NancyJohnson Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) Just wanted to pass on a little advice on this subject. I've never really been a fan of maple boards, much preferring rosewood/ebony, so a while back I researched easy methods of staining a lighter board to near-black, so a couple of days ago I had a go. If you look at the photos, you'll see I did it on one of my Lulls (gasp), the board on my JAXT4 (mahogany) would darken a bit after an oiling session, but was very light compared to the ebony of the NRT5. The board is quite open grained and would take the stain easily enough. I'd done a bit of pre-research and the one product that came up time and again was Fiebings Leather Dye; I picked up a small pot off Amazon (£6.00), put on some rubber gloves and fished out some cotton buds. I masked off the nut and set to work. To be frank, I was pooping myself while I was doing it. I let the leather dye set up for a couple of minutes and wiped away the excess; the dot markers took a little of the stain, but this came off with a little methylated spirit once things had completely dried (24 hours). The neck doesn't have any binding and the wiping down after applying ensured nothing went where it shouldn't have. [edit] I also masked around the heel joint so none of the dye got on the body. I'm very happy with the end result. BEFORE: AFTER: Edited July 16, 2018 by NancyJohnson 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 That's very very brave (I did the same thing a while ago with a US SUB MM4, and I was cacking myself even with that) and it looks fantastic.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 36 minutes ago, Muzz said: That's very very brave (I did the same thing a while ago with a US SUB MM4, and I was cacking myself even with that) and it looks fantastic.... I think once I'd decided to do it, there was no turning back...when the first bit of dye went on, I did think to myself, 'Oh feck, what am I doing?', but after this it was more like 'Well, I've started, I might as well finish.' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Yep...I'd imagine ski jumping for the first time is similar... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 That looks great 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 That looks pretty good NJ. Does the stain stay put well when dried, no chance of sticking to moist fingers? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 I've had a good noodle since...though not a sweaty one. The dye didn't lift off the wood with the meths, so I reckon it'll be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Have to agree with the above, it looks amazing. Well Done! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 I was thinking of some DIY ageing too, but not this brave, I was going to start with a tea bag soaked in lemon oil. My other thought was tobacco, both play havoc with your teeth over the years so maybe make my fret-board could look vintage too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Update - The tea bag and lemon oil doesn't work I will take up chewing tobacco next week 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 That looks great. The darker fret board is now definitely more in keeping with the vibe of the bass. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Brave! But worthwhile, it looks cracking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Brave indeed. But as others have said - it looks great on that bass. Nice job 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Which type did you use? They seem to to acrylic, alcohol and oil based dye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 2 hours ago, lemmywinks said: Which type did you use? They seem to to acrylic, alcohol and oil based dye. It was/is oil dye, so it's not going to dry out the mahogany. I'm unsure whether I'll (lemon) oil the board again either; it's the only board I've ever oiled and to be honest I only did it to darken it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemmywinks Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Nice one thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Ooo! I've always wanted the board on my Urge 2 to be a bit darker. I might give this a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprocketflup Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Wow! that has taken really well, looks the business! So, you gonna try darkening a maple board next? 😬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 On 13/07/2018 at 10:33, sprocketflup said: So, you gonna try darkening a maple board next? 😬 I suspect not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Does this finish harden after the 12 hours or even better after a few weeks ? It's not for a fretboard, but my wooden floors. There is 200 to 400 years of wax in them (our house is very old and already represented on the oldest map of 1604), so we have to put wax every year and give them a good shine. If I could find some wax friendly "varnish", I would be more than happy. Maybe a very light stain could do the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 And congratulations for your risky work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 46 minutes ago, Hellzero said: Does this finish harden after the 12 hours or even better after a few weeks ? It's not for a fretboard, but my wooden floors. There is 200 to 400 years of wax in them (our house is very old and already represented on the oldest map of 1604), so we have to put wax every year and give them a good shine. If I could find some wax friendly "varnish", I would be more than happy. Maybe a very light stain could do the job. The dye went off very quickly, but then the grain on the fingerboard was unfinished and open (aside from a handful of previous oilings). I'd doubt that product would set up that well on a waxed surface. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Hi lm a carpenter/joiner polisher you can’t put anything over wax except wax. You would have to sand the wax off first then varnish the floor. In my opinion the wax looks better more natural 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Thanks @Reggaebass. I know that wax accepts only wax, but the wax has gone through the other side of the planks over the years, so it's impossible to sand it. I have an old recipe with turpentine to make a varnish for waxed wood, but I sure it will never dry, according to that kind of varnish that my grandmother used for windows and tablets in our now house : not dry yet after more than 50 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 Zombie thread resurrection @NancyJohnsonHow did this last? I have a little project and this looks perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.