.

Yes it does come off, and is fairly messy. I wouldnt do it again....

[Special-K]

I bought the Flebens black leather dye that was recommended by a few people on various boards.

Yes it does come off, and is fairly messy. I wouldnt do it again....

Oh that sucks

[Budman68]

Interesting, I have it on a Model 6, Model 750XL, and also the Pink Model 6A (used to be a Model 6) all with crappy looking rosewood boards and it NEVER comes off on my fingers. I have to wonder if it's something in your sweat that reacts with it?

Either that or I just noticed you called it " Flebens " so maybe you bought a less than desirable copy?

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supplies/Colors,_tints,_and_stains/Black_Fingerboard_Stain.html

[37fiat]

The fretboards I "ebonized" with the Fiebens leather dye seem to be holding up very well.
I haven't noticed the freboard getting lighter in color, nor does it seem to be coming off on my fingers, although my fingers do get blackened from the strings if I'm playing for a while. This happens on my other guitars with real ebony boards as well, so it's definitely the strings.

Maybe I just don't play enough to wear the dye off?

Although if the fretboard wasn't thoroughly cleaned before the dye went on,
(with something such as acetone or some solvent to remove the surface oils in the rosewood) the dye may not have penetrated the wood deep enough.

[Zerberus]

I have a question...
For those who used leather dye...
Does it come off when you play ?

Not if you use an oil based one such as Fiebings, which btw is the exact same stuff that Stew-mac and most other luthierie suppliers sell and that practically all luthiers use

If you use a water based one, you may as well just use a magic marker

[emperor_black]

I tried the Kyser stringfellow lem-oil yesterday and it did this to my fretboard. What's the solution/what did I do wrong?

[max]

I tried the Kyser stringfellow lem-oil yesterday and it did this to my fretboard. What's the solution/what did I do wrong?

It reversed the strings?

Seriously, what exactly do you mean?

[emperor_black]

ha ha, very funny. It introduced those white spots!

[max]

You see that on new guitars, too. But to get rid of it, my first approach would be to use a soft toothbrush. No toothpaste though, just the brush and see if it does anything.

[Sergio]

I used toothpaste to clean up some serious scratches on an ebony freatboard... Emperor, I read on my Rhoads user manual to use a small amount of window cleaner (with ammonia); the ammonia will dry a bit the freatboard so you will need to re-oil it... I always do that and it works fine for me, and the enbony is really really dark.

[emperor_black]

so, you think the fretboard is dirty? I thought the fretboard has become "too dry" after using the solution. The product does asks to "soak" for 20 mins before wiping off if the fretboad is too dirty. Maybe that's what I need to do.