Beautiful SG. I (and others) have used Old English Scratch Cover to darken up rosewood fretboards. It darkens more than an oil will because it contains a bit of stain. They make one version for dark wood and one for light wood. The dark version is what you want. In my experience, it won't darken it significantly, but it will make more of a difference than just oil. Plus it will last. I used it on a D-18 that had a very light rosewood fretboard and it made a lasting difference. If you're in the US you can find it at most hardware stores. https://www.amazon.com/Old-English-Scratch-Cover-Polish/dp/B0063KFJHK/
I would be totally satisfied with that fretboard. But then consider that my purpose for buying a guitar is to play it and keep it forever and not be worried if it gets dinged or scratched. Some people buy guitars to look at or impress other people, or for investment and resale. So I would imagine that your reasons for buying a guitar would affect your thoughts about the fretboard. If you really don't like it, send it to me. I think it looks great.
My apologies for sneaking an Epi into the Gibson SG forum but... My only real beef with my 2020 Classic is the somewhat gray look of the fretboard. I tried lemon oil a couple of times with no noticeable darkening. I took Dave_11's advice and got some Old English Scratch Cover. Here are the results-not too dramatic but certainly satisfying. 12th fret and above treated, 11th down not. 745A950F-90F8-4CCF-972C-FFAB0A37E6E7 by Piper68Special posted Jul 11, 2020 at 2:11 PM AE13EBAC-5AF6-4B4D-91CD-0A610B72FCAD by Piper68Special posted Jul 11, 2020 at 2:11 PM
My god man, have you no shame?! Many epis fretboards are covered with some waxy goo. In order to be able to stain them you have to scrape that off with a razor blade that you have burnished the edge of, or the stain won't take.
Very little shame I’m afraid! Thanks for the heads up on the goo. I’ll see how this shakes out and then bust out the blades if needed.
Yeah, that's most likely the problem. I meant burnish the edge btw. English is not my first language...
If I were looking for an SG Standard, and the one you have was presented to me, the light rosewood would not bother me in the least. All that matters is if it feels good and playable. Rosewood, being a natural material comes in a variety of brown colorations, none of which can be considered preferable to another in terms of color or durability. Playing this guitar, over time, will darken the fretboard, but you can stain it darker. It will not harm the wood. Just do it carefully, if you go down that road. I do not believe that Gibson applies any "goo" over the fretboard, so there should be nothing to scrape off before staining. I have a '70 SG Standard, bought in 1970, which has a dark rosewood fretboard. "Goo" was not included, and wasn't offered as an option.
Stain it all you want. So many people think that ebony is a black wood. It isn't. If you see black ebony, it has been stained.
Lemon Oil does exactly the opposite thing of what you want to do to your fretboard. It degreases and dries the wood and it's good for cleaning. You should use straw oil to rehydrate and darken a little bit. There are also dark colored oils for wood which I've used some times and they give even better results but they are a little uncomfortable because the fretboard keeps losing color for some time and eventually slightly colors your fingers when you play.
Just to clarify, this was about Epis then, not Gibsons. The latter don't have any coating on their fretboards and never had.
Hi: Me again. I just wanted to let you know that I still love your guitar and I wanted to remind you that you could to send it to me. Send me your guitar. Send me your guitar. I'm sorry I can't afford to pay for it, but I'm sure that you would be glad to know to someone loves your guitar. Or have you learned to love it? Or have you investigated staining it? Just a hint ... test the stain ( and your staining method ) on a 2x4, or find a scrap of hardwood at a lumber yard to test.
I prefer the darker rosewood fretboard myself. But on the ‘61 Reissue model, I’ll deal with it. Oh wait, I have: Before: And a couple weeks after F1 fretboard oil:
Contrary to donepearce's statement, ebony is very often very dark, no stain required: https://www.core77.com/posts/25523/An-Introduction-To-Wood-Species-Part-9-Ebony
Lemon Oil only dries out the wood if it has a drying agent, like many that are sold for furniture use.
