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I have a 60 Anniv Jazzmaster with a Pao Ferro fingerboard, very light in color. I had a 70s era Jazzmaster that had a lovely dark fingerboard, almost black. It probably wasn't ebony, but it was dark and the contrast with the bindings was terrific. Sadly, that guitar became the one that got away.

I'm dissatisfied with this neck -- to my eye it just looks blah -- and I've looked into wood dyes. Some say just use india ink. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with dyes or ink on a fingerboard.

Have you given it just a couple coats of lemon oil yet?

good idea. I will try that, but this "Pao Ferro" (Kung Pao Ferro?) is closer to maple than it is to ebony...

Does stain work? I prefer lighter rosewood (when it is rosewood) anyway - especially when it's chocolatey/crayola brown. Pics of yours?

I stained 3-4 fretboards with Fiebing's Leather Dye - works well if you want that look

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... &p=1410070

Just be sure to lightly sand the fretboard, tape everything off well and wear gloves - that stuff is really messy

Did not rub off or anything on all the necks I have applied it to over the last years - I can only speak for that product of course
Just be aware that this does not "darken" the rosewood - it is practically dyed black and the dots will have a blueish hue

For a slightly more darker look on the rosewood try lemon oil first

I've used scratch cover on a pale rosewood board and a "grey" Indian laurel board.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tableau-Wood ... 2749.l2649. (the dark colour one)

Pretty happy with the results - not too messy, darkens and slightly reddens the board (i.e. like rosewood), lets some colour variation show through, and designed to be put on wood, unlike ink. After it soaked in, I gave a single coat of fingerboard oil.

Bare pale rosewood board:



Test of board with just oil (this dried lighter over a couple of days)



Final thing with scratch cover



YMMV, of course!

All of this is helpful, that walnut Jazzmaster looks good enough to eat.

this is my neck as it came from the factory, I was very disappointed with it. It was as though I ordered coffee and they gave me tea.

If you do use a dye, I would do a test just to make sure it doesn't negatively affect the inlays and binding.