Ronin, the fretboard is Rosewood. The neck is a blonde colour. I am thinking of staining the fretboard black to go with the black hardware as the reddish rosewood looks wrong. (My Gibson has a black fretboard too and it works well.) Do you think staining rosewood would be a "crime"? I think I'll do it anyway as the main purpose of the exercise is to end up with a playable ornament.

911SC, thanks for the compliment. I have a Marshall "mid stack" which is a 100W solid state head on top of two single 12" 75w speaker boxes. It doesn't have the tonal qualities/oomph of a full stack but it does OK for what I use it for. If I could have a second "real" guitar, it would definitely be a Music Man. I'm sure it would make me play just like Steve Morse.

it'll look good if done right, I guess. the nice thing is that you're not working on a "thousand dollar plus" guitar so you can take some reasonable risks. there are plenty of dark fretboards out there so I think you'll be safe. the only way it might not work is if the body is too much of a cream color instead of a contrasting white. you could play around with some larger color chips and see what happens

Can you guys reccommend a good sealer? I've got a Strat body I planned to re-paint, however when I got it to wood, the primer/sealer I used leached intot he wood and it didnt do a good job of levelling the surface.

Any suggestions?

Ronin, I stained the frets black last night and whoa. It looks sensational. Wish I could post hi res pics.....

Jared, are you planning on painting it a solid color? I used regular joe grain filler and aerosol automotive sanding sealer.

Yeah, solid color. I used automotive sealer the first time. That's what leached in. I need whatever it was that Fender used in the first place, it's like this grey thick stuff.

Here's a pic of my babies:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1065742424.jpg

I know which Marshall you have. Cool

I have the John Pertrucci Ernie Ball Sig guitar. Doesnt make play like him, but sure is a damn sweet guitar.

Here are 3 pics of my 3 babies

http://groups.msn.com/GigsnStuff/jacksonibanez.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=20

http://groups.msn.com/GigsnStuff/jacksonibanez.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=25

http://groups.msn.com/GigsnStuff/jacksonibanez.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=87

cool, but in the picture the frets don't really look black?? or did you mean the fretboard? ;)

Clearcoating the neck tonight
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1066047790.jpg

Next weekend, she goes back together. If I can find someone with a set of black machine heads...

Well, it has now been rewired and assembled and plays pretty OK so I can now stop worrying about the neck. It does need a trussrod adjustment but I will do this gradually as things settle back in.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1067003704.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1067003739.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1067003770.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1067003798.jpg

that looks very nice, Victor. outstanding job. the contrast seems just perfect. can't wait until you get it adjusted and tell me how she plays ;)

maybe we'll jam sometime!