I was finding the fretboard rosewood too light and brown, so I used the same trick than on the Star Wars ST and tinted it with black keda dyes.
Quite happy with the results.
After first coat:
And second coat going on:
I'm going to seal it with a very thin coat of wipe on poly. Don't want the black to tint my fingers when I play!
#1- STA1M - Completed Jan16 - GOTM Feb16 - Here
#2- IB5 - Completed Aug16 - Here
#3- 335 style 12 strings - 3rd build - Almost done - Here
No #- SG1 'Franck Zappa' - Completed Apr16 for a friend - No build diary (yet?)
#4- 'The Red Plywood Strat' - Completed Aug16 - Here
#5- ST-1JR Star Wars - Completed Dec16 - Here
#6- SG 3 pickups - Almost done - Here
#7- JBA-4M JPJ Bass - Completed Mar18 - Here
Also grain filled the body today.
I mixed some hardwood and ebony timbermate, and added some of the magenta and violet ink I'm planning to use.
The idea was to get some purple in the grain.
For now it's looking very 'old lady' purple, but most of it will be sanded off anyway
#1- STA1M - Completed Jan16 - GOTM Feb16 - Here
#2- IB5 - Completed Aug16 - Here
#3- 335 style 12 strings - 3rd build - Almost done - Here
No #- SG1 'Franck Zappa' - Completed Apr16 for a friend - No build diary (yet?)
#4- 'The Red Plywood Strat' - Completed Aug16 - Here
#5- ST-1JR Star Wars - Completed Dec16 - Here
#6- SG 3 pickups - Almost done - Here
#7- JBA-4M JPJ Bass - Completed Mar18 - Here
looking good Fred
Current Builds and status
scratch end grain pine tele - first clear coat on !
JBA-4 - assembled - final tweaks
Telemonster double scale tele - finish tobacco burst on body and sand neck
Completed builds
scratch oak.rose gum Jazzmaster - assembled needs setup
MK-2 Mosrite - assembled - play in
Ash tele with Baritone neck - neck pup wiring tweaks and play in
Personally I'd avoid putting poly on the fretboard if you can help it. I'd have first tried lemon oil on the board as it looked quite dry, and it could have gone a lot darker without staining. But just try letting the board dry and see how well fixed the stain is. If it's designed for leather, then you wouldn't expect it to come off easily and get all over people's clothes. There may be some loose stain initially, but rub some lemon oil over it with a cloth a few times. The board should go darker still, and rubbing should take off any loose stain. If its still leaving black marks after then rubbing with a dry cloth, then's the time to think about sealing it. Leave it a week or so after applying any lemon oil to let that sink in well and allow the poly to stick,
But it's going to be a bit of work to get the poly finish nice and flat. I'd be tempted to use a very thinned solution so that it penetrates and seals the surface of the wood rather than sits on the top in a thicker layer.
Thanks Simon... but the poly got on before I read your reply... it's a very thin coat of poly so we'll see how it goes after I've sanded it smooth.
In the meantime I've now sanded the body after applying timbermate. My tinted timbermate gave it a very slight pink shade and the body should be ready to tint now.
I've played with different mixes of the magenta and violet inks:
I'm thinking I'll go with the one on the left. 2 parts magenta for a part violet.
#1- STA1M - Completed Jan16 - GOTM Feb16 - Here
#2- IB5 - Completed Aug16 - Here
#3- 335 style 12 strings - 3rd build - Almost done - Here
No #- SG1 'Franck Zappa' - Completed Apr16 for a friend - No build diary (yet?)
#4- 'The Red Plywood Strat' - Completed Aug16 - Here
#5- ST-1JR Star Wars - Completed Dec16 - Here
#6- SG 3 pickups - Almost done - Here
#7- JBA-4M JPJ Bass - Completed Mar18 - Here
Eagerly waiting to see pics of the 1st stain coat?
# 1 - EX-5 https://goo.gl/fQJMqh
# 2 - EX-1 https://goo.gl/KSY9W9
# 3 - Non PBG Tele https://goo.gl/W14G5g
# 4 - Non PBG J Bass https://goo.gl/FbBaFy
# 5 - TL-1AR GOTM Aug 2017 https://goo.gl/sUh14s
# 6 - MMB-4 Runner-up GOTM Oct 2018https://goo.gl/gvrPkp
# 7 - ES-1 Runner-up GOTM Aug 2018https://goo.gl/T9BEY8
I'm sure it's all nice and violet now and he's just letting it dry before taking any pictures. Or else it's all gone horribly wrong and he's crying into his beer. But I'm betting on success.
Haha! No... it's not tinted yet...
I wanted to spray the headstock face black first.
I want to have the solid black all nicely sprayed before I tint the rest of the headstock. I've taped all around but I'm sure some paint will go under the tape and I'll be able to sand the sides clean if I haven't stained the neck yet.
And as I'm thinking I'll tint body and neck together to ensure I get the same colour I've got to wait... patience patience... it's hard to wait! 😉
Here's where we're at:
#1- STA1M - Completed Jan16 - GOTM Feb16 - Here
#2- IB5 - Completed Aug16 - Here
#3- 335 style 12 strings - 3rd build - Almost done - Here
No #- SG1 'Franck Zappa' - Completed Apr16 for a friend - No build diary (yet?)
#4- 'The Red Plywood Strat' - Completed Aug16 - Here
#5- ST-1JR Star Wars - Completed Dec16 - Here
#6- SG 3 pickups - Almost done - Here
#7- JBA-4M JPJ Bass - Completed Mar18 - Here
Also I'm still not sure if I should go all purple, purple with black burst around, purple surround with black centre (reversed burst), or a mix of these... (black surround and centre and purple between)... decisions decisions!
#1- STA1M - Completed Jan16 - GOTM Feb16 - Here
#2- IB5 - Completed Aug16 - Here
#3- 335 style 12 strings - 3rd build - Almost done - Here
No #- SG1 'Franck Zappa' - Completed Apr16 for a friend - No build diary (yet?)
#4- 'The Red Plywood Strat' - Completed Aug16 - Here
#5- ST-1JR Star Wars - Completed Dec16 - Here
#6- SG 3 pickups - Almost done - Here
#7- JBA-4M JPJ Bass - Completed Mar18 - Here
You don't have any veneer to worry about, so you can go with a very wet stain if you decide to go sunburst to help get a better, softer blend. Unless you spray the burst on, or are very experienced at bursting with stain, it's a bit hit and miss as to how good and how consistent a blend you'll get. If you go single colour, then you know it will look good. Staining a burst has risks. Or you could stain the purple but spray the black.
Decisions, decisions!
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