glassmoon Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Hello all, So, as much as I don't hear any tonal variances between rosewood or maple, I just can't can't seem to get my eyes to like the look of maple - even the roasted maple on my Cort GB75JH. So, I've watched several Yew Choob videos on staining and while most are staining rosewood darker to look more like ebony, I've seen a few on staining maple darker to look closer to rosewood. Iis there anyone here that has ever been successful in staining a maple board/neck dark so that it resembles a dark wood like rosewood, Macassar (ebony), wenge etc etc etc.??? And... if so, how did you do it? My thanks in advance... as ever. Julian aka Glassmoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 (edited) Do you know what the fingerboard has already been sealed with? That will be the major factor in what you can do next. Edited January 14 by franzbassist 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Hi @franzbassist I honesty don't have the first clue. Good point though, so I will try to get some more info on how it left the Cort factory. However, I'd be certainly stripping any and all coating off that fingerboard before applying anything at all. Scrape, rub, buff, until I'm at pretty much "raw" wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted January 14 Share Posted January 14 Paging @Andyjr1515 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 (edited) Ah, capital - thanks @Geek99. Let's continue the journey! Edited January 15 by glassmoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Think @benh knows a few things also 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Is it just the fretboard or is it the whole kit and caboodle, ie neck as well, @glassmoon ? The only roasted I can remember seeing on a Cort was a very dark brown already. Do you have a photo? If it's just the fretboard, then it is relatively straightforward. If it is the neck also, then that is a much bigger challenge to get it right. For the fretboard only, aiming for 'ebony or close' the way I do it is: - I scrape all of the muck / finish / dints down to bare wood using a single-edged razor blade or Stanley knife blade, held vertically with hand either side, and scraped firmly along the grain from on fret to the other. This sort of thing excepting that it should be held two-handed (my other hand was taking the photo): - I would then use good quality masking tape to mask off anything I didn't want stained - Once ALL finish/oil/dirt has been scraped off and I am down to clean wood, then - for black - I would use Fiebings Leather Die wiped on with a lint free cloth. Wear gloves unless you want to have black stains on your hands for a few weeks! - I then let it dry overnight and see if it needs a second coat, or if any area needs re-scraping and re-staining - once fully dry, personally I use a good quality lemon oil - wiped on, left to soak in, excess wiped off and then buffed up once it's dry. The stain will coat any dots or markers. These will need to be scraped clean once the Fiebings is fully dry That's how I would do it. If the neck is as dark as the examples I've seen, I personally wouldn't stain it - it's much more difficult to get an even coating (the thin grain lines of maple always seem to me to be impervious to any stains I've ever come across) and could end up looking like a dogs dinner 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 Hello @Andyjr1515 Thank you so very much for such a clear and concise rundown of "how to stain a fingerboard". Very kind of you mate! To answer the questions... * please see the attached picture of the fingerboard * yes, just the fingerboard, so I'll need some of the blue tape I always seem to see on the instrument videos The board is lovely - no mistake, and I'm probably being a little silly contemplating this, but I just really prefer a dark board.... so much so, that I was contemplating looking for a Cort neck from one of the older model GB basses (which I've owned before and really liked, so no worry about "quality" there... it's just finding one) But for about seven quid, the Fiebing stain looks like a win!!! Ta muchly. p.s. hopefully no dog's dinner in sight. KR Julian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Can't you sell that bass and replace it with one with a neck you like? Seems such a shame to destroy that lovely flame. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 (edited) 8 minutes ago, glassmoon said: I was contemplating looking for a Cort neck from one of the older model GB basses There is something to be said with this approach - you can always sell the other neck (it does look nice!) or full bass with the swopped neck. Once you've scraped that nice finish off (and don't forget you need to do the fretboard edges) then its value is already shot - whether it turns out well or not... Edited January 15 by Andyjr1515 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassmoon Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 2 minutes ago, Paul S said: Can't you sell that bass and replace it with one with a neck you like? Seems such a shame to destroy that lovely flame. Fair point admittedly, but what I've done is replace the pickups with Delanos and I'm looking next to replace the pre-amp with either a Delano or something similar... essentially a hybrid Sandberg/Lakland... I do like the bass (albeit a heavy lump) ... sigh... I hear you guys though. Perhaps I should look at a Skyline again - one from about 20 year ago hahahaha Perhaps a new neck and if I do sell it, I've got the original neck to put back on! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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