Maple fret board finish & neck finish

[jonwhitear]

I am. The stain didn't really seem to take to the fretboard, but the colour's turning out daily even with the Tru Oil. Here's a photo - taken in bright sunlight, so I'm afraid the colours don't look very accurate to me.

[BenWill]

If the colours are accurate, then it looks like it's developing into a nice colour.

Here in Canada, I just discovered a company that makes a nitro laquer in a neck amber colour, so I'm hoping to try that out on mine, I'm just a little concerned on if the laquer will be difficult to remove from the frets or if I should attempt to carefully tape them

[McCreed]

I'm just a little concerned on if the laquer will be difficult to remove from the frets or if I should attempt to carefully tape them

Standard procedure is to spray over the frets (for maple fretboards). This is the same process makers of mass-produced guitars use.
You are going to need to level and crown the frets anyway (presuming you want the best playability) and the lacquer can be removed in the same process.
I'm sure there are YT vids detailing the ways to accomplish this, so I won't do it here. (plus I'm inadequately caffeinated atm)

[BenWill]

Do the fretboard and neck need to be sprayed with sealer or treated with anything before I spray the laquer on it?

[McCreed]

Do the fretboard and neck need to be sprayed with sealer or treated with anything before I spray the laquer on it?

The only prep you really need to do with maple is sanding. However I like to do my fret ends before clear coating. That way I don't have any sharp fret ends and don't have to worry about doing them with a newly applied finish.

Also, after sanding I wipe down the whole neck with naptha before spraying the finish. This just to be sure there are no contaminants (like oil from fingers) that might interfere with adhesion of the lacquer. You don't have to do this, but it's what I do.

[Cliff Rogers]

...... inadequately caffeinated ....

Sounds like a good name for a band.

[fender3x]

However I like to do my fret ends before clear coating. That way I don't have any sharp fret ends and don't have to worry about doing them with a newly applied finish.

I did this with a bass neck, and got fine metal dust on the raw wood that was difficult to clean up. It's another reason I may do a few coats with shellac. The clearcoat I have been using is water based, and I understand there can be issues with rust if I missed any of the dust.

Is there an approach you used to remove the dust...or did you just do a better job of taping things off than I did? ;-)

Based on my current experience, I wouldn't do anything to the frets until I had at least some clearcoat on. What I did on the only other maple fingerboard is essentially that. I put a very thin coat of clearcoat on, did the fret ends, and then put more clearcoat on.

Stressing here, however, that applying finish is definitely not my strong suit.

[McCreed]

I did this with a bass neck, and got fine metal dust on the raw wood that was difficult to clean up.

Is there an approach you used to remove the dust...or did you just do a better job of taping things off than I did? ;-)

Hmmm, not sure what process you're using to do your fret ends, but I've never encountered any problem with "metal dust".

When I talk about "doing the fret ends" I use a proper fret end [dressing] file* and just remove any sharp nibs or edges on just the fret, no filing of the timber. It doesn't generate anything more than maybe a few tiny filings that blow right off. It's not an aggressive action at all. Very smooth and gentle motion that only takes about 10-15 seconds per fret (each end).

The other method I may employ if necessary is a quick run down the edge of the fretboard with my angled file block. This is usually what I use to set the bevel on the fret ends on newly installed frets, but I can alter/control the angle so it just skims the fretboard and frets, making them even with one another. Once again, this generally incurs just a few light passes (in a single direction - not a back & forth sawing action) and even with this method I've not had any issues like you've described.
Also worth noting that all the above I do without any tape on the fretboard.

Don't know if this helps, but I hope you get something out of it.


EDIT:
I just want to clarify that I edited *fret end file* to fret end dressing file. Many people interpret fret end file to mean what is technically a fret end bevelling file as I described in the second paragraph. Sorry for any confusion.

[Simon Barden]

Rust sounds like you used wire wool, as the nickel silver fret dust shouldn’t rust as such, but may go a dull grey (and blow away) If you use wire wool for polishing, then a pass with a strong magnet should pull the steel wool fragments away from the wood, though the fret residue itself is probably non-magnetic. I’ve stopped using wire wool on guitars because of all the fragments it leaves behind, and use either Scotchguard pads or Micromesh instead.

Rubbing the fretboard with Micromesh should clean up any remaining fret particles. Never had an issue with fret dust on a maple board myself.

[fender3x]

Rust sounds like you used wire wool, as the nickel silver fret dust shouldn’t rust as such, but may go a dull grey (and blow away) If you use wire wool for polishing, then a pass with a strong magnet should pull the steel wool fragments away from the wood, though the fret residue itself is probably non-magnetic. I’ve stopped using wire wool on guitars because of all the fragments it leaves behind, and use either Scotchguard pads or Micromesh instead.

Rubbing the fretboard with Micromesh should clean up any remaining fret particles. Never had an issue with fret dust on a maple board myself.

Actually I haven't had rust. I just worry about it, since I *will* be using a water based finish. Now that you mention it, this is a standard PB neck, and the frets are certainly nickel. Dust was dull gray, and I think I ended up using an eraser on it to get it out.

I just ran a magnet over the frets and was a little startled when it pulled pretty well in the center of the fret, but not too well at the edges....and then suddenly realized the magnet was ignoring the fret, but attracted to the truss rod.

Too soon old, too late smart, as a friend used to say...

Edit: A couple of years ago, I wanted to find out where the truss rod ended. I also just realized that the strong magnet would have answered this. On my PB bass neck it ends under the dot of the 19th fret according to the magnet.