Darkening a light fretboard

[Armitage]

One of my guitars has an unusually light fretboard, and it really looks out of place. It's been oiled recently, but like spit on a side walk, once it soaked in, after a while it was pale again.

It doesn't look dry, it's just pale rosewood.

I was talking to a local luthier who builds acoustics and asked him why Stew Mac sells leather dye instead of just a wood stain and he said it was because most wood stains don't soak in very far and you'd see wear marks pretty soon, and also that fretboards are usually oiled at the factory, or by the owner, and wood stains generally will just pool up and not soak in evenly.

I told him I didn't want the Stew Mac Black stain, I just wanted to make it a bit darker, and he recommended Minwax® Gel Stain in a medium mahogany. He said just to follow the instructions and remember it stains everything it touches, everything, and wait two or three days before playing to make sure it's taken.

Anyone do this or similar?

[Stike]

I know PRS uses leather dyes a fair amount, this brand IIRC http://www.fiebing.com/Dyes.aspx

Maybe somebody in your area makes belts or other leather goods, if you ask nice they might give you a small amount in a suitable color?

I have in the past mixed oil soluble aniline dye powder into linseed/tung oil and that works well but you'll wind up with a shitload of leftover material hence my first suggestion.

[Armitage]

As far as I know, PRS (and Gibson) only use the black leather dye to make their ebony boards... well... ebony.

[Punkavenger]

I've used that stain before (not on fret boards though) and its a good product. However its really thick (gel) so might not penetrate into the wood as well as other stains. On the plus side the color does come out very uniform.

The major disadvantage is that the areas of the fret board that get the most use might discolor, either with the stain wearing off or from the oils in your fingers.

[BadgerDave]

The stuff Sewart MacDondals sells is Fiebing's Oil Dye. It works very well and you can get it in lots of colors other than black.

Look here:

Buy Fiebings Leather Dye HERE

[Armitage]

But has anyone used it on a fretboard? I'm not looking for a consistent brown like the black does, I just want it darker... but still look like natural wood.

[BadgerDave]

I haven't used the brown oil dye, but I have used the black several times. If you put the black dye on sparingly and wipe it off quickly, it darkens the wood and enhances the grain without turning it black. I've used it to darken a light "ashy" rosewood board to a nice chocolate brown color, but that required some light sanding of the fretboard.

I'd guess that the medium or dark brown oil dye would do exactly what you want. Just make sure you mask off anything you don't want stained (incluing plastic or clay position markers). The dye won't stain real pearl if you wipe it off relatively quickly, but side dots and Fender clay dots will absorb the color.

You also have to decide what to do with the side edge of the fretboard, since there's usually clearcoat finish there. Either leave it the existing color or sand off the lacquer and stain it.

[Stike]

But has anyone used it on a fretboard? I'm not looking for a consistent brown like the black does, I just want it darker... but still look like natural wood.

This is where you might want to seek out a leathersmith and "bum" some brown and add it to clear linseed oil, might give you a less concentrated color.

[Steve Haynie]

Some hobby shops like Hobby Lobby and Michael's have a limited amount of leathercraft items. You may be able find a small bottle of leather dye there.

I have used Minwax gel stain or a similar product to stain a fiberglass entry door. My experience taught me to be extremely careful about touching fresh stain with any new stain. It acts as its own solvent and can cause you to have a lighter area when you wipe it off. That includes those tiny spots that come from an edge of a rag or brush. Find a practice piece of wood before doing the real fretboard.

[Armitage]

From what I'm told leather stains give a too uniform look, too opaque. I'm not looking for "cheap" I'm looking for the best. No one has tried to darken a fretboard that wasn't simply dry?