Stew-Mac fretboard dye? (black rosewood boards)

[lv]

I've seen rosewood boards on old les paul and strats (and JG's too) that are so dark they appear black. My LP has a relatively dark board, but I'd like it to look like those older ones....has anyone used this stuff?

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

[Rosewood]

That's too dark, black, not a good choice for rosewood. Those old fretboards have years of dirt and oil. Having said that you Can use a dark stain as above and steel wool or wipe down with naptha or similar to achieve a darker color but you should experiment on a scrap piece first.

[zenfreud]

This isn't about the Stew-Mac dye, but some may find it helpful...

I read about Fiebing black leather dye here and bought a small bottle at a local hobby supply store for $5.99. I stained my Strat's medium-light reddish rosewood fingerboard and am happy with the results, it looks a lot closer to the dark Brazilian boards you see on some vintage guitars. First I took off the neck and masked the sides of it. I applied the dye with q-tips, and was a little alarmed as it looked jet black at first, but gave the desired shade of a very rich dark brown after being wiped down with a dry rag a few minutes later. After wiping down the neck, I left it in the sun for twenty or thirty minutes. If I had done the job more carefully, I would have masked the fingerboard dots with wax or tape, but I just did the whole surface, frets and all. The dye wiped completely off the frets, but it did darken the plastic dots a bit. I'm not too concerned because they were too light to begin with and someday I may want to replace them with the clay-like material used on the early Fenders.

The dye does come off on my fingers when playing, not sure if that will always be the case. Maybe I needed to let it cure in the sun for a few days, I don't know. If I ever need to reapply, no worries since there is enough dye in the bottle to do about 800 guitar fingerboards!:)

One of these days I'll post before and after shots. Now if I could just get the yellow in the body's sunburst finish to darken a bit...

[FlyingVBlues]

The dye that Stew-Mac sells is the Fiebing black leather dye. Fiebing also has several shades of dark and medium brown in addition to black. Eventually the dye will stabilize and stop rubbing off on your fingers. I did a Les Paul about 5 years ago and it still looks great.

FVB

[lv]

The dye that Stew-Mac sells is the Fiebing black leather dye. Fiebing also has several shades of dark and medium brown in addition to black. Eventually the dye will stabilize and stop rubbing off on your fingers. I did a Les Paul about 5 years ago and it still looks great.

FVB

FVB,

Thanks for the info.

Which shade did you use?

[Rhomco]

are Ebony.

[lv]

Here's what I'm talking about, not ebony, it is rosewood (though brazilian).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/gearman/LProsewoodboard.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v59/gearman/LProsewoodboard2.jpg

[stormin1155]

Rosewood naturally darkens with age (oxidation along with dirt and oil). I've used the Stew-Mac dye with reasonable results. Black rosewood still doesn't look like ebony... ebony doesn't have open grain.