Do all Pau Ferro fretboards leave your fingers black?

Dcotorstewie

Morning ( or whatever it is wherever you are ) I have just got ( of of the best presents ever ) an Epiphone DC pro and it has a Pau ferro fretboardwhich feels lovely ( and has the most gorgeous inlays) but it does, as per the Chappers/Captain video leave your fingertips all dark and filthy. I am not particularly bothered, because I know how to wash my hands but I do wonder ho wlong this will take to stop, and if it's something to do with the Epi DC or all PF fretboards.
Any ideas anyone? 

SteveRobinson

The wood is probably dyed and it's the dye coming off. Oiling the board will remove the excess dye.

chrisj1602

I got two guitars from new with Pau Ferro and didn’t get black fingers, not Epiphone though...

ICBM

As SteveRobinson said, it will be dyed to make it look darker - Pau Ferro is actually quite a mid-to-light brown colour naturally.

I don’t know why they would do it, it’s unnecessary and usually an indication of a cheap guitar with inferior wood - which Pau Ferro is not.

I would clean as much of it off as you possibly can next time you change the strings - use plenty of oil and buff it heavily.

hotpickups

Your fingerboard must be dyed as my Pau ferro board leaves no marks / stains on my fingers 

impmann

As above - no stains on my fingers when playing the Pau Ferro board Strat I have.

GoldenEraGuitars

It’ll be dyed to replicate dark rosewood or ebony which is apparently “better” than the lighter coloured pau ferro. 

Jalapeno

Clean it with 0000 wire wool & boiled linseed/lemon oil, then buff the bejaysus out of it !

Musicman20

My Epiphone Casino did that...for a long time. 

SteveRobinson

ICBM said:

I don’t know why they would do it, 

Because some (most?) people prefer guitars with dark fretboards so they sell more quickly and for higher prices. 

Whitecat

Dark pau ferro exists but is very rare and thus commands a premium and the wood is already pricier than most rosewoods... since in many cases it’s being used as a rosewood substitute I can understand why companies think they will shift guitars faster if it’s dyed (although don’t read into this as me condoning it!) - But then, I believe that Fender has occasionally dyed their rosewood too in the past if it’s too light. I had a USA Telecaster once that had some brownish residue on the nut that I’m almost certain was dye transfer, and up close the wood just didn’t quite look “right.”

ICBM

SteveRobinson said:

Because some (most?) people prefer guitars with dark fretboards so they sell more quickly and for higher prices. 

You're probably right... although it's still stupid. I do remember the fuss that was made when companies started using Pau Ferro and Granadillo instead of rosewood though - despite both of them being *better* fingerboard woods than most of the crappy rosewood that's been used (especially by Gibson, but Fender aren't perfect) recently. Personally, I love the colours and the feel of Granadillo and Pau Ferro, and I can't think of a worse thing to do with them than cover them in crappy dye which makes the board feel dry and rough and then inevitably comes off in patches.

GoldenEraGuitars

SteveRobinson said:

ICBM said:

I don’t know why they would do it, 

Because some (most?) people prefer guitars with dark fretboards so they sell more quickly and for higher prices. 

The most cliched line in my inbox re necks is “Hi Scott, I’m after a nice dark rosewood board neck....”. Anyone who is going rosewood precedes their request with “dark”. I enjoy the lighter Pau ferro but let’s face it, the market tells the manufacturers what to do. 

skunkwerx

New guitars do sometimes. If a simple change of strings and a lil fret polish with 0000 wool or daddario fret polishing cloths doesnt sort it, then maybe clean the board itself. 

Lots of shit already on the strings and frets i've found even when brand new out the box. 

johnhe

GoldenEraGuitars said:

SteveRobinson said:

ICBM said:

I don’t know why they would do it, 

Because some (most?) people prefer guitars with dark fretboards so they sell more quickly and for higher prices. 

The most cliched line in my inbox re necks is “Hi Scott, I’m after a nice dark rosewood board neck....”. Anyone who is going rosewood precedes their request with “dark”. I enjoy the lighter Pau ferro but let’s face it, the market tells the manufacturers what to do. 

I have to confess that I prefer the look of darker rosewood boards over lighter ones. Don’t know what that says about me, but I’d definitely prefer darker.

MelodicLydian

Just got an Epiphone ES-335 Pro myself and it did the same for around a week. My finger ends were quite black after playing for quite a few days but it got less and less so and now nothing. 

There were lots of theories online from stained fretboards (although it didn’t seem to be from that to me as the board feels clean and smooth to the touch), to an anti-rust treatment from the factory. I guess they can be in storage a while when shipping etc.

You can probably just play it and wait for it to go away.

GoldenEraGuitars

johnhe said:

GoldenEraGuitars said:

SteveRobinson said:

ICBM said:

I don’t know why they would do it, 

Because some (most?) people prefer guitars with dark fretboards so they sell more quickly and for higher prices. 

The most cliched line in my inbox re necks is “Hi Scott, I’m after a nice dark rosewood board neck....”. Anyone who is going rosewood precedes their request with “dark”. I enjoy the lighter Pau ferro but let’s face it, the market tells the manufacturers what to do. 

I have to confess that I prefer the look of darker rosewood boards over lighter ones. Don’t know what that says about me, but I’d definitely prefer darker.

It says that you like dark rosewood fretboards

Amigo

Dcotorstewie said:

Morning ( or whatever it is wherever you are ) I have just got ( of of the best presents ever ) an Epiphone DC pro and it has a Pau ferro fretboardwhich feels lovely ( and has the most gorgeous inlays) but it does, as per the Chappers/Captain video leave your fingertips all dark and filthy. I am not particularly bothered, because I know how to wash my hands but I do wonder ho wlong this will take to stop, and if it's something to do with the Epi DC or all PF fretboards.
Any ideas anyone? 

There must be some truth to the dyeing of fingerboards, not just for Pau Ferro. I once ordered a Gibson Les Paul Studio brand new online, and when it arrived there were stains on the neck binding on one side (from being stored that way, I assumed) of brown colour, when the whole guitar was turquoise or some such. This suggested to me that even that guitar's fingerboard, which was rosewood, must have been dyied. That was not the only issue with the guitar, so back it went straight away.