White Streaks on Rosewood Fretboard

[childrock]

Last month, i just bought a new PRS SE Custom 24. Since the guitar arrived, i notice the rosewood fretboard is not all perfectly dark. I spotted some grain/pores with white streaks.
I have played on it 2-3 hours/day about 2 weeks. The white streaks is not even getting darker by sweat and dust/dirt.

I just wanna know anything i can do to make it darker so the fretboard more flawless.
Will applying the fretboard conditioner solve this?
I have read some suggestion and there's a lot of it. I dont know which one is safest way to apply.

Sure the white streaks are not affect the playbility, but i'll be so much happier with the guitar if the streaks is gone.

Here some pic, wish anyone can help. Thank you so much

 

[merciful-evans]

Hi,
It looks like you're producing wear at the position shown. I get the same thing. I think its the rosewood reaction to body chemistry. My rosewood fingerboards experience this sort of erosion where the grain deepens & widens.

Some old guitars show extreme cases of this. Deeply rutted rosewood that looks as if its spent years underwater.

I dont get the white marks though. Are you cleaning it with anything?
Plenty of people will tell you that lemon oil with darken the wood. I'm not saying use it or don't use it. Personally I don't. If you decide to, just use it sparingly.

 

[RallyFanatic]

It’s likely leftover polishing compound. I had some on my Silver Sky and my CE 24. Some of it went away just from playing it, most of it went away after a solid fretboard cleaning and conditioning.

 

[childrock]

Hi,
It looks like you're producing wear at the position shown. I get the same thing. I think its the rosewood reaction to body chemistry. My rosewood fingerboards experience this sort of erosion where the grain deepens & widens.

Some old guitars show extreme cases of this. Deeply rutted rosewood that looks as if its spent years underwater.

I dont get the white marks though. Are you cleaning it with anything?
Plenty of people will tell you that lemon oil with darken the wood. I'm not saying use it or don't use it. Personally I don't. If you decide to, just use it sparingly.

Hi.
I did not use any kind of cleaner or something to the fretboard yet.
The white marks already there since i opened it from the box.

Thanks for sharing and the advice.
If it still there for next few month i guess a drop of lemon oil would be a worth try.

 

[childrock]

It’s likely leftover polishing compound. I had some on my Silver Sky and my CE 24. Some of it went away just from playing it, most of it went away after a solid fretboard cleaning and conditioning.

Hi, thanks for sharing.
In case of your guitar, did the marks also shown since beginning?
May i know what kind of cleaner/conditioner that you used? Thx

 

[alantig]

If it was there from the beginning, it's likely the polishing compound. Some people have suggested using a soft toothbrush gently to get it out. You may be able to use a cloth and a fingernail or toothpick to get the same result.

 

[bodia]

It’s likely leftover polishing compound. I had some on my Silver Sky and my CE 24. Some of it went away just from playing it, most of it went away after a solid fretboard cleaning and conditioning.

If it was there from the beginning, it's likely the polishing compound. Some people have suggested using a soft toothbrush gently to get it out. You may be able to use a cloth and a fingernail or toothpick to get the same result.

I agree with these two. It's polishing compound. Kinda like when you wax your car and a little bit gets in a seam. It's not harming anything, but if it bothers you, you can do as these guys suggested.

 

[Eddie kim]

Have you tried to contact PRS customer service or the dealer? As long as you purchased from a reputable dealer, they should be able to help.

 

[childrock]

Thanks guys, i'll try and see the result.

 

[childrock]

Have you tried to contact PRS customer service or the dealer? As long as you purchased from a reputable dealer, they should be able to help.

Yes i have contact the dealer, but umm.. i got "not so friendly" respond from them. I know its a shame. They are the only PRS dealer in my country. Thanks anyway.

 

[Eddie kim]

Yes i have contact the dealer, but umm.. i got "not so friendly" respond from them. I know its a shame. They are the only PRS dealer in my country. Thanks anyway.

Sorry to hear that. You can try fret dr. It does wonders on rosewood fretboard. Hope this helps.

 

[Shawn@PRS]

It looks like the buffing wheel caught the edge of the board while they were buffing the neck. Use some lemon oil on a toothbrush and it should come out.

 

[CandidPicker]

Last month, i just bought a new PRS SE Custom 24. Since the guitar arrived, i notice the rosewood fretboard is not all perfectly dark. I spotted some grain/pores with white streaks.
I have played on it 2-3 hours/day about 2 weeks. The white streaks is not even getting darker by sweat and dust/dirt.

I just wanna know anything i can do to make it darker so the fretboard more flawless.
Will applying the fretboard conditioner solve this?
I have read some suggestion and there's a lot of it. I dont know which one is safest way to apply.

Sure the white streaks are not affect the playbility, but i'll be so much happier with the guitar if the streaks is gone.

Here some pic, wish anyone can help. Thank you so much

There are several lemon-oil products guitarist use for darkening fretboards. The one I currently use is Dr. Stringfellow's Lemon Oil. There are others; I'd simply visit an online music retailer and use the search function.

What you've got in the above image is an area of cleaning compound that has discolored the area underneath the low E string. Or, as Shawn has said, the buffer wheel has caught the edge of the fretboard. Some fretboard conditioner or lemon oil will help solve your streak issue...(use sparingly on a clean soft cloth and wipe down, allowing to dry before playing again...)

 

[dogrocketp]

I just use a dry soft toothbrush when I get polish on my fingerboard. That’s exactly what that is- polishing compound, as Shawn said. It’s not a defect, so your dealer doesn’t need to get involved. I’m using a toothbrush right now to clean out the crevices on my DC3. It just got a coat of car wax. No problem, no big deal.