Query about pauferro fingerboards

Svartmetall

Hi guys - I've just acquired a Tele neck - official Allparts Fender-stamped replacement - with a pauferro fingerboard for a hopefully-fun Tele build I have in mind (basically a Hendrix Reverse Tele, with a reverse headstock and a reversed bridge pickup). It's my first pauferro 'board, but even I could tell it was dry as hell when it arrived - the neck profile etc is fine, it's just that the wood was practically dessicated-looking. I've given it 4 courses of lemon oil now and the colour is much better but it still seems kind of dry to me, so my query is - is pauferro just an innately drier wood, or should I keep going with repeated applications of lemon oil until it's closer to the rosewood 'boards I have?

TIA for advice  

WezV

Pau ferro is usually a bit smoother than Indian rosewood, just happens to sometimes be a lighter colour.

If it feels rough it might have some run out in the grain, so you get a bit more end grain under your fingers.  

I'd be rubbing back with 0000 Liberton wire wool to smooth it out, then oiling and buffing again

chris78

There is nothing wrong or dry about pauferro. Patrick Eggle uses it, other high end makers have used it.
The Fender stuff is very low grade, but with a very light rub with very fine wire wool and lots of lemon, it’ll feel great.

Strat54

No its not dry, its super smooth and hard wearing. I have an old Tom Anderson with it. Feels very much like ebony only reddish. 

SPECTRUM001

I’m a definite fan - from my experience, the more you play it, the more nourishment it absorbs.

And then more character etc. 

Love a rosewood board, not quite so keen on maple. I am pretty sure that Pau Ferro has a smidge more snap than rosewood, so therefore is a nice companion.

blueskunk

I remember Pau Ferro being a “bonus” years ago, before cites certs 

CavemanGrogg

I really really hate paufero, laural, and all ''paper'' fretboards - like Richlite and what Hagstorm uses on their guitars, I simply refuse to buy or play any guitars with those materials used as fretboards.  For me when it comes to fetboards, my order of preference is maple, ebony, and lastly rosewood, and rosewood if there is no other option, as in I've walked away from very very good guitars with rosewood fretboards many many times, in favour of a guitar with a maple fretboard.  This is nothing to do with wood snobbery with me, indeed my favourite fretboard material is by far the cheapest material.  Obviously  this only applies to guitars that I've bought or chosen for myself, and not to guitars which I've received as gifts or have been bought for me, the guitars that I received as gifts and where bought for me, I obviously had no say or choice in them or their specs.

Philly_Q

blueskunk said:

I remember Pau Ferro being a “bonus” years ago, before cites certs 

Yes, it was, and still is, a more expensive option than rosewood on the Warmoth website.  I've only had a couple of guitars with pau ferro boards, but they were smoother, less open-grained than rosewood, and a lighter colour with some nice stripy figuring.

I think it's a fine wood, but it does look a little odd on Fender guitars because it's, errr, ingrained that we're used to seeing them with darker rosewood boards.

Kittyfrisk

Philly_Q said:

blueskunk said:

I remember Pau Ferro being a “bonus” years ago, before cites certs 

Yes, it was, and still is, a more expensive option than rosewood on the Warmoth website.  I've only had a couple of guitars with pau ferro boards, but they were smoother, less open-grained than rosewood, and a lighter colour with some nice stripy figuring.

I think it's a fine wood, but it does look a little odd on Fender guitars because it's, errr, ingrained that we're used to seeing them with darker rosewood boards.

So, we are actually more conditioned than the fretboards?

Awesome....

HAL9000

In a recent shopping trip for a Strat I tried a number of £1000-ish guitars - some had pau ferro boards, some rosewood, and some maple. To my mind the pau ferro boards, without exception. felt dry and lacked that nice waxy feel of a decent rosewood board. 

RobG3294

Just wants sanded down lightly, I wet sand mine using small amounts of lemon oil as the wetting agent (don't use anything too thin or watery on bare wood to encourage the grain to raise) up to around 2000 grit, then reclean using naptha, allow to evaporate and then re oil lightly a couple of times.

Some pau ferro is dry and slightly rough (as rosewood can be) - nowt to do with the wood, it's all down to lack of finishing from the factory. 

You can adjust the above to your desired level of smoothness. Works a treat for me.

Svartmetall

I'm starting to feel like I may have kicked off A Debate™ here

Penn

Clean the board off with lighter fluid and oil it again. Maybe try something similar to Monty’s fretboard wax to darken it. I’ve got a jaguar with pau ferro it’s not as tight grained as rosewood and I don’t like it as much as really good rosewood but I’ve seen some crap rosewood on Gibsons and alike that it’s no worse than.   

Shit I’ve opened another can of worms. 

ditchboy

Put a pint of axe wax on it!

BillDL

With maple, ebony and rosewood you can have poor examples of the wood and boards that haven't been finely sanded enough.  A good quality pau ferro fretboard that has been finely sanded and buffed will feel harder and smoother than grainy and porous rosewood.  A good piece of very tightly grained and very finely sanded pau ferro will absorb oil less than rosewood and sometimes even ebony.  I have several guitars with pau ferro fretboards and they are good quality and very dense / hard examples that I would take before any of the newer rosewood that's being used on guitars these days.  A lighter shade of pau ferro can look as though it's very dry when it's actually not, but If your example feels a bit rough and dry, buffing with the finest steel wool and mineral oil (eg. lemon oil) will make it feel a lot better.

WezV

CavemanGrogg said:

I really really hate paufero, laural, and all ''paper'' fretboards - like Richlite and what Hagstorm uses on their guitars, I simply refuse to buy or play any guitars with those materials used as fretboards.  For me when it comes to fetboards, my order of preference is maple, ebony, and lastly rosewood, and rosewood if there is no other option, as in I've walked away from very very good guitars with rosewood fretboards many many times, in favour of a guitar with a maple fretboard.  This is nothing to do with wood snobbery with me, indeed my favourite fretboard material is by far the cheapest material.  Obviously  this only applies to guitars that I've bought or chosen for myself, and not to guitars which I've received as gifts or have been bought for me, the guitars that I received as gifts and where bought for me, I obviously had no say or choice in them or their specs.

It is snobbery.   Pau ferro is nothing like those alternatives you mentioned. I have used laurel and some of the synthetic options you mentioend and can see why they are often considered a lower grade.   I don't get the pau ferro hate

 It is a high grade hardwood that sits nicely between Indian rosewood and ebony in every measurable way except colour.  

Some of Fenders stocks have been a little bit paler, but most i see for sale is a good mid brown rosewood colour.  Price has always been comparable too, I used it on my first build over 20 years ago and could I've just as early got Indian for the same budget.  The stacks were next to each other.

RobG3294 said:

Some pau ferro is dry and slightly rough (as rosewood can be) - nowt to do with the wood, it's all down to lack of finishing from the factory. 

It is often to do with the wood, because even without any treatment some boards will feel rougher than others.

Boards with run out often feel a bit rougher than those without, especially if it's a wood with open pores


I once had 4 high grade ziracote boards, all from the same source.   One was noticeably rougher than the others no matter what I did to it.  The other 3 took a nearly mirror shine after my standard level and polish, but this one wouldn't.   Guess which one had the most run out in the grain 

elstoof

Pau Ferro is a lovely wood, most similar to cocobolo of all the true rosewoods in my experience, very oily to the point of having to bear that in mind when gluing and finishing. I’m not a massive fan of high contrast streaky fretboards though, better used on furniture to let the grain patterns shine

Gassage

Lemon Oil has a solvent in it, so whilst initially it'll look good, afterwards it'll dry out even more.

Montys do a better treatment.

fretfinder

CavemanGrogg said:

I really really hate paufero, laural, and all ''paper'' fretboards - like Richlite and what Hagstorm uses on their guitars.

Why, got any reasoning for that?

Neil

I had no experience of Pau Ferro until I bought my Vintera recently.

I went into it with slight reservations of the unknown but I needn't have bothered. It's a lovely wood that looks rather like rosewood to me without the pores.

Feels nice under the fingers too. 

Here's a pic as it came out of the box.

Nothing to moan about really is there?

digitalkettle

Neil said:

...
Nothing to moan about really is there?
...

Give us time!