Can rosewood be stained darker ??

[athlon]

I got a Rosewood fretboard on my 555, and while it looks nice, it dosnt look that dark ( maybe because the rest of the body is white ), can the fretboard be stained darker with wood stainer ?? or is it all sealed etc. ?

thanx in advance

[beyblade]

I've stained rosewood fretboards with black writing ink however, I wouldn't recommend it. Sure, the ink works exceptionally well and because it's water based, it dries very quickly and leaves a very smooth ebony-like finish that doesn't come off.

The problem is that while rosewood fingerboards aren't sealed over, the edges are, and the contrast between the original brown edge and the darker fingerboard is fugly.

[jemsite]

maybe someone can recommend a stain product to "ebonize" your board. i would first lightly sand the board (and edges if that matters to you) with 0000 steel wool. It would certainly darken the board... glen

[gkelm]

Stumbled on this a while back at Stew Mac...

http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/hazel...talog/sku.html

Might be worth a try...let us know if you do.
Greg

[sniperfrommars1]

also if your necks really dry a nice coat of lemon or tongue oil on the board will darken things up a bit. Me personally I could care less what the color is. I have never beleived that has an effect on the tone.

[athlon]

good idea gkelm

but one snag



they wont ship it to anywhere outside of the usa .....


any more ideas ?

[Project Guitar]

Most hardware stores carry a complete line of wood dyes, some even have them available in powder form. You shouldnt feel the need to become a slave to Stew Mac for all of your needs.........

I've used this tutorial a couple of times with no problems, then again I was dealing with old clear coated necks and raw fret boards.