painting fretboard?

Luke19Boarder · #1 02-26-2009, 07:08 PM

This is what my bass currently looks like:

I'm thinking that it would look cool if the fretboard was black (or at least darker than it is now).

Does anyone know what I should use? is there a type of paint I should use, or should I maybe get a black stain or something?

Thanks!

EagleMoon · #2 02-26-2009, 07:13 PM

Apparently staining fretboards is pretty common. My '08 MIA has stain on the board. I would think you would have to clean the board first with something to take all the grunge off and then stain it. But be careful because stain is pretty hard to get off once you get it on something.

Luke19Boarder · #3 02-26-2009, 07:14 PM

thanks. I've got some lizard spit fretboard cleaner/conditioner that i'd be using before i applied any stain.

godofthunder59 · #4 02-27-2009, 07:44 AM

First you can paint anything the question is should you ? Staining is a option I suppose, but I don't reccomend it. First I would clean the fingerboard with Naptha it will remove all the grunge and oil. What type of stain are you going to use ? Oil based ? Man I would think that would stink for a looooooooooooooong time. Dye might be a better choice. Rosewood has lots of natural oil, the stain may not bite into the wood and it will eventually wear off in high traffic areas. If it were me I'd just rub some lemon oil on it and forget about it. If you must have a neck with a dark fingerboard buy one with a ebony finger board. I wouldn't screw up a perfectly good neck by staining it.

Mr. Mig · #5 02-27-2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godofthunder59

First you can paint anything the question is should you ? Staining is a option I suppose, but I don't reccomend it. First I would clean the fingerboard with Naptha it will remove all the grunge and oil. What type of stain are you going to use ? Oil based ? Man I would think that would stink for a looooooooooooooong time. Dye might be a better choice. Rosewood has lots of natural oil, the stain may not bite into the wood and it will eventually wear off in high traffic areas. If it were me I'd just rub some lemon oil on it and forget about it. If you must have a neck with a dark fingerboard buy one with a ebony finger board. I wouldn't screw up a perfectly good neck by staining it.

Well said!!!

Luke19Boarder · #6 02-27-2009, 04:29 PM

well, i started my project last night. decided i wanted to stain the headstock, too. i sanded it down a bit, giving it a more pleasant shape (imo, of course). it's got 2 coats of stain so far. i'll probably do 1 or 2 more, then give it a polyurethane coating. i'll put some pics of my progress up in a few.

Luke19Boarder · #7 02-27-2009, 04:45 PM

Progress pics!

Before:

After 1 coat of stain:

After 2 Coats (current):

Whole bass:

Luke19Boarder · #8 03-04-2009, 03:03 AM

if anyone really cares ... here's the finished product!

ehque · #9 03-04-2009, 03:23 AM

Hrmmm. That turned out much nicer than i expected.

Luke19Boarder · #10 03-04-2009, 03:29 AM

haha thanks. i feel like i did a pretty good job, having basically no experience doing anything like this before.

if you're within a couple feet of it, you can tell it wasn't professionally done, but i kinda like that. plus, if you're more than 3 feet away or the lighting isn't perfect, it looks awesome.

i still have to wait another day before it's fully cured before i start playing it heavily, though. :-/