Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Sydney Australia
Posts: 2,049
Re: Maple Fretboards
some great suggestions there Dee and Gurge! - what it comes down to is that on most new guitars with Maple necks/fingerboards, the lacquer used on the necks has a fairly pronounced amber tint in order to get that "vintage" vibe that comes with yellowed or discoloured twenty year old lacquer (look at any Fender '57 or '62 strat reissue for example). Ibanez choose not to do that on their new instruments for the simple reason that they are..... new!
The only way you are really going to get the effect you are looking for is to either strip and respray the neck, or overspray it with a tinted topcoat. Neither option sounds like a great idea on an expensive guitar that I imagine you like very much, so for what it's worth, my suggestion would be to love her the way she is, and play the heck out of the guitar for the next fifteen to twenty years - the Maple should be yellowing nicely by then......
Cheers
David