Fixing Cracks In An Ebony Fretboard! How To Do It YOURSELF! (It's Easy!)

Thanks for watching this video on fixing cracks in your (ebony) fretboard. My ESP LTD Phoenix 1000 Evertune had some cracks in the Ebony and I wanted to learn how to fix this myself. In this video I share the process of fixing the cracks so you can also do it yourself! Let me know in the comments if you've done a similar thing or if you have any additional tips. Cheers!
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#fretboard #crack #fix
keywords: cracks ebony, fretboard, fix, DIY, solar, damage, repair, glue, esp, ltd, ibanez, jackson, quality, qc, Indonesia, Korea, import, prestige, gibson, luthier, epiphany, Chapman, Harley benton, easy, do it yourself, tutorial, lesson, how to

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Have you ever encountered a crack in your Ebony fretboard? What did you do?

[@JohnWiku]

Condition your guitars fretboards so that they don't crack to begin with!! Only maple doesn't need conditioning, specially roasted maple.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

@@JohnWiku yes of course! This one came from the shop like this though...

[@thet740]

Yes, I have a Solar 7-String with an ebony board. Unfortunately after a month or two of owning it the ebony started cracking. I oil the fretboard every time I change strings.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

@@thet740 sorry to hear that, maybe try fixing it like I did?

[@jasontrujillo2859]

I just purchased a Dean USA hardtail with an ebony board and it has a few small cracks in it I almost just sent it back but then I toot it to a luthier and they told me not to even worry about it right now because the cracks are so small and shallow so that was a relief it’s the first time I’ve had cracks in the fingerboard of any of my many guitars glad you fixed your phoenix that’s a beautiful guitar I wanted to order one but haven’t had luck finding one in stock anywhere

[@ryanmcgrath9869]

Knowing how to do minor repairs, a proper setup, and using a soldering iron are very useful skills to have, especially if you own a lot of guitars. FYI, I just got my first ESP LTD Phoenix 1000 with the Fishman Fluence pickups. Really liking it.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Yes, I learned how to solder last year and I'm really happy about that! :) Congrats on the Phoenix!

[@Qaaqqutsiannguaq]

I'm glad that I saved the dust from re-radius and re-fretting job on Ibanez guitar and used on another Ibanez iron label fretboard crack both had ebony but not stained.

[@stegerguitars]

Great Job! Much easier than returning it for a different one. "Ebony" is a now generalized name applied to other species of wood that are now used instead of the already gobbled up, original, famous for fretboard black ebony.

[@rickyturner2742]

Real Ebony isn't black. It's dyed black. Real Ebony has streaks in it

[@greg6162]

@@rickyturner2742real ebony is black… it’s the black inside of the wood that’s used. It’s also very dense and the outside of it isn’t black at all and it’s not as dense. But real Ebony is black… you can get some with streaks that is cut and uses a combination of both

[@tylerjames460]

You’re a champ, Jon!

[@Corey_42]

That's an awesome repair . Thanks , Corey

[@metalfather8139]

Superglue and oil dont work well together so dry is a little better oil afterwords since the spot with glue wont expand and contract the same as wood. But if you work with Superglue enough you discover its a certain moisture content that makes it bond strong .

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Thanks for the valuable info!

[@FiddleSticks800]

I recently got a 1964 kono classical guitar from japan. I has a fretboard crack, which upon several months of proper humidification has closed (no gap). I see a lot of people repairing these cracks with superglue, using as a void filler, I get that. I have a lot of experience fixing soundboard cracks with hot hide glue. I am considering repairing this fretboard crack with the hot hide glue, as it has closed nicely upon proper humidity (it doesn't need filler); rather than using the more popular superglue. Is there any reason I shouldn't use hot hide glue on a fretboard crack?

[@arturo4338]

Do not remove the glue with a knife, use acetone. Acetone dissolves glue without scratching. 👈😉

[@NSalonen]

I just got an Indonesian made LTD Surveyor '87 bass with an ebony fretboard. Mine got some not very deep but quite long cracks in just a few weeks. Thinking of taking it to a luthier for a fix since I'm gonna have new tuning machines and nut installed on it.

[@MichaelBoneyMusic]

I just got a used Ibanez Apex 30. The body, finish, and neck are in excellent condition. Upon further inspection when I got it home I found cracks in the ebony board from about the 8th fret all the way down. I also found that the previous owner switched the tuners for old Gotoh tuners and every saddle on the evertune bridge has the fine tuning screw stripped out.😢 I’m oiling the board with oil now to see if it helps.

[@sugarskull]

Thank you so much for making this! I got a crack recently on one of my Schecter’s with an ebony board due to the wild weather changes this year where I live. Gonna try to fix it sometime in the near future 🤌🏻

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Good luck, you can do it!

[@danthegeetarman]

I have 6 guitars with ebony including 3 of these being LTDs. None of those have cracks but they are 2020 & prior. I really hope this is just a one-off issue and not the norm 🤞🤞🤞

[@SonicDriveStudio]

I don't think this is the norm but there are always bound to be some lemons

[@danthegeetarman]

@@SonicDriveStudio yeah definitely. It’s a really cool guitar though, I definitely would have kept it too

[@Joshua-y8e]

Ebony is my favorite and it must be oiled constantly so smooth

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

Interesting, I've never noticed this before.

[@sahilthapa4540]

Thanks my man

[@piptyson5512]

I wonder if the specific dying process is causing issues. I know sometimes the dye is injected basically into the wood as it's dipped into dye and put in a vacuum machine. Maybe that gets too much moisture added, especially deeper in, which could cause problems at some point. Basically any wood improperly dried can have cracking and splitting issues. None of my old ebony boards from the 80's-90's have had cracking issues fwiw. Things that make ya go hhhmmm...

[@rk28984]

Just to understand you correctly: You did sand the fretboard, not the frets (aka fretwire). I wouldn't recommend sanding down frets without knowing what you are doing, unless you want intonation problems.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Yes, the fretboard, not the fret wire

[@R4Blade]

Nice job!

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Cheers!

[@alexeybobr4537]

This is what the whole ltd line is about

[@greg6162]

How do you fix an Alpine white Epiphone LP-Custom that has “brown Ebony”?

[@XXjg_]

FYI: A hygrometer measures humidity, the amount of water vapour in air. A hydrometer, on the other hand, measures the density or specific gravity (SG) of a liquid by floating in the liquid.

[@jameshall2219]

I have an ESP Eclipse, with ebony fretboard, no cracks. 2 Korean LTD snakebytes, no cracks. I have had one Hamer flying V made in Indonesia, was not well made. Had a friend who bought a Solar made in Indonesia, and he didn't hate the guitar but wasn't super impressed with the quality, (7/10). To each is their own, but I'm not buying one made from there.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

To be fair, 5 of my LTD's were made in Indonesia and overall the quality is the same as the Korean ones aside from the cracks. The Korean ones aren't absolutely flawless either though

[@DudeMcGuybro]

@@SonicDriveStudio I find it really depends on where you live. If you live in a warmer/wet climate more similar to Indonesia, it'll hold up a little better. If you live more north, or somewhere with more intense winters, Indonesian guitars might struggle because of the moisture of the wood and the cold/dry conditions.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

It's good to keep an eye on the moisture levels in your room with a hydrometer. Make sure it doesn't get too dry

[@jameshall2219]

I live in Canada and I have (bad boy, I know) never done any maintenance to my fretboards. Have never had a crack yet. My oldest is a 2004 Epiphone explorer and has held up strong luckily so far.

[@nicopoppe4838]

are those indonesian ltd´s african mahogany or nyatoh? (mahogany has a scooped mid sound acusticly)

[@JDESTR0Y]

With LTD guitars the best made ones come from Korea. And that’s just the facts, been running LTD guitars for over 15 years and I only own 1 from Indo, all the rest Korea, and the quality is much better. Truth

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Hmm I don't agree. I have around 10 Korean ones and 4 Indos and aside from the cracks the quality is the same. The Korean ones have minor flaws too

[@gk8010]

It bugs me that you keep saying you’re sanding the frets. You are not doing anything to the frets. It is the fret board.

[@kingfisher7960]

First off if your ebony is cracking your not oiling it completely and timely. Its later after a visible crack. Theres probably more you cant see.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

This one came like this from the store

[@BobRock420]

Aint that something.... I have a Kramer Assault made in INDONESIA with an ebony fretboard and it CRACKED ALL TO HELL. Only had it for 3 years. Put it away for a couple months and when I opened the case the fret board was CRACKED EVERYWHERE and almost looked SCALLOPED in places. NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY A GUITAR FROM INDONESIA. UNBELIEVABLE.