Members zosoKing5 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 after playing for an hour or five, do you ever find that your fingertips are black on your fretting hand? Im guessing this is from the fretboard but its never happened to me before until this guitar. anyone else have experience with this? im not particularly worried about it, just mildly amused and curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 Ebony fretboard are NOT black when they start out. They're all dyed, and that dye comes off on new guitars sometimes.. Nether of my Carvins have ever left my fingers black though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atxstrat Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 i don't own any ebony fretboarded guitars, but my guitars with rosewood do the same thing. i think tends to show up more when your wood is moist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stork1122 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 my finger tips turn black when i play my rosewood board guitars for a long time. Ebony boards are the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalhead666666 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 You need to clean the fretboard my sg was like this I used gibson fretboard conditioner a 1/4 box of tissues and it took 20 minutes clean each fret till theres no more black on the tissue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tedmich Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 Some dyes do come off after lots of sweaty playing, a cleaning and a layer of oil or beeswax on the board will keep the dye away, and the board in better shape. FYI the Madagascar ebony was the blackest and densest but is now also the most scarce (Madagascar is turning into a parking lot). My '91 Carvin never bled, and after I took it down 2mm for a refret/finish the wood was totally black all through. Other ebonies are only black at the dyed surface, and LMII has a few Mad ebony boards left for $ ($55 for a midnight black, 36 fret, 30" scale, 3.25" wide, 5 string bass board) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 I have a 92 Les Paul Studio Lite w/ Ebony board and I've never noticed the kind of thing you are talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JC777 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 What's the guitar? I have a couple of Les Pauls webony and I've not had any black rub off.Not to say it couldn't, but those are the only two ebony boards that I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaveAronow Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 Ebony fretboard are NOT black when they start out. They're all dyed, and that dye comes off on new guitars sometimes.. Nether of my Carvins have ever left my fingers black though. Well, SORT of Ravencad. I think you mean, "alot" of ebony fretboards are not black, and are dyed. Some boards are pretty damned black naturally, and even more so if you oil them a little. You are right that ALOT of boards, even really dark ones are dyed for consistancy of color though. This is most likely what is turning Opies fingers black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crunchtime Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 Many makers dye their ebony boards. Gibson is one of them. I guess this way they can use any grade ebony. Carvin states they do not dye their boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bengerm77 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 My fingers turn black as my strings start to age from dirt that gets stuck in the string windings. It's worse when I leave the windows open in my place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bubbluz Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 yeah..it's more likely the strings than the fb oxidation or something likely,I've had my fingers turn black with a maple fb guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Into Nation Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 My strings turn black, not my fingers. Ebony or otherwise.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 i find that its often the stock strings and not the fretboard making fingers black. my new SX with rosewood fretboard was doing it. tossed the strings, and no more black. generally on a new guitar, removing the strings, wiping down the fretboard with lemon oil or some other cleaner, then putting new strings on will keep your hands clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wagdog Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 I have two guitars w/ebony boards, a les paul custom and a custom made tele. Neither of them leave my finger tips black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarlady Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 I have quite a few ebony fingerboard guitars, mostly high-end models from Gibson, Fender and Gretsch, and I have never had my fingers go black from playing them even for long periods of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_bleeding Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 nope, i clean my guitar when i restring it. And i dont think mine was dyed, i can see a definite brown grain in it... but it is finished with some slippery substance. See pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StompBoxLover Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 only a little percentage of ebony is as black as the name suggests. some manufactures even call their not-black ebony 'tigerstripe'. the ebony fretboard on my Framus Diablo Custom was not dyed, however, and I never got black fingers after playing it. Dying ebony or rosewood is just a way to cut costs and to satisfy the perception that good ebony should be as black as... well... ebony... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axepilot Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 Two Gibbies with ebony boards and my fingertips don't turn black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Darkstorm Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 Shouldnt happen. At least not if cleans the board regular if lots of sweaty playing. Has had some col,oring of fingers from useing some strings though. Cant remember what brand it was. If fretboard is shedding dye lot would say was poor qaulity via mfg. Perhaps its an estaban guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metalhead666666 Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 nope, i clean my guitar when i restring it. And i dont think mine was dyed, i can see a definite brown grain in it... but it is finished with some slippery substance. See pic. It's probably just sanded really finely you can't finish ebony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shredtilurded Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 yeah,it happens.I wipe my whole guitar down after I'm done playing and I oil the fingerboards lightly as well.Ebony is the best although a tight grained rosewood is very nice too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ihavenofish Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 you can't finish ebony of course you can, though ebony boards rarely are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicscotty Posted October 23, 2008 Members Share Posted October 23, 2008 I've had 3 guitars with ebony fretboards. I had a Patrick Eggle Berlin that did leave marks on my fingers. It also left a lot of dye on the paper towels I used, when I used lemon oil to clean it. My Yamaha CPX900 acoustic has an ebony board but it hasn't been dyed and has a dark brown appearance - quite similar to the guitar posted by The Bleeding. My Yamaha SG2000 leaves no marks at all - either when I'm playing it or when I clean it. The fretboard on the SG2000 has a really deep, shiny, smooth, solid black appearance. I can only assume that the board on that guitar is natural black ebony. It's certainly the best ebony board that I've seen yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted October 24, 2008 Members Share Posted October 24, 2008 I've experienced that many times on many fretboards on new guitars. I seem to recall it's happened on a lot on my Epiphones. Doesn't have to be ebony. But it's from a dye the manufacturers use to darken the wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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