Fretboard painting?

[indo]

Hi all,

I'm planning on buying a Steinberger Spirit in white sometime in the near future, and I developed a question for you guys while I was checking out some pictures. The rosewood fingerboard doesn't exactly turn me off, but it does seem to stick out a bit in comparison to the white and black color scheme (particularly because when I first saw the bass, it was dark and I assumed the fretboard to be black, like a Parker Fly). Anyway, I wondering if you guys think it would be a good idea to actually paint the fretboard. I had an idea of putting painters tape over the frets and then carefully painting or spray painting the wood in between. From observation, I'm pretty sure the strings usually don't touch the actual wood of the fretboard, just the frets, so I don't think that the paint scratching off would be a problem. I do have a few relatives that are good with wood and painting, and one was going to help me when I was going to change the finish of one of my guitars. But anyway, this might just be a dumb idea and I might abandon this whole train of thought after getting the bass and falling in love with it .

Tell me what you guys think.

[Musiclogic]

Strings do contact fb paint will wear away

[BassicJohn]

The proper paint shouldn't wear away any more than the clear coat on maple fretboards. They are both "paint". But, depending on the color of the paint and the wood, the wear may quickly show up badly as MusicLogic stated above.

[Jones_Stuff]

Seems to work for Danelectro.

[mtizzle]

Can you not paint and then lacquer over it?

[Gintaras]

I had a black bass that I wished that I had an ebony fretboard instead of rosewood so I used this.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...&xst=3&xsr=460

[Musiclogic]

Fb dye is a good option, and you can lacquer or poly over the fb, but as with all coated fb's it wears away sooner or later

[pilotjones]

On one hand, the clear finish on maple-boarded Fenders does wear away, leaving exposed maple that then turns gray and grungy.

On the other hand Rickenbacker did limited-edition basses with red, white, and black painted fretboards, and I've never seen a picture of one worn out. But it's entirely possible that none of them have seen enough use to know whether they would stand up to "normal use."

[indo]

Originally Posted by Gintaras

I had a black bass that I wished that I had an ebony fretboard instead of rosewood so I used this.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...&xst=3&xsr=460

That sounds great, thanks!

[praisegig]

Originally Posted by Gintaras

I had a black bass that I wished that I had an ebony fretboard instead of rosewood so I used this.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting...&xst=3&xsr=460

If you want a "black" black, then get Fiebing's Marine Black oil dye.

[mikeyswood]

Paint under epoxy would last a very long time.