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

[Tiddles]

Is it ebony or rosewood? Well either way I’d definitely leave it natural … it’s wood, and real wood has natural variation, that’s a big part of it’s charm, & features like that distinguish it from featureless plastic!

Yeah I know ebony is regarded as a classy option on some guitars, & I like ebony (I have a Les Paul with ebony board), but still I think guys make a mistake when then reject fretboards or burst tops with unusual streaks, figuring & colour effects etc… it’s distinctive & tasteful imho.

Ian.

[gemini8026]

Yah, it doesnt overly bother me...... I just figured it might be an easy fix to keep some sort of "symmetry" to the guitar.

[JZ06]

I am glad I viewed this post as the purple jackson I scored has a rosewood board. I prefer the looks of ebony over rosewood.

Thanks for sharing this. One more reason this is a terrific forum. LOTS of knowledge.

[Regor]

You can absolutely dye a fretboard safely with the frets on. Has no bearing on the frets at all.

I did a little tutorial over at SS.org about it. Fretboard care and dying:
http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8862

Here's a pic of the finished product. First try too. One's an RG7420, the other is an RG7621. Basically the same guitar, so the necks are the same. The 7420 is the dyed board.

[Spivonious]

What's wrong with Rosewood? I like the redder/browner color.

About the streak, wow! Good luck on the staining. I've never done it, but since the fretwire is metal, it shouldn't absorb any of the stain. I'd be worried about getting the stain on the neck and having ugly dark spots.

[gemini8026]

Nice job Regor. I wouldnt be doing a FULL dye, just touching up that one blonde streak, however im guessing that even with a touchup there will be different degree's of black, so it may require a full job.

[Regor]

If you wanna just try soaking in the streak, then try it. But if it looks like it didn't work right, just go ahead and dye the whole thing. The saddle dye doesn't come off at all, and I've sweat all over the thing. So no worries there. Just apply an even coat over all of the frets to even it out. Should work fine.

[Regor]

What's wrong with Rosewood? I like the redder/browner color.

Rosewood boards show 'wear & tear' more than a black board. The brownish color of a rosewood board will fade in-between 'fretcare'. Dying it makes it black no matter what. Always looks good.

I'd be worried about getting the stain on the neck and having ugly dark spots.

There's nothing to worry about if you do it right. Follow my instructions and there's no risk of getting it on the neck.

[gemini8026]

Yes, thanks Regor. You've got a great informative article there and I do appreciate the other tips as well. Im gonna give my guitars a lil fret love tomorrow night

[St.James]

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 ?

See if you have a leather shop in your area. All that dye is is saddle dye.

[gemini8026]

St James, leather dye?!?

[Regor]

Yup. Leather dye. Fiebing's is the stuff most recommended. Saddle dye is just a type of leather dye (for horse saddles). There's a couple of people on SS.org that have used the Fiebing's stuff (I had a 'local store' brand dye, still worked great though). Just pick the shade of black you want (i.e. flat, gloss, semi-gloss, etc) and go from there. The stuff on stew-mac is oil-dye. I didn't use that, so I can't recommend it, but if St James said it worked, then I'd guess it's safe. The only thing I worry about, is that it's an alcohol-based dye. My brother (who I got the dye from) suggested against using an alcohol based dye.

You can find a dealer thru here. They list Canadian dealers.
http://www.fiebing.com/

[gemini8026]

any idea if that dye would stick or do anythign to the inlays?!?

[RacerX]

No, dude it won't do anything to them

[dsg0208]

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

The Stew Mac fretboard dye works great on everything, rosewood, hands, lap, carpet, etc. That stuff comes from nowhere and dyes everything. I thought I had a hole in the bottle. It is very good at dying rosewood, but like someone else said, steer clear of anything white, it is a pain to remove. Use very little to cover alot.