How to make rosewood fretboard DARK [Like Brazilian]
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- Опубліковано 30 бер 2023
- Experimenting with different compositions and blends to make the rosewood fingerboard on the guitar a deeper dark tone, like a dark vintage Brazilian rosewood.
Caustic soda, ferric chloride, Nitorlack alcohol deluted dye.
Full version of this video on Patreon in Level Maker:
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I use the Old English Scratch Cover For Dark Woods. Apply just like you do lemon oil. I mix the lemon oil with a few drops of this product, rub it in thoroughly and let it dry. I use it on all my rosewood fingerboards that aren't as dark as I would like. Fantastic results and super easy.
Same here! Been doing it for decades. I use it straight. No lemon oil.
I've used Higgins India ink followed by Boiled Linseed Oil on a few pale fingerboards with pretty good results.
Been looking for this for ages! Thanks for sharing! Beautiful result/guitar there!!
Thank you
Very nice & thanks for sharing this with us !! :)
Thank you
Beautiful result!
Thank you
I like a nice dark rosewood/ebony colored fretboard. Excellent work
Thank you
Beautiful results. The guitar looks much better with the dark fretboard.
Thank you
big question is: will it de my fingers while playing? I hate it when gitars make my hands dirty.
Hello my friend, it was me who asked the question in your previous video. So thank you for your detailed answer. 😊
Great! Thank you! 👍
Looks really good i will try it!
Thank you
That fretboard looks amazing.
Thank you
Wow! This is amazing!
I had a guitar (black les paul master's copy) and then I was pleasantly surprised that the fingerboard was rosewood and dark. I'm really like dark rosewood fingerboard, really wanna make fingerboard more darker for my ac.guitar(cheap Indonesian Cort) but I can't do it now....
Looks great 👍🏼! How’s it holding up? Have you been playing it and testing to see if it wears away?
Do the people commenting not understand who they are talking too? This is one of the best art restoration experts on earth. You fools are trying to give him some tips and criticism??? Oh I wouldn't do that!!! Man who gives a shit what you would do? Y'all need to start your own UA-cam channel and show him how it's done. GTFO.
Thank you. 😁 I listen to any comments. sometimes they have interesting ideas. People always doubt and it's not bad. I myself am the same. But I always check any accuracy on personal experience.
@@8BombCustomyour modesty is well respected sir!
Very nice results!! Do you maybe know, what would be the best way to make it look like very dark ebony, basically black?
I use Liberon Spirit Wood Dye (Ebony) to darken my guitar fretboards. First clean with spirit and/or alcohol, then lightly sand with 600 grit. Unlike water-based dye, spirit dye works well on oily woods like pau ferro and walnut. I then apply beeswax to protect it. No need for fretboard conditioner.
Can I ask how you applied it(?) and whatever you did to execute good results? I bought India ink but haven’t had time to do it yet so if this way is better I’d rather get the spirit dye, be one and done
@@andrewtesta3850 Mask off any plastics (e.g. nut, binding) with waxed tape or liquid wax. Apply Liberon Spirit Wood Dye carefully with a small brush. Remove tape before ithe dye dries. Clean off any unwanted dye marks with methylated spirit.
I shall try this on an Indian rosewood board that a lot of builders use. The Indian rosewood usually has wavey grain patterns with light/dark contrast also the feel is harder than Brazilian rosewood. How does your 335 feel after the process, different , better? Thanks, for your demonstration.
Just curious after 4 months how this is holding up(?) has the neck or fretboard been effected from the chemicals? And has color stayed consistent? I ordered both the caustic soda and ferric acid along with another Ebony tint similar to nitorlack. Can you recommend something that works the same as the Molotow you used to mix? Or if I even need it? I planned on just mixing the ebony tint with alcohol but I’m trying to find something similar to what you used so I know I get a close result.
Well done sir!
Thank you!
looks very very nice
Thank you
Looks good, interested in seeing how it holds up after a few months.
We will see. Thank you
@@8BombCustomupdate?
@@8BombCustom let's see! :)
Nice idea!
Thank you
Wood being wood you'll always have variations in the colour.
I have several great looking (real!!) palisander fretboards on my instruments, and they're all different in shade.
On cheaper guitars I've used leather dye:
Apply with a fine brush (you have to get underneath the frets too), let it soak in the pores for a while, and then use a little solvent to take it back to bare wood.
Then apply a thinned dye to even it out, and wipe all excess off again, buffing it as you go.
Works great & depending on the colour dye you can even get a pretty convincing "ebony" 😜👍
The Nitrolack colour you're using 'Nogal' is actually walnut, not black. Just a heads up for anyone else wanting to give this a go.
nice, I would like to ask if the fretboard will fade after a period of use?
Thank you for this video! That really was a great result
Thank you
Now why don't the guitar makers understand that light colors like pau ferro is just unappealing especially when compared to a dark colored wood like ebony or Brazilian rosewood? I know pau ferro is cheaper but can't you make it darker somewhere along the way?
Opinions. I personally don’t mind the lighter color at all. There’s literally nothing saying that fretboards HAVE to be dark.
@@reddsshaker3477 Agreed. Fair enough... I really just don't like the aesthetics of Pau Ferro at all.
I feel like it could be a marketing thing too with fender or Gibson if American strats looked too similar to Mexican or squire’s then why not just buy a Mexican could be what fender is thinking
Before Fender started using it on their “budget” guitars, the pau ferro fretboards were seen as an upgrade. Before recently, uniform rosewood was the norm so people wanted redder figured stuff, That’s why the SRV signature model has it - it was seen as the luxury option.
@@bg3199 Yes... I have considered that. I might just give them too much credit because I do love the brand; however, lesser brands have found a way of making better looking boards. And PRS has NEVER had a Pau Ferro fretboard so...
Excuse me if i came back: can you tell me that Nitorlack brown what exact product is? They have a brown in the "NitorTINT" line for classic and/or electric guitar and then thay have a "stain" line (water based dye). What is you Nitorlack brown? Tnx man!
very nice work my friend, EBONY Necks for President all the way
have a Black Gibson Doublecut with Rosewood/fret but truly want to make it look darker to go better with the black Gothic look of my guitar
just trying to understand which are the right products to use
cos i have to make sure of not ruining my ultra rare Guitar you know?
any advice would love to hear it
Очень полезное видео, спасибо. 👍
Спасибо
The fingerboard is black and it looks cool and really good.👍
Thank you
What's the reaction between sodium hydroxide and ferric chloride, and how does it affect the wood? Does it mess with polyurethane lacquer or nitricellulose?
Muchas gracias!!!
Thank you
Awesome
Thank you
I want to do my 335 so bad. I’m so happy to see that it works. I would like to know what I need to buy to do it.
Thank you
The rosewood board on my LP was light with a dark grain running down one side. I wanted to darken it without losing the redish tint. I wiped it down with F-One oil and let it sit a few days to soften and open the pores. Then wiped it down with grain alcohol (Everclear). Then applied Fiebings dark brown (not black) leather dye with a cotton swab being careful around the fret makers and neck binding. The grain alcohol will take it off if you get any on them. Wipe off after 10 minutes with blue paper shop towels. Let sit overnight to dry. Then applied a thin coat of Monty's Montypresso wax (won't stain markers or binding) with shop towel dipped in grain alcohol to softens the wax. Heat it with a hair dryer and rub it in and let sit for an hour. Then apply a thick layer of Monty's and let sit for 72 hours. Wipe off heavy wax with one shop towel while working it. Then buff it out with a shop towels (especially against the frets). Keep buffing until the towels come out clean. Beautiful dark rosewood finish that looks like the Brazilian rosewood board on my 72 Martin D-18. And has a beautiful feel to it. More wait time than work time.
Thank you!
Each to his own, but I’m not convinced this is good for the wood, Inlays and binding, But it does look very nice indeed 👍🏻
Thank you. For this, I test all this to see how it works, including with different materials and times.
Hello! One luthier said that "lemon oil" from Dunlop and similar companies is not lemon oil, but a flavored by-product of oil refining. I checked and it's true, the certificates of such products indicate 90-95% White Mineral Oil in the composition. It is a distillate of petroleum with flavoring. The same luthier told me that you can use cheap natural oils that are sold in pharmacies (for example, castor oil). I tried, the result was good. What do you think about this?
Greetings Dr Nitro!
First, I really enjoy each video you made. You are doing a great job.
My question is about Sodium Hydroxide (Caustic Soda); What type of solution sodium hydroxide are you using? What is the mix do you used?
Thank you. It's just caustic soda with water.
Брал 2 перманентных маркера - черный и красный, красил ими накладку, далее смывал излишки краски спиртом. И так раз 5. В итоге накладка стала очень глубокого черно-красного цвета, хотя до этого была серо-коричневого стремного цвета.
А еще парни красили краской для волос из ашана - и тоже получалось )))))
Отлично. Спасибо
Easy mode perfect : Leather Paint , works
Are there enough tannins in rosewood to use an iron acetate mix? (Steel wool and white vinegar)
No, rosewood don't work with that solution.
I personally had nice results with china ink
Have you seen any ill effects on the binding or inlays from your various treatments?
No. Lacquer and plastic do not react to these compounds. The frets are cleaned and deactivated with oil. Lemon oil, like WD40, perfectly deactivates oxidative reactions from ferric chloride.
@@8BombCustom Thank you for the quick reply. I think that I will try the method you used with one less step. I really liked the fretboard showing more of the grain structure before you added the dye. I will stop before the dye step and oil the board then, hoping to keep more of the grain look. Great video.
which acid reacted with that soda?
Some years ago, a Fender Custom Shop employee told me that they used something used for darkening riding saddles to darken fretboards. I bought some. Messy as all hell, but worked beautifully.
Thank you. I will try some leather dyes.
Do you happen to recall exactly what you used?
Colortone guitar stain
I tried india ink, hell even acryllic paint and tape. But no just use colortone stain and plop a few drops, rub it in with a lint free cloth and let it soak in the wood for a dark color. I used tobacco brown and did not dillute the mixture when applying.
I darkened the rosewood fretboard on my telecaster using leather dye. I washed / rubbed it down with alcohol before applying the dye. After letting it dry etc. it rubbed off after a while... Would love to find a long term solution. Perhaps oiling it afterwards may help to seal it. I also bought Montypresso Relic Wax from Monty's Guitars which worked a bit better.
Try Liberon Spirit Wood Dye - it worked a treat on my pau ferro and walnut fretboards. Before that I experimented with all sorts of inks, stains and dyes but they all rubbed off as woods typically used for unfinished fretboards (not maple) have natural oils that repel water-based solutions.
Montypresso Relic Wax seems to be a mix of beeswax and dye. Monty's "instrument food" is mostly beeswax - nothing special.
potassium permanganate works wonders - not a stain, just an oxidizer and gets rosewood very dark and braz looking. Check out the thread on the gear page forum
Great. Thanks!
Brazilian rosewood is all shades, some light some is black?
Hi, how can I buy a set of your goldie pickups?
8bombcustom.com
WOW Master!!! may i ask if there is any method to turn a maple fingerboard into a dark rosewood fingerboard? Maybe this method overlapping serveral layers of the die?
Thank you. Yes, even maple can be made dark with this method. The full version of this video on Patreon at the Maker level shows how these compositions work with different types of wood. www.patreon.com/posts/how-to-darken-80774111
@@8BombCustom Thank you Man! And happy Easter from Italy!
Thank you
does it work the same even without pherom acid?, thanks
You can neutralize alkali with any acid.
Are you a Bond villian? Brown Finger by any chance?
Wow it looks great! You have so many tips, so I wanted to know if you had a method to yellow/age bindings under a PU clear without sanding and respraying an amber coat on top? Any secret technique for that? Thanks a lot. Damian
Thank you. Some types of plastic turn yellow from ultraviolet and sunlight. but this takes time. In addition, some dyes may fade.
You could tr a heat gun on a test piece. Think of toasting.
@@Pugsley_addams7 A heat gun in this case cannot be used, as the frets will immediately rise, the varnish will peel off, the binding will melt and the fretboard will peel off. In short, everything will collapse.
I will try UV with exposing the guitar to the sunlight from a window. It will take time!
I’d be interested in yellow the fretboard inlays, that, yes would be awesome!
What are you using on this i can't understand what you say it is
NaOH
I personally don’t mind the lighter color myself. And pau ferro is an awesome fretboard wood. I’m a luthier by trade. Pau ferro and Indian laurel are actually very rigid, bright, and hard tonewoods. Even in raw fretboard blank form, they ring nicely.
psst looks so much cooler darker
I'm not too convinced by the application of dye, as my first instinct would be to work with what is already present in the wood. I'm unsure how fuming Rosewood with say a strong oxidiser like say, ammonia, would work since this is something I reserve for woods like white Oak and Cherry rather than exotics. Fuming does penetrate the wood however, so it isn't a surface finish like a dye. The problem is carrying this out on an existing guitar....the ammonia fumes may not play well with the inlays, glues, nylon nut or fretwork. It will also manage to reach the Mahogany, which itself does look amazing when fumed.
Because the sodium hydroxide dissolves the oil in the wood and opens the pores of the wood structure, we can inject the dye deep inside. Thereby enhancing the effect of rosewood darkened by caustic soda. The oil fixes the dye and prevents it from wiping and being removed from the wood. By the way, ammonia does not darken rosewood. Just tried it. But with other breeds he works interestingly.
I believe that Fiebing's leather dye is used or was used by Gibson and Martin to darken fretboards in their factories. I have used it and it works very well. After it dries, I seal the board with Fingerboard Finishing Oil from StewMac. It dries hard and shiny if you polish it.
Fiebing's leather dye is excellent stuff. I suppose what we're talking about here is two different philosophies, both of which are sort of invalid since we're making a wood look like something it isn't, so really it's always going be false on some level. No one method is ever going to reproduce the real thing! I think my main concern is how the workpiece will look when it starts to wear, which is the main issue. My main work is instruments and vintage furniture, so there's a lot of thought that goes into how the piece will "live", and whether any repairs or modifications will blend into the piece and look in keeping with the character. Sodium hydroxide is an interesting idea which I've not heard of before. I suppose that my brain is thinking of the wood from being a blank rather than modifying a finished piece. I'd want to test how well various methods worked, such as an oil/dye schedule in a pressure chamber. All in all, I think the best that can be done is to keep a fingerboard oiled every few months with a few drops of raw (not boiled) linseed. It's kind to the board and naturally darkens with time. Nice take on the idea!
@@TristanJCumpole Yes, leather dyes are also great because they have an alcohol base. I think that they can even tint nitrolac. The caustic soda idea came to me when I was trying to clear a clogged drain in the kitchen and a couple of drops of pipe cleaner got on the oak floor. It took on a dark brown hue. Then I experimented with different acid patinas (for metals) on different types of wood. There are always different shades. But different compounds react differently with different breeds. Linseed oil darkens with ultraviolet light. I have known this for a long time, since I have been working with icons all my life. In my house, which is 140 years old, the ceiling is made of pine boards covered with linseed oil. It has acquired a stunning dark brown color.
Everything he's applying to the fretboard up to the wood tint is just cleaning the fretboard. For the stain to bond you need to open up the wood surface with some light sanding and make sure it has no oil or dirt.
Quite right. Do you know what soap is made from? Have you seen Fight Club? Caustic soda and fat. Caustic soda degreases the fretboard and opens the pores, besides darkens the rosewood in depth. After that, the dye is absorbed very deeply, adds depth of tone and is not erased later.
@@8BombCustom Oh I need to try that. I've had issues with stain not bonding to the wood.
Dr Nitro, I hope everything is going okay. It’s been a couple of months since your last video so I thought maybe should check with you since I really do like your content. Best regards
Thank you. I'm fine. Now I prepare to Crossroads festival in Hamburg
What is caustic soda?
Sodium hydroxide
Will this work on Pau Ferro fretboards?
I think yes
Curious if you ended up trying this on pau ferro. If so, what grade sodium hydroxide did you use? I found .1m .5m and 1m and I’m confused which one to choose. I ended up purchasing a scrap pau fretboard to test first but would appreciate any tips
Do not use dyes if you actually play guitar. The dye comes off when you play. Gibson dyed some of their custom shop LP's when they got a bad batch of wood and they stopped as soon as they found out it did not work for long.
Добрый день. Извиняюсь, не могу перевести состав кроме соды, по процессу ясно, а по итогу работы - восторг!!!!
Эх, жил бы я рядом, не задумываясь заплатил бы Тебе за релик своего LP.. Это просто сверхмастерство какое-то..
Спасибо
First off, after applying the dye sure the board will indeed look nice and dark. However once you start playing this instrument ( especially in warmer environments where your hands may begin to sweat ) this dye will get on your hands just like a new guitar with crappy frets on it typically do to your hands. In time as the board wears in you will begin to develop ‘light spots’ and then you will need to repeat this process again. For me, I’d just oil the board and leave it as it is but that’s your choice.
Thank you
I use Liberon Spirit Wood Dye - it doesn't rub off - at least not for me. ;)
Nice! Does it work on Laurel too?
Caustic soda works with any rosewood. You can see how different compositions work with different types of woodsin in the full version of the video on Patreon.
You gotta show exactlly what your using while your doing it,to help anyone
i tested some necks and after installing and playing several of them i noticed my finger tips all “dyed.”
What do you think it will do to a micarta fretboard?
It depends on wood
@@8BombCustom Micarta is not wood, but a composite material like richlite: paper/linen soaked in resins.
@@LegsON Yes, I know. Therefore, it is important how the materials react to oxidizers. But I think in this case all the layers are so impregnated with resin that nothing will go inside the material.
@@8BombCustom Surprisingly, micarta literally drank fretboard oil in 1-2 minutes, I've NEVER seen real wood do that!
@@LegsON What guitar do you have with this fretboard? it's not the best fingerboard material
FeCl3 is a salt, not an acid)
thanks for the video
Немного алхимии😊 Ок, а от пальцев со временем не появятся светлые проплешины?
Не должны, так как дерево тонируется на глубину до 1 мм
@@8BombCustom Логично. Ну как говорится, время покажет🤔
I didn't understand when u were listing certain ingredients. I tried to get youtube closed captioning to help but it said "sorry bro, no idea" lmao
You will find about all the materials that I use and about all the nuances of working with them on my Patreon in the Maker level
www.patreon.com/8bombcustom
@@8BombCustom - I appreciate the hustle and good luck to you, but why would I pay you when I can just click someone else's vid? (which I already did) Or just use common sense. It's wood staining not master building. And why would I assume Patreon would fix your hard to understand accent? 🙄It's a little dickish to ask for money in this context
Teak oil will also darken the board. I used that on my guitars for years, but switched to mineral oil because it's cleaner.
Appreciate the channel. I still think gibson copied your greenie job. They probably are one of your patreons.
Thank you 😁 Maybe maybe 😁😁😁
Can you type here the chemicals you used? Thanks!
Sodium hydroxide also known as caustic soda, ferric chloride , isopropyl alcohol and fretboard oil.
The nitro lack is nitro based tint
I personally wouldn't do this to my rosewood fret board guitar(s). But rather interesting.?
Thank you
I know I wouldn't do this to my guitars. Maple neck Strat has the bright shiny coming off in a nice wear pattern. Les Paul with ebony fretboard is the lightest shade but ain't gonna change something that actually works. And it's wear pattern is right also. Both are mid 90's and very classic in their looks. Have some cheap A/E's and a bass but doubt any are real rosewood. Even if again if it works don't F__k with it.
Thank you
Just use this and save yourselves the hassle of acids and dyes>>> Monty's Montypresso - The Original Guitar Relic Wax
Thank you.
How to make a dark fretboard lighter?
Уес субскрайбер кавэр дис вуд
Potassium Permanganate
Yes. It works too
А не проще маслом цветным сразу?
цветное масло стирается. При моем методе темнеет древесина внутри, глубоко. В открытые поры вводится краситель тоже глубоко так как он более текучий чем масло и запечатывается маслом. При таком методе цвет будет оставаться максимально долго так как тонировка происходит внутрь накладки примерно на 1 мм.
@@8BombCustom а если масло нагреть? Текучесть повысится, и проникаемость тоже, а потом уже тем же маслом но комнатной температуры
@@DedaOkk масло сразу же остынет на поверхности. У спирта всеравно текучесть выше в разы
@@8BombCustom понял, спасибо 👍
Very interesting. I've been using Angelus brand leather dye to darken rosewood (and to age plastic parts) for a while now. But it's always good to see different ideas put into practice. Well done! But you need to be careful about using the word 'Brazilian'. It has quite a different meaning for most English speaking people, and it's not to do with guitars.....
Thank you
Brazillian rosewood isnt dark at all. With vintage well played guitars the natural oils from the hands make it dark over time. New Brazillian rosewood looks very much like the original there on your guitar. Look it up.
You are absolutely right. Brazilian rosewood tends to lighten when exposed to light (ultraviolet radiation), but over time, grease and dirt eat into the texture of the fretboard and this causes it to darken. but not as much as ebony. There is simply a widespread prejudice that a vintage Brazilian rosewood fretboard must be dark. But it is not so. watch my latest video about 57 Lespail. everything is visible there. Thanks for your great comment. , 👍
Скажите пожалуйста, это видео будет на русском языке? Спасибо большое, очень нужная информация!
На русском пока не планируется.
Theres no way i would use that many different chemicals on my fretboards..you have no idea what it will do to the wood long term
I will never buy a guitar with a light fretboard ,cheap wood
what we need, more FAKE guitar parts ...
Nice jobs 👍👏👏👏
Thank you
It looks great, but does it dry out the wood over time? Acid on wood doesn't seem like a good idea
We will see
Use shoe polish.workscjust fine
I cannot understand this guy.anyone else.costic soda?and what?