Dyed maple?

[slinkp]

I like bright-sounding fretboards like Ebony and Maple.  I don't much care for the look of maple boards, though.

Now, I'm not fully up on the story with availability / ethics of using ebony, and don't really want to start a thread about that; but I had a random idea that I wanted to explore:  Is it possible to dye maple to look like a really dark wood?

... without it looking like crap?

[ilan]

Sure. Violin (/cello /upright bass) makers have done it for ages with low-end instruments, for the fingerboard they use "ebonized" maple.

Rickenbacker did enameled freboards on their 4003SPC models - Blackstar, Tuxedo and Redneck, matching the color of the body (black, white or red). Traditionally Rics have bubinga (african rosewood) fretboards, but rosewood is open-pore and for the enameled boards they needed close-pore wood, so they used maple.

[slinkp]

Thanks Ilan for satisfying my curiosity.  Whether I will ever get to use this information is another matter... but hey, thinking about basses keeps me sane at work!

[Rob]

It can be hard to make it really black might look up ebonizing to get some ideas.

[patman]

old banjos that were relatively inexpensive often used dyed pearwood for fingerboards and peghead overlays...

[Lightyear]

I would start here: http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/TransTint.htm

Transtint makes liquid dyes that you can mix with water or alcohol, the latter preferred in your application I would think, that can be applied as strongly as desired.  I've used their powdered dyes in the past with great results.

[shadowcastaz]

I have used both black & blue(blue not on fret board) to dye wood in the bat with good results.

[Rob]

I've used black and green and they are both really consistant.  I used them on curly maple which is sometimes easier to color as little variances don't matter as much.

This is worth a watch or two and James is a bassplayer.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/Materials/MaterialsArticle.aspx?id=30136

[Dave W]

Transtint are metal acid dyes and should work well on maple.

IMHO nothing wrong with flat black paint either, depending on the look you're after.

[shadowcastaz]

This is worth a watch or two and James is a bassplayer.

http://www.finewoodworking.com/Materials/MaterialsArticle.aspx?id=30136
[/quote]


I saw this vid a couple years back. Awesome results>

[dadagoboi]

black leather dye (the alcohol based stuff) is relatively cheap and works well, especially with a lacquer topcoat.