southcoastukes
Well-known member
Lots of good posts here! Let me just add to what I posted earlier. Spook posted something on Maple fretboards. We've never gone to wood that light, and never finished our fretboards, as maple fretboards usually are. But we have gone fairly light. Nicaraguan rosewood is a light orangeish color that has worked well for us.
But there is one other element to consider when you go toward the lighter end of the scale in color. The photo of the Maple fretboard shows what happens with steel stings, a bit of neglect and with traditional nickel alloy frets. Even with the lesser wear of classical wound strings, what can happen is that the nickel in the fret alloy itself wears off onto the fretboard and creates a lot of the discoloration. Finishing the fretboard can keep this from getting out of hand quickly, but then eventually you'll need a recoat of your fretboard finish.
We use a fret material called EVO Gold. It's a bit harder than nickel alloy; a bit harder than it really needs to be on an Ukulele. But we like it because we use a lot of traditional design elements in our instruments, even though they are not reproductions in any sense. The EVO Gold looks a bit like old bar frets.
So if you're going to the lighter side on your fretboard, the EVO can keep a cleaner look. We've found that with a medium-light color and these frets, a finished fretboard is not needed. So less maintenance down the road. You'll still need to keep things clean. Spook's suggestion of a cleaning with every string change (change strings often!) will keep things looking lovely.
But there is one other element to consider when you go toward the lighter end of the scale in color. The photo of the Maple fretboard shows what happens with steel stings, a bit of neglect and with traditional nickel alloy frets. Even with the lesser wear of classical wound strings, what can happen is that the nickel in the fret alloy itself wears off onto the fretboard and creates a lot of the discoloration. Finishing the fretboard can keep this from getting out of hand quickly, but then eventually you'll need a recoat of your fretboard finish.
We use a fret material called EVO Gold. It's a bit harder than nickel alloy; a bit harder than it really needs to be on an Ukulele. But we like it because we use a lot of traditional design elements in our instruments, even though they are not reproductions in any sense. The EVO Gold looks a bit like old bar frets.
So if you're going to the lighter side on your fretboard, the EVO can keep a cleaner look. We've found that with a medium-light color and these frets, a finished fretboard is not needed. So less maintenance down the road. You'll still need to keep things clean. Spook's suggestion of a cleaning with every string change (change strings often!) will keep things looking lovely.
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