u/BigmouthStrikesOnce

Hey everyone,

I recently finished my first build from scratch, and while overall I’m really happy with how it turned out, my fret markers did not turn out how I was hoping. Regrettably this was the one thing I cheaped out on and used some pine dowel I had laying around. I didn’t think to fill the end grain, and between the bubinga dust, fret shavings, and general dirtiness they became very dark to the point where I can’t see them while playing.

Am I boned, or is there anything I can do to lighten them up? I’ve tried some sanding but didn’t want to remove too much material. I even tried using a q-tip to put some bleach onto the dots but this proved useless.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!