Dark Patches / Dried out Fretboard

[8bit Barry]

After a considerable discount, I bought this fabulous sounding '59 Historic. The fretboard has dried out somewhat due to the store lights, the dark patch being shaded behind the store tag (hence the discount). I tried out two others from the same production run and man, this guitar sounds and plays incredible and I had to have it.

I stripped all the strings off and used some liberal lemon oil on the lighter sections, giving it a soaking for half an hour. Its definitely made a move in the right cosmetic direction, but can I ask is this going to fully darken over time? I feel nervous about this, despite the joy of playing it.

 

[GnOm]

I think it's going to even out over time. The dark spot will get lighter when exposed to UV.
But if it sounds great, it won't matter much anyway, right?


cheers.

 

[thin sissy]

IMHO it's alright. You seem to love the guitar, and the entire fretboard will darken over time and I bet it will get more uniform. It seems to me that the best treatment for fretboards is to be played a lot. Oiling them up is not as important I believe (I actually damaged a board once when some oil got under a fret and made the wood "mushy", it was fixed by a great guitar tech though).

Great guitar, congrats :salude

 

[8bit Barry]

IMHO it's alright. You seem to love the guitar, and the entire fretboard will darken over time and I bet it will get more uniform. It seems to me that the best treatment for fretboards is to be played a lot. Oiling them up is not as important I believe (I actually damaged a board once when some oil got under a fret and made the wood "mushy", it was fixed by a great guitar tech though).

Great guitar, congrats :salude

Thanks for that. YOU dont buy a car from a garage with panels that are different colours and get told 'oh, don't worry it'll be fine' - its been rather worrying over the last week. I also received a lot of good advice from Denmark St London, who also assured me it will change. Its good to get an opinion here too...

 

[DANELECTRO]

Typically when Rosewood has different colors, it occurs along the grain of the fretboard, such as on this 1957 Junior:





Yours is a bit unusual in that the variagation occurs across the grain, but if you're happy with the guitar otherwise, I wouldn't fret about it (sorry, for the pun).

Enough on the fretboard, let's see the top!

 

[8bit Barry]

I really appreciate the response and the photos...

Its a wonderful iridescent flame, not to intense... its a wonderful tonal yet bright sounding Les Paul. I just tried running 11-48's on it and they were too heavy even with a top wrap. So I have gone back to 10-46, without top wrapping.

One thing I dont like is the volume pots. Turn it to 8 and half the volume seems to drop away. I guess I need to install some linear pots. By 7 its strangling everything so badly. We all cant be Jo Bonnamassa and crank Fender Twin's to 10 without neighbours. I have found the Origin Effects Revival Drive does such a wonderful job of giving that valve feel at lower volume. I am using a Fender Princeton, volume at 4 / 10 with a Weber attenuator.

 

[Big Al]

You bought a guitar, not a car. It is Rosewood. An oily wood that remains so. It, by its very nature shows a wide pallet of color. Enjoy it. Play it. Over time it will darken.

 

[MeHereNow]

Very nice guitar!
Has a bit of "Greeny" vibe going on.:salude
As most stated, the board will darken over time just by playing it.
Though 1 thing that i don't recommend is leaving that clip-on tuner on the headstock for long periods.
The rubber of the clip might discolour or slowly eat away the nitro finish.

 

[8bit Barry]

You bought a guitar, not a car. It is Rosewood. An oily wood that remains so. It, by its very nature shows a wide pallet of color. Enjoy it. Play it. Over time it will darken.

Thanks for your opinion - appreciated.

 

[8bit Barry]

Very nice guitar!
Has a bit of "Greeny" vibe going on.:salude
As most stated, the board will darken over time just by playing it.
Though 1 thing that i don't recommend is leaving that clip-on tuner on the headstock for long periods.
The rubber of the clip might discolour or slowly eat away the nitro finish.

The guitar seems to change from yellow almost Lemon to an amber tone, depending on the light source. Its very interesting.

Thanks for your information regarding the fretboard. Another vote for darkening with playing. Also, noted about the clip tuner. I don't leave them on al the time, but I didnt think of that.

 

[Musicman]

I imagine that's why it was a considerable discount. As the others have said I wouldn't worry about it everything changes with time. Congrats!:salude

 

[pdfiddler]

Looks fine

 

[wulfthar]

Indulge on lemon oil and playing until the color is uniform...it might take years however.

 

[Pip]

It looks fine, oil it up and rock it - lovely looking Lester.

 

[AA00475Bassman]

I would play it , you bought the guitar knowing this in hand . IMO play the guitar enjoy don't second guess your purchase !