Members phaeton Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 Hey everyone. I just bought a used guitar via GC, and had it shipped in from out of state. It showed up yesterday, and since it was cold throughout its entire journey I left it in the shipping box in my living room for 24 hours to acclimate. Better safe than sorry. Anyways, so far I really dig it, but on first blush I noticed that the (ebony) fretboard looked really dry. So I pulled the strings off and got ready to clean it up and hit it with some mineral oil. However, I noticed it has some pretty obvious cracks in the surface (see pics). This is the first time I've seen this in person. Are cracks in ebony fretboards just a cosmetic issue, or is this neck now ruined? Should I return the guitar, or should I just oil it, string it up and keep on rockin'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 The thing that bothers me is that they are all down the truss rod line. Possibly been cranked right up.My inclination would be to return it, though I understand the hassle resistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 Looks dehydrated to me. Does the rest of the guitar have any tell tail signs? How are the fret ends? The frets look pretty good but the f/b seems to have a lot of wear - has it been refretted? Its not cosmetic but I can't say if its a problem now or will be in the future. ps - I'm in the minority but I don't use oil on fretboards. My guitars are all lacquered and some oil products are known to react with lacquer, and the oil makes a refret (and repair of those cracks) infinitely more difficult. I generally charge a little more to refret a board that has been oiled since my glues don't hold as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaeton Posted January 24, 2019 Author Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 The thing that bothers me is that they are all down the truss rod line. Possibly been cranked right up. My inclination would be to return it, though I understand the hassle resistance. Only the one is centered on the fretboard. The rest of them are off-center. Looks dehydrated to me. Does the rest of the guitar have any tell tail signs? How are the fret ends? The frets look pretty good but the f/b seems to have a lot of wear - has it been refretted? I don't know if it has been refretted, and I'm willing to bet that if I call Guitar Center they won't know either. The fret ends aren't bad. They're not pokey, and assuming that the binding would be screwed up if it got re-fretted, I think they're original. The guitar played nicely when the strings were on it. I can feel the unevenness of the cracks with the strings off, but I didn't feel it when it was strung (these are extra jumbo frets) What other telltale signs am I looking for? The guitar has a thick finish all over and it's otherwise in excellent condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaeton Posted January 24, 2019 Author Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 Oh, and regarding fretboard wear, I think it was just gunk. Here's after a damp rag and some elbow grease: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 "Only the one is centered on the fretboard. The rest of them are off-center." They are all around the center zone the truss bears on, its a slot not a line. I kinda understand your desire to be defensive but you did ask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phaeton Posted January 24, 2019 Author Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 "Only the one is centered on the fretboard. The rest of them are off-center." They are all around the center zone the truss bears on, its a slot not a line. I kinda understand your desire to be defensive but you did ask Ah ok, I see what you mean. I wasn't being defensive. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 What other telltale signs am I looking for? The guitar has a thick finish all over and it's otherwise in excellent condition. The significant thing on an electric guitar will be the fret ends. When the f/b dries out it shrinks and the end of the frets stick out. Pretty simple to file them back. Acoustics have lots of other signs. I don't think it is a deal breaker and I've certainly seen some really bad fretboards. Seems to have cleaned up pretty well - if it were mine I would be tempted to run some real thin CA into the cracks, scrape any excess off, clean with steel wool and play that puppy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 Cool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted January 24, 2019 Members Share Posted January 24, 2019 I would think that since they are so fine, just wiping the fingerboard with walnut oil would be enough to rehydrate and make them disappear. If they still were an issue at that point I would wick in a drop of super thin cyanoacrylate glue over them. Then immediately sand over the wet crack with 600 grit sandpaper. Any fine ebony dust falls into the crack and combines with the CA glue making the crack vanish. Maybe then go over the area with 0000 steel wool and buff it. This trick works better with ebony because the crack becomes a solid dark vein. With ebony this is black but with rosewood you get a dark looking vein line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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