Fretboard staining help

[bassist11]

So I'd like to stain my rosewood fretboard a darker color, I'm thinkin ebony just to darken the board.

The neck has recently been defretted and a cross between wood filler and ivory "veneer" (old piano key tops) has been used to fill the slots. I used the ivory on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 12th, etc frets so I'd have a guide and filled the rest in with a walnut colored wood filler. The neck also has the original standard dot inlays on it.

I'm just wondering how to go about staining the neck without discoloring those inlays/veneer? Is it as easy as masking them off or wiping the stain off after I'm finished?

P.S. I wouldn't mind actually getting rid of the inlays and just filling them in if someone has a good way to do that.

[202dy]

Interesting approach to fret markers.

If dye you must, Fiebings is pretty much the repair and refurbishing standard. One bottle is a lifetime supply for the average player. Caveat: This product will stain virtually everything it contacts. That includes concrete, fabrics, and skin. Wear gloves.

As far as the dot markers go, the easiest way to remove them is to use a center punch. Punch in the center and pick out the pieces. If you plan on dyeing the neck, do it first. Then color filler to match. Finish by touching up the neck and oiling.

Oil will darken rosewood to deep browns and/or purples depending on the species and individual characteristics of the fingerboard. Plugs can be cut from scrap rosewood to fill the dot holes. Done carefully, the repair will be almost invisible.

Rosewood is great looking lumber. Clean it. Oil it. Learn to love it.

[FunkMetalBass]

Fiebings is a leather dye. It's good for more porous woods, but doesn't work well on rosewood (it's naturally quite oily, so even oil-based dyes come out a bit blotchy). There is a manufacturer or two that make wood dyes that are much more even and consistent than Fiebings in wood applications.

I think you will be better off getting a dark stain, as they tend to sit on top of the wood a bit more than dyes. They are also easier to control, and you can use your tape-off, stain, dry, pull-away-tape technique with better results. The ivory shouldn't have any problem rejecting the stain, but the walnut might, even with tape (stain bleeds). You might have to go through and re-slot them and do it again.

[bassist11]

Well I'm not trying to keep the fret lines that I filled with wood filler. I'm actually trying to blend those in which is why I chose a darker wood filler and why I want to stain the neck.

The end result I'm picturing is to have a nice, dark fretboard with only the veneer fretlines showing (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th frets and etc) and the dot inlays if I decide to leave them.

Here's a picture of where I'm currently at with everything..



The veneer's aren't glued in yet, I'm still finishing the inner radius on a few and waiting for my epoxy to get here. The lighter lines are the frets that I filled in with wood filler.

[mech]

I've used black leather dye on rosewood and it worked well. Let it sit for a day and hand buff well to remove excess. As said above it will stain anything. Gloves are a must.

mech