Fretboard Side Dot Markers are hard to see

[JRA]

Next experiment will be glow-in-the-dark gunsight paint.

Please post a review of the gunsight paint, that sounds interesting! Tritium would be cool but isn't the half-life pretty short?

i have glow-in-the-dark side dots on one ax = they really work! i don't know if it's actual gunsight paint (found the stuff on amazon), but they still glow after ~3 years. hope that helps.

 

[micguy]

I play a lot on some very dark stages, and I like roasted necks, which are kinda dark. I've tried stickers, but they come off, or curl up at the wrong time. Anyway, what I've come up with is this:

It's Rustoleum spray paint (a very thin layer), Super permanent Sharpie, and then poly over the whole neck (I do it when I do the finishing on my necks - I build my own basses). It takes a bunch of careful sanding of edges and such, but you can't actually feel that it's there, and it's not coming off. A few of the stages I play on have overhead black lights - when it's dark, those markers glow like nobody's business.

 

[Sands]

I play a lot on some very dark stages, and I like roasted necks, which are kinda dark. I've tried stickers, but they come off, or curl up at the wrong time. Anyway, what I've come up with is this:

View attachment 4878079

It's Rustoleum spray paint (a very thin layer), Super permanent Sharpie, and then poly over the whole neck (I do it when I do the finishing on my necks - I build my own basses). It takes a bunch of careful sanding of edges and such, but you can't actually feel that it's there, and it's not coming off. A few of the stages I play on have overhead black lights - when it's dark, those markers glow like nobody's business.

I have to say it. Awesome.

 

[nickpc]

Stickers don't seem like they would hold up over time.

But are very easy to replace (and remove), so there is that.

 

[micguy]

I have to say it. Awesome.

It beats the heck out of playing wrong notes.

 

[LHbassist]

This is a set of markers I've made for two custom builds now. I use hobby tubing, 3/16" O.D., and fill it with long cure epoxy mixed with green glow in the dark powder/paint used for gunsights. I cut small 'plugs from the longer sections- and drill a shallow hole, 3/16" bit, and tap them in with gap filling super glue. trim carefully with a bent single edge razor blade- yes, you can bend them... and sand lightly with 320, and 400- and then polish. They are very visible in daylight, of course, and hold a light 'charge' if there is light- then the lights go dim.

 

[Lostgallifreyan]

View attachment 4878114 This is a set of markers I've made for two custom builds now. I use hobby tubing, 3/16" O.D., and fill it with long cure epoxy mixed with green glow in the dark paint used for gunsights. I cut small 'plugs from the longer sections- and drill a shallow hole, 3/16" bit, and tap them in with gap filling super glue. trim carefully with a bent single edge razor blade- yes, you can bend them... and sand lightly with 320, and 400- and then polish. They are very visible in daylight, of course, and hold a light 'charge' if there is light- then the lights go dim.

That really is the Rolls Royce answer. Very nice. I contemplated a reduced variant (no tubing) to use whitewash powder mixed with clear laquer in very shallow holes, but I never got round to experimenting. Whitewash is calcite so it should be extremely good, barium sulphate would be best but it might be overkill to use something normally used to line the insides of elliptical reflectors for small YAG lasers.. This would depend on ambient light, no storage, no fluorescence, but for a bright and neutral appearance it might work well.

I have learned to play with minimal guidance from the side, even in low light during the past few weeks (so I can cope with conditions in a nearby pub), but I'd get by with just the fifth and the octave marked if I needed a bit more help. My vision is lousy so I really have to adapt to playing with the guitar neck held out slightly in front of me to play it. Hard, fast, and agile, with the strings a blur because my vision makes them look wider than the gaps between them, is something I never thought I could get used to, but it is working. But only if I practise a lot for specific tunes. Making sure the bass doesn't move about too much when I play it more than makes up for not seeing it very well.

 

[swink]

 

[coy garcia]

Been there many times.... nail polish is your friend.

 

[Koog]

If it's not cost prohibitive for you, find a good Luther and have him/her install 3mm Luminlay dots.

I have done this on several basses. Problem solved.

Good luck.

Koog

 

[ezstep]

I have two daughters. When they were each in their "punk" phase of life, they bought gobs of almost glow-in-the-dark nail polish. I put a drop of that right on top of the side marker, and it works very well.

 

[Maxi Funkl]

I bought some stickers off amazon work great for the roasted maple fingerboard side dots not so much.

 

[bdplaid]

 ... FretFX ...   Attachable Illuminated LED Fret Markers    

 

[coy garcia]

... FretFX ... Attachable Illuminated LED Fret Markers

I have a couple sets of these in a drawer...they are on a string..fall off and don't line up properly.

 

[dave hope]

Thanks but I've been playing guitar and bass for 32 years. I still and will always prefer a visual reference.

Amen, I’ve been playing since 1965, and they have been always a great asset to me . . Still

 

[carsbybigd]

www.fretfx.com

 

[DirkP]

The only thing that drives me mad about the 2013-2017 American Vintage Series from Fender is that they have period correct clay dots. I never realized before that I'm looking at the dots playing all over the fretboard, till I played on a dark stage...
It's more like: you
semi-conscious look for a visual confirmation that you're doing the right thing - and it is not there.

 

[Eddie Jones]

I bought a teeny tiny bottle of Glow-on paint for gunsites. Just a little dot on the side dot markers and now they light up and can be seen easily. I went over them with a quick swish of clear nail polish so they would stay on and not wear away. Worked perfectly.

 

[bdplaid]

I have a couple sets of these in a drawer...they are on a string..fall off and don't line up properly.

Not true. I have them on a couple of basses and they are both accurate and stick.
One has to be careful when applying them. And if you have a problem Roz will send you attachment tape.
Also, they make them for fretless specifically, with the dots realigned for that.
And specify 34"scale.
I love mine. So do the ladies.

 

[jlo95]

The fretboard side dot markers are on my Yamaha Motion are really hard to see in low light conditions. There seems to be a heavy amount of lacquer over them or the lacquer has just yellowed over time thus making them difficult to see. I'm considering giving them a light sanding with some fine grit sandpaper but before I do that I was curious what other options there are. The luminlay looks pretty slick but not sure I want to take on that big of a project. Stickers don't seem like they would hold up over time.
Any suggestions or experiences regarding this?

Man, I've been dealing with this recently too. Black dots on maple neck are tough to see in the dark I've noticed. I might just put stickers on the neck TBH. Or glow in the dark tape. If they wear off I can replace it. Interested to see how others manage