Darkening a fretboard…

[JerEvil]

Hey all. I got this Iceman a while back and love it. It’s always had a light board though and would look way better darker.

I got some India Ink brush pens as I wanted to not fuck up the inlays. Not really sure how to prep the fretboard though.

Anyone else here done this? Would love some advice.

 

[Devin]

I did it on a dot fingerboard with black leather dye

Didn't do anything special preparation-wise aside from deliberately trying to avoid the dots; came out great

As I recall the inlays resisted the dye so it was no issue, but I wouldn't assume that to be the case for all of them

 

[DrewJD82]

From all I’ve seen in the past when people have stained boards, the inlays don’t take a hit in the process, especially if they’re plastic, which they most certainly are on the Iceman.

You could always just put a tiny dab of dye on an inlay in a corner, let it sit for a few then wipe it off just as a test!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Hey all. I got this Iceman a while back and love it. It’s always had a light board though and would look way better darker.

I got some India Ink brush pens as I wanted to not fuck up the inlays. Not really sure how to prep the fretboard though.

Anyone else here done this? Would love some advice.

View attachment 50219

This series is one of the best. I have 2 Vs and would LOVE the Iceman. And the Xiphos (if it there was no Floyd). There's a posted (Toshiro?) who would frequent GGF once in a blue moon who darkened the fretboard on his white Xiphos from this run and it looked KILLER. Don't know the techniques to do it but it's worth it from a visual perspective to me, 100%

 

[JerEvil]

This series is one of the best. I have 2 Vs and would LOVE the Iceman. And the Xiphos (if it there was no Floyd). There's a posted (Toshiro?) who would frequent GGF once in a blue moon who darkened the fretboard on his white Xiphos from this run and it looked KILLER. Don't know the techniques to do it but it's worth it from a visual perspective to me, 100%

Yeah man I got this guitar for like $700 which is a steal, comparatively speaking.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yeah man I got this guitar for like $700 which is a steal, comparatively speaking.

This series has gone up quite a bit in price over the years. $700 is solid definitely. These were some of the first made in Indonesia guitars I seem to remember and the craftsmanship is very good on my 2.

 

[dk_ace]

You might try putting rubber cement over the inlays to protect them.

D

 

[Jarick]

I'd probably start with the Monty's staining wax. No idea about the inlays though. You could maybe mask them, or scrape them afterwards if it needed it.

 

[JerEvil]

I'd probably start with the Monty's staining wax. No idea about the inlays though. You could maybe mask them, or scrape them afterwards if it needed it.

Yeah I want it BLACK though. I’ve seen some vid of the Monty’s and I don’t think it’s going to get dark enough

 

[DISTORT6]

You might try putting rubber cement over the inlays to protect them.

D

Plus it's fun to sniff.