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#1
11-28-2016, 11:21 AM
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Fretboard Finishing Question
Hey, y'all. So I'm rebuilding a high-end acoustic that a friend gave me after his "guitar-expert" dad thrashed this guitar. I'm patching a couple holes in the sides, removing what's left of the binding, fixing some other things, and refinishing the whole thing. It's got a rosewood fretboard that I've removed because I want to do something truly custom with this guitar, and I was thinking about doing some kind of figured charcoal-gray fretboard. So that leads me to my questions:
1. Do any of y'all have a recommendation for a good tonewood that is or could be stained that color (I'm trying to avoid ebony)? 2. Would y'all recommend sealing the wood with an oil or lacquer? I've done something similar on a curly maple strat neck, but this is rarely traversed territory with acoustics. 
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#2
11-28-2016, 04:58 PM
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Welcome to the forum, Carson.
It always helps with visualizing things if you post a pic of the instrument, or at least mention the name of the builder/manufacturer and the model. I can't help you with charcoal grey, but if you are looking for a radical alternative to ebony, wenge looks and functions great on a fretboard... you need to do a lot of pore filling, but the end result is well worth it. And definitely does not require oil or lacquer.
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#4
11-28-2016, 06:17 PM
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Quote:
If the wood is light in colour, we seal it to protect it from staining. If the wood is dark in colour, we oil it, you can also seal it if you wish. Steve
__________________
Cole Clark Fat Lady Gretsch Electromatic Martin CEO7 Maton Messiah Taylor 814CE
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#5
11-28-2016, 06:56 PM
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Quote:
Very little difference in neck function. Its not tonewood by any means. Oil or lacquer are two completely opposite treatments. If it's a high end acoustic, you probably want to do a lot more research before thrashing it worse.
__________________
Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" Taylor GC7, GA3-12, SB2-C, SB2-Cp...... Ibanez AVC-11MHx , AC-240
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#6
11-28-2016, 10:43 PM
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What kind of guitar is this, by the way? I suppose figured maple could be stained charcoal grey, and it could be oiled or lacquered, but a high end acoustic usually deserves to remain as close to its original design as is practical. If the guitar's "thrashed", then the damage is done, so it makes for a good learning opportunity. Part of the learning experience when it comes to lutherie involves learning which woods and finsihes are appropriate, which modifications are acceptable, and which are not.
What I'm getting at here is that stained, finished fingerboards are generally not appropriate on an acoustic guitar, and if you were to make that modification, I believe most of the members here would consider it tacky and inappropriate. Of course it's your guitar and you can do with it as you wish, but a dark wood that is very hard and resinous that is left unfinished is the traditionally accepted fingerboard material for a good reason - because it's the wood that's best suited for the job. There are many choices available from various luthier suppliers. I recommend you choose from those, and don't bother finishing it. There are plenty of good books and internet tutorials about how to repair, restore, and finish guitars. I recommend that you take your time and follow the instructions of an expert rather than just purchasing the materials and figuring it out as you go. The latter is a recipe for amateur results. The true challenge when a guitar has been thrashed, is to try to make it look and function like it hadn't been thrashed. Good luck with your endeavor.
__________________
https://www.reverbnation.com/bootheelers
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#7
11-29-2016, 09:43 AM
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I was about to respond first to this post, but resisted.
I'll echo what some of the others have stated... 1) If it is a "high end" guitar, then why change the fingerboard and the builder's aesthetic color schome? 2) Solid dark colored wood is my recommended choice for fingerboards. Non-finished fingerboards are easier to service for future fingerboard work of any sort. A wenge fingerboard becomes a wenge and filler fingerboard, since the wenge by itself is inadequate. 3) Wenge can be bleached to a grey-ish color. Maple can be stained to grey. But why...??
__________________
---- Ned Milburn NSDCC Master Artisan Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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#8
11-29-2016, 01:50 PM
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Wenge will bleach to a very striking brown and white stripe.
__________________
"Still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest." --Paul Simon
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#9
11-29-2016, 05:15 PM
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Fretboard
Might try Katalox...
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#10
11-29-2016, 08:55 PM
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It's a Yahama, formerly a mid-priced one. The fingerboard is chipped and beat to hell. It's missing a couple frets. There are a few holes in the sides from where he kept messing around with preamps and jacks and cutting bad holes. It's missing half of the neck binding. Some of the binding around the top is missing and the wood is chipped on the edges. It's missing the bridge. My original plan was to just restore it, but my friend that gave it to me wanted me to refinish it and build a custom bridge for it. He died, and it's in bad enough shape that I don't mind trying new things on it. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.
Troutmeister, that Katalox looks perfect. I'll have to look into that. Hot_Vibrato, that's one thing I meant to ask was the general protocol with fretboard finishing for acoustics. I won't finish it that way then. As far as repairing it goes though, I've been doing repairs for a long time, and I'm very comfortable with that. I just don't do acoustic finishes at the moment. I stick with electrics for that. It's easy and safe for now. Thanks for the info, y'all! Like I said, I'll post pictures tomorrow. It would be easy to restore this to its original specs, but I wouldn't feel right doing that. I'll be keeping this guitar and gigging with it when it's finished.
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