Colored FretBoard ?

[Mila]

Hello guys,

Just a question :

Do you think that some Customs LP fretboard are "colored in black". It would be Ebony wood (on Custom), so quite dark. But maybe, the wood is so clear that Gibson colored it in black ?
In fact, i am surprised to see that the fretboard is, on "new" LP, not so much nice than "old" Custom

Some pics, you can see on it some "spots" :

An old one with nice ebony fretboard :

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Some ideas ?

Thanks

 

[bruce bennett]

Gibson has been useing a Black dye on their fretboards and headstock overlays since the 70s when they switched to the vulcanized Fiberboard headstock overlays..

 

[Archtop 13]

You can buy fretboard dye from LMI or Stewmac. Most builders who use Ebony want it "Black". It's getting tough to come by so....Buy the Dye. I actually like my Ebony with a little streaking, but I'm probably not the norm.

 

[dougk]

Umm. Honestly it just looks like the spots are from finger/body oils.

Just reoil the entire board it get the dye. Remember, not all Ebony is perfectly uniform black. Its wood. Its natural. It grows out of the ground. It has imperfections and streaking sometime.

 

[purevilpleasure]

Very common industry standard these days. The ebony harvested now isn't as dark as the "old" days.

 

[evolved_insanity]

It looks like Indian Ebony. Indian Ebony for one reason or another seems to mostly have spots like that. Some are white and some stay dark and look like oil. They do not come out either. Gabon Ebony doesn't do that but it could also be drops of oil like somone else mentioned.

 

[MATTM]

Gaboon ebony is pricy stuff. It's far cheaper to use a cheaper alternative and dye it.

 

[LP_NEWFAG]

I like woodgrain.

 

[evolved_insanity]

Gabon Ebony is indeed pricey. Thats why most companies are using Indian Ebony now. It looks almost identical. Just as black.