Fretboard stains

[jack1266]

Hi, I have an older S-500, 3 bolt neck. Over time stains have delveloped on either sides of the frets, in the maple fretboard. They are grayish to black. It looks like the frets are bleeding. I have never applied any kind of cleaner or solvents to the board. The neck hasn't been wet or left in high humidity. Any ideas why this is happening? Can they be removed?

Thanks

[chedwerks]

My guess would be oils from your hand. I have oily hands, like super bad, touch screen phones are out cuz they gunk up so quick! Even if your hand seems dry it is still leaving a piece of itself behind no matter what. I don't know if you can clean it or not, but alot of people pay extra money to have 'relics' done to look like this. I think it looks cool, but if you want it gone I'm sure someone more knowledgeable than me could point you in the right direction. Good news is it doesn't hurt your tone!

[jonc]

chedwerks is right that finger/hand oils can cause this to happen but in general my maple necks always show this type of wear over time. if you get into the habit of wiping down your guitar each and every time and are diligent about cleaning and polishing you can mitigate the staining/wear to some degree. as an aside, i once read that the reason Leo introduced rosewood fingerboards was due to complaints from the sales team and players who didn't like how the wear and tear on the maple looked.

[jack1266]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will let it turn into a relic. I recently bought a new ASAT Classic with a birdseye maple neck. I will try to wipe that one down to keep it looking clean.

[blargfromouterspace]

You should be able to remove that gunk with a bit of elbow grease. Use a toothbrush/toothpick to get to those hard to reach or stubborn places. The gunk is apparently the reason that Leo Fender changed to rosewood 'boards in the '60s - he was horrified to see his instruments so filthy!

[Kit]

I believe I know what you are talking about.

I have a 75 Stratocaster with a maple neck. I don't have problems on the fretboard, but along the edge of the neck on the treble there is greyish discoloration down the length of the first few frets. I know this is due to my playing since I've own this guitar since it was practically new. I also have another guitar with a rosewood fretboard on a maple neck with a natural finish on it. On this neck I've also notice some greyish discoloration on the neck edge on the treble side, although not as much as on the Strat. On this guitar I actually don't know if I caused the discoloring since someone else owned it for a few years before me before I got it, and I do not recall whether the wear was there when I first got it.

I have seen many pictures on eBay where this is visible so it must be a pretty common thing.

I believe the finish has discolored probably due to sweat and it is not gunk, so I don't think it can be removed. But if someone has a suggestion to try to remove the discoloration I'm game to try.

Kit