What to use to fill in the ends of the fret slots on a maple board?

[Mike Baker]

I'm refretting and refinishing a one piece maple bass neck. I need recommendations for what to use to fill in the fret slots under the fret ends. Usually, on an ebony or rosewood board I'd sand the edge of the board and hit each slot with CA, let it harden, and smooth with sandpaper. Voila! Looks good, lasts a long time. But I'm at a loss what to do for a maple board. I'm worried the CA will stain the maple an make a mess. Can you share what you do, please?

[Russell Vance]

We use a maple tint putty/grain filler which is packed hard into the exposed slot and lacquer over the whole lot once sanded flat - you can still see it if you look but just about everything else shows worse.  Superglue (the thick stuff) works well also providedyou have good tight grain maple, use a pipette or fine applicator and sand the surface back just a tad. (test on the 21/22 fret on the treble side if you wish to check the suitability of either method).   Rusty.

[Mike Baker]

Thanks, Russell. I just did a test on some maple I have here and there's virtually no staining. I think i'll test where you suggest once I get the fretting process over, and if I don't get a lot of staining I'll go ahead with the CA. If I do, it's maple tint putty time!

[Brady Anderson]

I use "Blendal" powder stains (pigment type) mixed with epoxy.  These ground powder pigments are available in many colors and are easy to mix and match.  Touch up experts use them with a french polish technique for color matching.  Mohawk finishing products sells these. I have also used the epoxy puttys you can find at Home Depot and other outlets.  I found a blond putty that was a pretty close match to maple.  It also can be found in white and you can mix the blond & white for lighter shades. The putty's I've used kick and harden pretty quickly and you have to work fast but they stick well and sand easily.  Brady

[Randall Curtis Bowman]

I've had luck with adhesive/caulking for countertops; one brand being FormFill.

The stuff is water-based, but dries quick and pretty hard. Topcoats seem to have

no effect on it either, maybe because there's so little surface exposed.. Excess

cleans off with water, or if that's a problem, naptha. It's made in Australia, co. name

here is Unika USA LLC. Good luck.

[Mike Baker]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I think I'm going to go with a standard off the shelf maple tinted wood filler.Got some lying around here that'll do.

[FRANK]

some use fret tang @nd fill with s glue