Pale anemic fretboard-- help luthiers!

[alaskaleftybass]

Hi TB'ers. I have a nice playing Ibanez bass that I restored and I'm happy with it--almost. I'm getting a Bart P-bass pickup for it. One thing I'd like to do as I upgrade the bass-- is dye the fretboard a nice deep reddish brown. I asked once before a long time ago, but it wasn't my thread and I forget where to find the answer now.

What would you recommend to dye and condition the light colored (and obviously very dry) fretboard? Here is a pic of the bass. The fretboard looks a lot lighter and even feels dry to the touch in person. Thanks in advance.

 

[Whammytap]

Stew-Mac makes a fretboard dye, but it's only available in ebony:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I periodically rub my fretboard down with mineral oil or lemon oil such as you'd use on furniture, usually when I restring. I'd try some of that for sure. Apply liberally, let soak 10-15 minutes, wipe off excess. Then repeat the next day, if it's gone dry again. By building a deep, rich oil coat, I'll bet the wood will darken up quite a bit.

If it still isn't dark enough to suit you, you could try some of the Stew-Mac dye over top of the oil coat you've built up. The less thirsty the wood is, the less of the stain it will accept, and you can temper how much of the black dye is absorbed by wiping it off quickly or not so quickly. If you were to apply the black stain over the fretboard bone-dry, as it is now, you'd surely have a black fretboard, so I'd definitely oil it first, unless the ebony look is what you want.

Hope this helps! Just my two cents' worth.

 

[Arie X]

in order to dye a fretboard it needs to be really clean and oil free otherwise the dyes won't penetrate too well. not likely since the wood's been sealed from the factory and it's been played. you can certainly give it a try though and the worse that'll happen is that it'll all come off onto your hands.

as far as conditioning goes there's like a 100 products and a 100 more opinions on what is ~correct~. fwiw, i use straight mineral oil usp from the baby section of the store. clean, pure, cheap, and no additives, or you can rock the lavendar scent version for baby-like freshness (not a good idea really) l apply it sparingly about 2x a year.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Stew-Mac makes a fretboard dye, but it's only available in ebony:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I periodically rub my fretboard down with mineral oil or lemon oil such as you'd use on furniture, usually when I restring. I'd try some of that for sure. Apply liberally, let soak 10-15 minutes, wipe off excess. Then repeat the next day, if it's gone dry again. By building a deep, rich oil coat, I'll bet the wood will darken up quite a bit.

If it still isn't dark enough to suit you, you could try some of the Stew-Mac dye over top of the oil coat you've built up. The less thirsty the wood is, the less of the stain it will accept, and you can temper how much of the black dye is absorbed by wiping it off quickly or not so quickly. If you were to apply the black stain over the fretboard bone-dry, as it is now, you'd surely have a black fretboard, so I'd definitely oil it first, unless the ebony look is what you want.

Hope this helps! Just my two cents' worth.

Great advice! Sounds like just the ticket! I think you're right-- the fretboard will darken up after treating with oil.

in order to dye a fretboard it needs to be really clean and oil free otherwise the dyes won't penetrate too well. not likely since the wood's been sealed from the factory and it's been played. you can certainly give it a try though and the worse that'll happen is that it'll all come off onto your hands.

as far as conditioning goes there's like a 100 products and a 100 more opinions on what is ~correct~. fwiw, i use straight mineral oil usp from the baby section of the store. clean, pure, cheap, and no additives, or you can rock the lavendar scent version for baby-like freshness (not a good idea really) l apply it sparingly about 2x a year.

Good advice. Thanks for that. I'll make sure the fretboard is very clean before I apply anything to it.

 

[ctmullins]

I vote for Formby’s Tung Oil or Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil. Leaves a bit of a sheen, and doesn’t seem to need re-applying very often.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Thank you!

 

[reverendrally]

I vote for Formby’s Tung Oil or Birchwood-Casey Tru-Oil. Leaves a bit of a sheen, and doesn’t seem to need re-applying very often.

This!!! They also properly seal the timber.

Pale Boiled Linseed oil is another alternative. It will take a while to dry though. Lemon and mineral oils don't harden and make the timber stronger. In fact, they either evaporate or soften the timber.

 

[alaskaleftybass]

Good to know about Lemon and Mineral oils....