Zotamedu Posted May 18, 2004 Report Share Posted May 18, 2004 As I was changing strings and cleaining my guitar today I noticed that the frettboard has become pretty worn... It's started to loose it's dark colour and there are a couple of scratches to... So what can I do to make it look like new??? The rest of the guitar is in nice condition... As far as I know the frettboard is made of rosewood... btw It's an Ibanez Sa160qm if that's to any help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted May 18, 2004 Report Share Posted May 18, 2004 Without refretting it is going to be hard to clean up the scratches. You could scallop the fret board or you can just dye the fret board to darken it. I've used a solution I made a while back that works well on dark wood. I got the idea from the tutorials. I mixed some vinegar with a fine piece of steelwool in a little jar. Let is sit for a week or more (SHAKE IT OFTEN) and it will dye your fret board dark again. This is just my opinion. Wait for others to opine to see what answers they give. Good luck. Hope this helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zotamedu Posted May 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2004 I've heard something about lemon oil... What is it and what does it do??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted May 18, 2004 Report Share Posted May 18, 2004 Just get yourself lemon oil(it's just a nice oil that does not become smelly over time) or any other fretboard oil. I preffer Paraphine oil which can be bought in medical stores....Your fingerboard is not worn I would assume....it's just usual that after some months of playing the fingerboard becomes more and more dry as it looses humidity over time because the sweat takes some oils etc. with it when the fingerboard dries after playing. When rosewood dries it begins to look brighter and looses it's darkness. I have to oil the rosewood fingerboard of my main guitar every couple of months to make it look nice and new. The scratches usually become invisible as soon as you oild the dry fingerboard again. You should not only oil the fingerboard because of it's look but also because it shrinks as it gets more dry and then frets can become loose and it becomes easier to scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJohn Posted May 18, 2004 Report Share Posted May 18, 2004 You could also razor blade a small amount off of the surface of each fret area.But you have to be carefull not to do too much,just a light shave. And you can never go wrong with some lemon oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zotamedu Posted May 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2004 Thansk alot guys... I'll go out and buy me some lemon oil... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted May 20, 2004 Report Share Posted May 20, 2004 I don't think lemon oil will do much, if any, darkening of lightened areas. If it's real rosewood, then the light areas are just part of how the piece of wood looks. If you are looking for a uniform dark fret-board, then perhaps some kind of dye, but that's out of my territory to do on rosewood. Maybe the factory had applied a tint to the board and it has worn off in spots. maybe dirt from playing has just made the dark areas darker. Perhaps you should clean the FB good with Naptha (try not to let much into the fret-slots-- actually try not to get ANY in the fret slots, especially with the strings off and the neck in a back-bow). After cleaning, you can clean/polish it up with 0000 steel wool. you can even hit the frets with the steel wool if you don't over-do it and stay consistant along the whole neck. Perhaps then some linseed or lemon oil ( a lot of guys hate lemon oil and consider it junk). Maybe some kind of oil with a tint, if you really want it darker (not my thing, so investigate the options with that). I also like to avoid applying oils to fret-boards because it can happen that a board gets so much oil in it, that it eventually goes through the whole board to the glue joint, then making the glue joint start to come apart. I've heard about that happening from other repair guys. I hope I never see it. Don't get too fussy about usual wear and tear on a wood fret-board (there's clowns out there putting nicks and dents in their fret-boards on purpose to make it look like they've been playing guitar much longer than they really have) Lately, I've been thinking maybe paste wax is better than many of the oils. Either is still a last resort as far as I'm concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted May 20, 2004 Report Share Posted May 20, 2004 My fretboard too became dry and had marks on it that looked like nail scratches. I rubbed it well with a toothbrush (note: the toothbrush worked as a very very weak sanding paper or steel wool..it scraped away any scum and it left the fretboard even dryer) and then oiled it with some fretboard oil I have..it says on the ingredients petrolate distilates so it should be paraphine oil.. I let it sit for a while and then just played the thing cause I couldnt just stare at it for so long without touching it ...After a few hours I reoiled the parts that still felt dry and it is as good as new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtommyb Posted May 20, 2004 Report Share Posted May 20, 2004 I Love lemon oil very useful stuff... just use it to clean your guitar but if your guitar has got to a certain stage of "dirtyness" (this happened to my strat) i ended up having to sand down the frets slightly just enought to get the original colour back! then just re finish the neck and thats it! Big Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zotamedu Posted May 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2004 Thanks alot mates... I'll see if I can get my hands on some lemon oil... Can I use that on the rest of the neck to??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted May 20, 2004 Report Share Posted May 20, 2004 Murphy's oil soap is great for cleaning fretboards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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