Epoxy Finger Board

[Marcury]

I have an old parts PBass, that I'm thinking of defretting since I haven't plated fretted at all in @ 10 years, and since my first fretless was a P I thought it would be nice tto have one in the arsenal again. I've never played an epoxied board and am wondering a few things.

Is it worth it? is it easy to do by oneself. What is peoples experience both DIY and having it done by a luthier? Is there much call for Luthiers to do this or do most people do it themselves?

Thanks.

[Gintaras]

I have never defretted but the 2 luthiers in my area can easily do that so you should not have a problem finding somebody in your area. Also there are a lot of posts on DIY on this project including the epoxy. (if you have a shop space and like doing it yourself than go for it) I have a maple board fretless and want it have it epoxied. Since I live near Annapolis, there are plenty of really good boat repair people. I have found great epoxy and gel coat repairman who is going to do the epoxy job during the winter while he has another boat job that takes the same material.

[Hoover]

I epoxied the fingerboard on one of my (old, no longer owned) basses. Suffice to say if you aren't extremely patient, precise, possess a keen eye for detail, a steady hand, and are willing to exert a ton of elbow grease, it is *NOT* a great DIY project!

Mine actually came out looking incredibly cool: instead of an ultra-smooth glass-like finish, the epoxy dried with the random pattern from the roller still quite visible in the surface. Kinda psychedelic textured pattern, very freaky & unique looking. If I'd been smart (as well as patient, precise, possessing a keen eye for detail, a steady hand, and a willingness to exert a ton of elbow grease) I would have fine-sanded those imperfections out. Or whatever it is that professionals do to an epoxy finish to get that mirror-like finish. But no, I was basically lazy. It worked fine for a fretless fingerboard, but I'm sure in most people's estimation it was Butt Ugly, and so I'm sure compromised the resale value.

In short: leave it to the pros.

[Wayauste]

I had epoxied my defretted bass. The results weren't perfect, had a few air bubbles that I should've worked on little bit more before letting it dry, but it really turned out nice and playable. Also its nice to have the rounds on and not worry about marring up the rosewood.

I used this epoxy from Lowes http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...081&lpage=none

I had tried using a glue type epoxy from StewMac's, it was just too thick to get an even coat...i wouldnt recommed using any glue type expoy.

[kalle74]

check this out:

Long Awaited Epoxy Photo Tutorial

a fine tutorial by Linas.

I epoxied the fingerboard on my Yamaha TRB (which turned out pretty nice), and though it´s not an easy task, you can manage it if you have the necessary skills, AND are willing to put some serious hours into the project... the hardest aspects are controlling dust and having the patience to do many THIN layers... also, sanding should be VERY careful...

if you don´t feel up to it, leave it to a professional...

[Marcury]

Thanks for the info guys. Any ideas of what a pro would charge and what the turnaround would be?