Easy position markers

[MisterBeagle]

Hello all!

I have a slight delimma. On certain songs I'm having a hard time staying in tune up in the 4th & 5th positions. I'm considering putting something on my E on the G-string, but I have had several ugly accidents caused by things like paper reinforcers or masking tape on my school bass. But now that I have my own bass, I want to really take care of it! Can anybody give me a suggestion as to something that will stick but not leave any visual marks or residue when taken off when I no longer beed them?

Thank you all, and Merry Christmas!

[bejoyous]

The easiest, fastest, most unnoticeable and correctable note marker is a pencil for that high unexpected note.

Find it during rehearsal and make a make with a pencil. The stage lights usually make it quite visible to you.

[Hawaii Islander]

You could check out "blue" painters tape (3M ?). I've used it for other applications and it doesn't leave a residue and is not sticky enough to remove paint and/or finish.

[MingusAmongUs]

Have also heard of people using Liquid Paper, aka white out: just small dots on the inside of the neck or fingerboard (the side facing you). Should come off easily with a brisk rubbing of a rough cloth, or failing that, a small drop of lighter fluid.

[toman]

Pencil really does work great. I keep a soft drawing pencil in my bib pocket for marking music, and occasionaly my fingerboard. It's handy for solo work especially.

[Johnny Crab]

I'm looking into those glow in the dark/black light dots or very small stars. I've a few basses that have really small sidemarkers(or none) and require one to be in a well-lit part of the stage for some critical parts.

[toman]

If you really want glow-in-the-dark markers, look into getting some of the tritium dots that they use in pistol night-sites. I'm sure they're easilly available and inlaying them would be pretty easy, I'd think.

[uatubassist001]

When I got my bass, the previous owner had put small strips of electrical tape, which I really like because, not only is it easy for you to see, but it is impossible for the audience to see at a gig, unless they are standing right in front of you, plus it comes off easily, with only a small amount of residue, which is easily rubbed of with no damage to the finish or the fingerboard.

[chuck1073]

Curious. Where did he attach the electrical tape? To the side of the fingerboard or on the playing surface next to E string?

[uatubassist001]

Well, he placed a strip all the way across the finger board, for treble to bass side. On the treble side, the tape did not go past the ebony, so you couldn't really see it at all, and the tape on the bass side went about an 1/8 inch past the ebony so the player could see the markers. I was told that it would feel funny having the tape on there for a couple days, until you play enough to kind of break the tape in. But he told me that he had put on the markers about a year before I bought it, and he had never changed them. When I started playing, I couldn't even feel them.

[funkyfretless]

i use white out...can see on dark stages but its hard to take off

[Kaden]

On my bass i use pencil markings on those trickery high positions. It works better than tape in my opinion because it is far less visable to people in the audience, when you dont want them anymore they just rub off instead of leaving that nasty gunk that tape does, they do not move around over time like tape does and you can trace over them when they start to rub off. In my opinion pencil is the way to go.

[Carl Johnson]

I've seen people use clear fingernail polish

[R Sturm]

White-out gets my vote, easy to put on and I haven't had problems taking it off either (maybe that would change if you keep it on for a long time). But I use it just for trickier occasions, so don't keep in on for more than a week at a time.

[Silversorcerer]

I used a metallic silver paint pen on my cheap beginner laminated bass with a mystery wood FB. I just put some dots on the edge of the FB facing me. I thought is was semi-permanent but it came right off when I put some Briwax on the FB. I re-applied those for a few times and after a while just let them wear off. Pencil sounds like a decent idea for very temporary use.

[uprightben]

I'm a big fan of automotive detail tape. It's thin, so you can mark the actual note, and it is very easy to clean off.

[stedtale]

pencil. easy to put on easy to take off, unseen by everyone but you.