Splotches on Ebony Fretboard

[Raiseittoeleven]

I got this Warmoth neck used off reverb. Although I spent a while cleaning it, there are still the oily looking marks on almost the whole fretboard. Not sure how to get rid of them. Maybe when the person was putting the oil finish on the neck he got splotches on the fretboard? Not sure, any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!

Incase photos don’t show:
https://i.imgur.com/LgyYsU1_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

https://i.imgur.com/nxnlPMq_d.jpg?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium

 

[Cagey]

Ebony usually won't take oil. It's pretty dense stuff. It's unique among woods in that it won't even float. Those almost look like marks from a Sharpie permanent marker or something. Could be there were light marks in the grain, and the previous owner was trying to black them out to make it look more consistent. I suspect anything you'd try to do to remove them will leave the thing looking worse off. Maybe just play it for a while, and let natural wear & tear do that work for you.

 

[TBurst Std]

Ebony usually won't take oil. It's pretty dense stuff. It's unique among woods in that it won't even float. Those almost look like marks from a Sharpie permanent marker or something. Could be there were light marks in the grain, and the previous owner was trying to black them out to make it look more consistent. I suspect anything you'd try to do to remove them will leave the thing looking worse off. Maybe just play it for a while, and let natural wear & tear do that work for you.

I’d agree with that. 

 

[rob91bob]

I would attempt to clean it with some naptha, atleast one of the spots that may be smaller. I use Howard's Feed and Wax Orange oil on my ebony fretboards and it seems to help it have a nice luster.

Rob

 

[dmraco]

I agree with Cagey.  Sometimes ebony will have light spots.  A good naphtha clean and play the hell out of it.

 

[timezon3]

My brand new ebony fretboard has spots like that too.  I assume it's just the wood.
TZ

 

[AirCap]

Ebony frequently has mineral spots scattered through the grain. Not much can be done with them.

 

[aarontunes]

Ebony frequently has mineral spots scattered through the grain. Not much can be done with them.

AirCap wins.


Those mineral spots are part of the wood.

 

[dmraco]

I have used some orange oil on Ebony and it works well.  To Cagey's point, it will not soak up as much as a wood like rosewood, but it may be enough to even the finish a bit.  Worth a shot if they really bother you.

 

[Raiseittoeleven]

Thank you so much for the replies everyone!!

I will try the naphtha and orange oil when I can.

If it is natural to the wood then I have no problem with it, was just hoping it wasn’t a human mistake.

My brand new ebony fretboard has spots like that too.  I assume it's just the wood.
TZ

Thank you for sharing Timezon3! Would you mind sharing a photo?

 

[timezon3]

There's a closeup of my fretboard over in the "Just out of the box" thread:

Purpleheart Strat Neck

TZ

 

[Raiseittoeleven]

There's a closeup of my fretboard over in the "Just out of the box" thread:

Purpleheart Strat Neck

TZ

Thank you very much! It does look very similar.

 

[BigSteve22]

My Tele neck, also ebony, also had mineral marks right out of the box. I tried to find a pic, but I couldn't find one that showed them very well. I will say that after a couple of months of play, they have become less visible, but I never much minded them in the first place.

 

[Steve_Karl]

There's a closeup of my fretboard over in the "Just out of the box" thread:

Purpleheart Strat Neck

TZ

Is that Ebony (Black) or just Ebony?

 

[timezon3]

There's a closeup of my fretboard over in the "Just out of the box" thread:

Purpleheart Strat Neck

TZ

Is that Ebony (Black) or just Ebony?

Mine is plain Ebony, not Black, not Macassar.  That said, I think it is pretty even and black, for not having been "Black".  The closeup pic has the flash on, and that definitely magnifies the unevenness.  In person, it is pretty even.  That said, my initial reaction when I pulled the neck from the box was "what the heck are these splotches?"    However, after putting the neck on the guitar, I no longer noticed them nearly as much.  Totally happy with the look of my neck and fingerboard.  Guitar looks awesome, IMO.

TZ

 

[Steve_Karl]

Can assume that ordering Ebony "(Black)" avoids the possibility of these splotches?

 

[Cagey]

Anytime I've ordered Ebony, I order it black, and I've never seen those marks. But, that doesn't mean anything.

 

[Steve_Karl]

Anytime I've ordered Ebony, I order it black, and I've never seen those marks. But, that doesn't mean anything.

Same here ... I always specify black ,,, but after seeing these I'll be calling the order in and asking for the next one.

 

[wildbill]

It's bat blood, those dang metal bands......


I would tend to agree that it is probably the nature of the board. Good, black ebony is getting very scarce (or so I have read) and $$$. I was thrilled that the tele neck I just bought off the showcase was solid black and VERY nice. It was just marked ebony, not black. If you look at the special wood options in the builder, you will see that even Black Ebony has variegation. Let's hope it plays good and then you won't care what it looks like.

 

[Ivandrov]

Can assume that ordering Ebony "(Black)" avoids the possibility of these splotches?

Nope, My guitar in my profile pic was ordered with an Ebony (Black) still has the mineral spots. It's still Ebony, so it would have the same mineral spotting properties as any other piece of Ebony would.

I will say that they have disappeared over time, or are at least harder to notice. Given enough playing, they should even out.