Wenge Fretboard Questions

[Desopolis]

I have a large piece of wenge that im using as a part of a neck through for one guitar, but theres enough here that I could make a few fretboards out of it. (or a whole neck for that matter)

Im curious about a few things, I read it doesnt need a finish like ebony and rosewood, but with the larger pores wont it get a bit grimey faster?

how does it look all together? I've seen the warwick Bass's(on the website), but I cant see the fretboard enough to tell a big difference from rosewood.

the guitar Im thinking about is going to be mostly black, would the wenge clash ascetically?

Id like to see some guitars with it before I make the plunge...

[WezV]

I have liked it when i have used it, twice i think but i dont have a good photo that shows the grain but Rggr posted a good pic here:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...27683&st=15

I wouldnt worry about grime on the board or in the pores, it shows it gets played - the best guitars always have grime

The colour is very dark chocolate brown with lighter, greyer streaks. The large pores make the board look more textured than a rosewood board but it reality it still feels very nice

The board in the picture is not perfectly quartersawn so shows more of the grey streaks. I have had some quartersawn stuff that had almost no grey.

However... I recently refretted an old eko acoustic with a wenge fretboard. It seems like most of the grey wood had worn away before the darker wood and therefore the pores where much larger and it was starting to impede the feel of the guitar. It also had deep divots in the chord positions, more than i would expect from a 60's acoustic if it had an ebony board. Obviously this is just one guitar so we cant generalise to all wenge equipped guitars and say they will suffer in 40 years but i still thought it was worth mentioning. Either way it was an easy task to rebuild the fingerboard divots and fill the rest of the fretboard to get it all smooth again if you need to do that in 40 years time

I would possible consider doing an epoxy and dust fill on the fretboard before you fret to get it perfectly smooth - but dont do that if its a bound neck and you have no way of cleaning the fretslots out afterwards.

And i suppose i should say splinters at least once in this reply!

[Desopolis]

yeah I figured splinters to be a smaller issue, they mainly come up during construction I assume, not randomly(say if I were playing it)

my piece is quartersawn I believe, almost all of the exotics this wood shop sells are quartersawn. The Paduk and Mahogany were, I haven't looked at the wenge though.

[WezV]

yeah I figured splinters to be a smaller issue, they mainly come up during construction I assume, not randomly(say if I were playing it)

yes, its only really an issue at the construction phase but i wouldnt leave sharp edges to the fretboard

[Desopolis]

ok, I just looked at it and its flat sawn..

ha, and I just realize how much overkill I did when buying it.

its been sitting stikered for a while..

its 4' X 6" X 1" and I need 3' x 1/2" for what I bought it for.

and I have a smaller piece in Indy..

[postal]

I use thick CA to porefill wenge. I have 2 guitars with wenge fretboards, both were porefilled this way, and I put on a very thin coat of tru oil as well. I dont think the T-O is necessary, but the porefill keeps it fairly clean, and although these are still fairly new guitars, I would be surprised to see uneven wear in the grain with the stabilization that the superglue added.

[Desopolis]

I use thick CA to porefill wenge. I have 2 guitars with wenge fretboards, both were porefilled this way, and I put on a very thin coat of tru oil as well. I dont think the T-O is necessary, but the porefill keeps it fairly clean, and although these are still fairly new guitars, I would be surprised to see uneven wear in the grain with the stabilization that the superglue added.

did the CA leave a glossy shine when leveled? can you post or send me a pic? Id love to see it.

if you cant upload, my email is hat1324@yahoo.com

[postal]

This is wenge FB with bleached wenge block inlays. Porefilled with CA and a very light sealer coat of Tru-oil. As I said, I did 2 wenge FB's... the other is identicle, but the FB is bleached, and the block inlays are "normal".

I've found that the amount of shine from porefilling with CA is fairly easy to control. I hadnt done it yet, but in the near future I may just use superglue as a finish itself. Sanded to 600 grt then 0000 steel wool it starts shining like crazy. 320 or 400 it wont shine too much. If you sand it back to where it is only in the pores, it wont stand out too much regardless. It shows the color of the wood underneath, and is almost invisible.

I've read about people porefilling with epoxy, but I hate working with that stuff. I only use it when I absolutely have to.

If you decide to use thick CA, wear a rubber glove and smear it on with your finger. Dont stop moving your finger, or the glove may get stuck.. Preferably do this outside..... and even then have a fan blow fresh air toward your face...... The fumes you normally notice are nothing compared to when you cover a large surface area..... Let the glue dry on it's own without any accellerator. It can take up to an hour to dry like this when using a large amount. It's important to point out that moisture makes the glue dry faster. I live in the deserts of S Kali, and the glue dries fairly slowly, but had heard that people in wet climates have problems with it drying too fast and having it "bloom" with the white fog in it.