coating fretless neck in acryllic in order to use normal bass strings.

[Eric Killinger]

I know its possible, jaco did it, but is there a certain acryllic I should use? I have some spray acryllic, does anyone know if that would work?

[bongomania]

Is it a cheap beater bass? If so, then go ahead, try it out and let US know how it works! If not, you might want to have a pro do it. FWIW, the guy who did mine, Michael Dolan, uses a polyester spray.

[Eric Killinger]

Originally Posted by bongomania

Is it a cheap beater bass? If so, then go ahead, try it out and let US know how it works! If not, you might want to have a pro do it. FWIW, the guy who did mine, Michael Dolan, uses a polyester spray.

its a 130 dollar sx j-bass.


this one, actually:





The reason I want to do this is because I dont want to throw this away, its too nice and too great of a bass, but I really, REALLY want to play slap on it.

[Chase_The_Bass]

Slap on a fretless? Blasphemy.

[barthanatos]

So... what are you saying? Do you mean that you want to use roundwound strings instead of flatwounds? And that you want to do that because it will sound better while slapping? And is your concern that the roundwound strings will wear out your fingerboard faster?

Just seeking clarity to better address your issue.

[Brad Johnson]

A coating will alter the sound. That's neither automatically a good or bad thing, it just is. As someone who currently owns a Zon with phenolic board, a Brubaker with polyurethaned board, a couple of Elricks with raw wood and a Guild B302F (IIRC) with raw wood, I know it's entirely possible to slap on any of them with no detrimental effects. It's all about how you do it. One Elrick works fine for slap, the other, a semihollowbody sounds like a freltess when slapped because of how woody it sounds. My favorites for slap would be the Brubaker and the Zon Legacy Standard.

For someone who'd rather not do it in a non-detrimental fashion (or just likes the sound or feel), coating is a good option.

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by Chase_The_Bass

Slap on a fretless? Blasphemy.

Yes, stone him.

[m.oreilly]

unless you also play bongos, i would not coat your fretboard...

[Eric Killinger]

Originally Posted by barthanatos

So... what are you saying? Do you mean that you want to use roundwound strings instead of flatwounds? And that you want to do that because it will sound better while slapping? And is your concern that the roundwound strings will wear out your fingerboard faster?

Just seeking clarity to better address your issue.

Thats exactly what im saying.

[WillBuckingham]

130$ bass I wouldn't worry about it, just throw some roundwounds on it and go nuts. It will wear the board, but if it starts to get bad then you can do the coating.

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by WillBuckingham

130$ bass I wouldn't worry about it, just throw some roundwounds on it and go nuts. It will wear the board, but if it starts to get bad then you can do the coating.

+1

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by m.oreilly

unless you also play bongos, i would not coat your fretboard...

[barthanatos]

Originally Posted by Eric Killinger

Thats exactly what im saying.

I wouldn't even worry about it, then. I played with roundwounds (which are what came on the bass stock) for years on my Peavey Cirrus fretless, and sure... you can see a little wear - but nothing horrible. Give me a few days and I can even send you some close up photos of the fingerboard.

[blindeddie]

there's definitely nothing wrong with slapping on a fretless. and roundwounds sound great. listen to just about any primus record. it sounds great, and les never coated any of his fingerboards. and those carl thompsons are alot more expensive than most. bottom line, it's a tool. it's meant to be played. and played alot. and those scratches, dings and all the wear and tear just add character. if you don't want to thrash it, then you shouldn't have it. you shouldn't have to compromise your creative freedom simply because you're afraid you'll hurt your axe.

[mikezimmerman]

Originally Posted by Eric Killinger

I know its possible, jaco did it, but is there a certain acryllic I should use? I have some spray acryllic, does anyone know if that would work?

All questions of whether or not coating the neck is necessary, acrylic is not what you'd want to use to coat it. Acrylic is not really hard enough or durable enough. You'd either want to use something that's meant to soak in and harden the wood like Tru Oil, or something that's very hard and durable on its own, like epoxy--I beleive Jaco used bowling alley epoxy.

Mike

[Brad Johnson]

You don't have to trash an untreated board to play on it. Wear for the most part is easily avoidable. Even for slappers.

[Eric Killinger]

Originally Posted by barthanatos

I wouldn't even worry about it, then. I played with roundwounds (which are what came on the bass stock) for years on my Peavey Cirrus fretless, and sure... you can see a little wear - but nothing horrible. Give me a few days and I can even send you some close up photos of the fingerboard.

Alright.


The reason I was worried about trashing it is because I rarely come into money and I cant be buying necks left and right. And I figured coating it would be a good idea, I dont know why I thought epoxy would work (I wanted to go for that super shiny look I guess, like other members fretlesses)


I've been a primus fan since sixth grade (im 17 now) and I've never really heard les play a fretless.

[contakt321]

Many of Primus' biggest songs were on fretless

[Eric Killinger]

Originally Posted by contakt321

Many of Primus' biggest songs were on fretless

Care to name a song?


Because I have a nagging feeling that you're totally wrong.

[tmax]

Jaco used Petit's Poly-poxy. It's for finishing boat hulls. And he defretted on the kitchen table with a butter knife. Epoxy. It's hard to use though. I've seen Claypool slap on fretless. His intonation is "interesting"-TMAX