First Build "6 String Fretless", What Finish?

[Aka Nameless]

Hello Everyone,

I've been building my first bass for the last few months, it's a 6 String Fretless neckthrough. 5 Laminate neck with Maple/Walnut/Maple/Walnut/Maple laminates and Walnut Fretboard, with poplar wing cores and walnut top and back. I'm just not sure which way to go with the finishing of this bass. I know I want it to be a hard/clearcoat, so I can see the wood grain figuring. It's just that this is my first woodworking project, so i'm not really sure of my options, much less picking the ideal solution for what I want to do.

So enough talking, here are a few pictures of my bass, any opinions on what type of finish to use to get a hard/clearcoat would be greatly appreciated. Maybe post a picture of a bass with the finish that you recommend?

"Sorry about the yellow tint in the second picture, wierd color correction problem with my camera, second pic has mineral spirits rubbed on."

[Aka Nameless]

One more Picture.

I will be winding my own pickups and making walnut pickup covers for anyone that is curious.

Sry about the yellow tint..

[JazzFusionB0rg]

I can't really contribute to the thread other to say that looks pretty awesome mate

[Greenman]

Are you kidding. That thing is screaming hand rubbed oil.

[Aka Nameless]

Thanks JazzFusionBorg, glad you like it.

I've always loved the look of a glasslike epoxy fingerboard, so that one is a must. But the body, i'm not sure if I should do the same kind of finish as the fingerboard "Epoxy", or some kind of tung oil or french polish. So confused, I just want it to shine, and have a hard outer coat. Honestly, I dont even know what a tung oil, or french polish or polyeurithane, etc. look like, so even if I saw the perfect finish, I wouldn't know what it was... =-/

I'm gonna try to find a picture of a bass with the finish I like, and maybe you guys can point out the type of finish used.

Any opinions on the type of finish I should use would be very helpful.

[ehque]

hard, shiny, clear seems to sound like clear gloss polyurethane to me...

[Aka Nameless]

Thx ehque, gonna check out some polyeurithane finished basses. Hopefully that's the finish i'm after, just finished making the pickup covers, so a little final sanding, then comes the finishing.

[MonetBass]

Yeah, anything other than clear poly on that beautiful wood would be a crime.

[Aka Nameless]

Anyone have any picture of basses with sexy poly finishes?

Here is another picture of the bass w/ the pickup covers I completed last night, in sunshine lighting.

[wilser]

fyi, it's difficult (impossible) to know what a finish is just by looking at it. So if people post pics of basses finished with poly, acrylic, nitro, shellac, whatever, most likely, you won't see a difference.

[Aka Nameless]

Does your vote go to Poly also Wilsner?

Is there any downside to Polyeurithane finishes? Harder to apply, or slow dry times?

[wilser]

Originally Posted by Aka Nameless

Does your vote go to Poly also Wilsner?

Is there any downside to Polyeurithane finishes? Harder to apply, or slow dry times?

It's Wilser (why do people always make that mistake?).

Current method is a multi layer of several waterbased products in this order:

1. shellac (nice amber tone) 3-4 coats
2. pore filler (gotta fill those pores) 1-2 coats
3. polyurethane (for protection) 10-15 coats
4. lacquer (for ease of polishing) 5-8 coats

I switched to this combination of target coatings from KTM9 recently because it's more durable and looks better.

Of course, you chould just fill the pores (if the wood needs it) and apply 10 or so coats of poly and be done with it. But it wouldn't look as nice.

Also, bear in mind that these instruments are going to paying customers, so I try to do my best to achieve a good finish. Earlier basses that were built for me were done just fine with aerosol Deft nitro lacquer, leveling between coats and doing final polishing with micromesh wet with soapy water.

[Aka Nameless]

Woops, sorry Wilser. For some reason when I read your name, I read Wilsner. Not sure why, probably has something to do with the way English words are commonly put together, and my subconcious.

Thanks for the information, What grain sandpaper do you sand to before you apply the first coat of shellac/pole filler? And what grain of sandpaper should I use between coats?

Thanks again for the info.

[unclejam]

are you going with a vol vol tone conFig?

[Aka Nameless]

I sure am. =-)

[doctorjazz]

If you're epoxying the board, I wouldn't go with anything other than a nice high-gloss poly. Epoxy boards on basses with tung oil or French polish looks weird to me.

[wilser]

Originally Posted by Aka Nameless

Woops, sorry Wilser. For some reason when I read your name, I read Wilsner. Not sure why, probably has something to do with the way English words are commonly put together, and my subconcious.

Thanks for the information, What grain sandpaper do you sand to before you apply the first coat of shellac/pole filler? And what grain of sandpaper should I use between coats?

Thanks again for the info.

320 for the last grit before finish and 320 up to 600 between coats. Depending on how bad the finish needs to be leveled. The thing is, if you're going for a glossy or satin finish, you want a very flat and level surface and you can't get that out of a spray gun. There will be the slightest amount (or lots of it) of orange peel between coats and you must sand these level if you want a flat surface.

For me, finishing is still the most difficult part of the building process. And arguably the most enjoyable! The easiest and most dreadful is finish sanding before the coats.

The instructions included with the micromesh kits have all the information you need (if you were to use that product).

[unclejam]

http://www.albertkreuzer.com/pics/el...nboard_sch.gif

you might find that useful

[wilser]

Originally Posted by doctorjazz

If you're epoxying the board, I wouldn't go with anything other than a nice high-gloss poly. Epoxy boards on basses with tung oil or French polish looks weird to me.

That said, Musiclogic has had excellent results with target coatings poly on fretless fingerboards. So you may just want to coat the whole thing in poly and get it over with!

[Aka Nameless]

Thanks for the info, guys.

Wilser, when you say Target Coatings Poly, are you referring to a brand called Target Coatings? Or does Target Coatings mean like "the Shellac would be the target coating for the amber color, and the Poly would be the Target Coating for the protection layer"?