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Fretboard finish???


Space coyote

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Well, this is refinish project, frets are fine, The finish was grungey and someone had already removed most of it. So now it's down to bare wood and ready for oil or a new coat of something. My concern with oil is that it will get dirty and gummy again.

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If the rest of the neck is poly then you can buy spray poly.

I wouldnt try to brush it on or you'll have all kinds of brush marks.

Go with very light coats till you get enough on to avoid drips.

If the neck has frets in already, you spray over the frets.

You can remove the poly from the frets after its dried.

 

Lacquer is better because you can buff out any flaws.

I've used Tung oil but its going to darken the wood and make it look vintage.

 

Tung oil has varnish in it so it wont get grungey as you suggest if you get enough coats on

to shine like a lacquer finish.

True oil or Linseed would more likely grunge up on you.

 

In all cases make sure all sanding was done with the grain. Any scratches across the grain will

be highlighted. Wipe the wood with a damp cloth and any bad scratches will be revealed.

 

 

Tung oil isnt bad fretboards, its just not going to shine the same.

I did my last two necks with it and it is very simular to lacquer and has simular durability.

Both tung oil and lacquer feel better than poly which tends to feel stickey because its a plastic finish.

I've used tung oil over lacquer before without any problems, But poly wont take lacquer or tung oil over it.

If the rest of the neck is poly, you should stick with the same finish. If you apply lacquer over poly where the two finisheds meet,

the lacquer will chip and peel.

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