Fretless Epoxy

[sricks3]

I've already taken an old bass and replaced the frets with strips of veneer, thereby making it a fretless. When I did this, I oiled the fingerboard with Tung Oil. It's worked fine, but I'd like to put a strong epoxy coat on the fingerboard so that I can use roundwound strings without worrying as much about fingerboard wear.

Let's jump to the question. Which epoxy should I use? I've listed three in the poll and left a choice for write-ins.

If you leave a response, please give a brief reasoning for why you'd choose one over the others.

Thanks, guys! I look forward to seeing the results.

Edit: I thought I should clarify that before I apply the epoxy, I'd sand off a small layer to past the majority of the oil. If this is a naive idea, let me know.

 

[Porkbun]

Check out my signature and[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] to see the results of using [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] along with a quick guide.

Youll want to make sure the neck is bare wood because a lot of products dont work well with contaminants on the wood. Envirotex lite is usually found on bar tables and it can take a lot of abuse. Marks showed on my bass about a year after I defretted, but buff out easily back to the mirror finish.

 

[Geoff St. Germaine]

I haven't used any of those products, but I have worked with System 3 Mirrorcoat and find that it's a great product for this type of work. Like the envirotex lite, it's designed for use on bar tops.

 

[tjclem]

I haven't used any of those products, but I have worked with System 3 Mirrorcoat and find that it's a great product for this type of work. Like the envirotex lite, it's designed for use on bar tops.

Me too just a lot of work re-radiusing the board after...t

 

[Kael]

I haven't used any of those products, but I have worked with System 3 Mirrorcoat and find that it's a great product for this type of work. Like the envirotex lite, it's designed for use on bar tops.

I've epoxied a half dozen necks using system 3 mirror coat before. I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. Takes multiple coats. Each coat takes a day to dry. Therefor it isn't a quick process. I usually budget myself about three weeks for prep, expoying, sanding and finally steel wool polishing the neck. Doesn't always take that long, but that's my general timeline when I do an epoxy job.

I've reverted to playing bare wood recently. Haven't seen any issues my rosewood board after a year or so of rather heavy use and plan on not epoxying this board till I do.

 

[bigalbass]

Before using anything on your oil finished board I would recommend using some denatured alcohol (stay away from lacquer) to try and strip some of the oil out of it.

 

[Feral Feline]

I've got a fretless project that's underway, and was going to use crazy glue (cyanoacrylate) as per Dan Erlewine's methods.

Should I reconsider an epoxy finish and if so why?

Not trying to hijack the thread, but rather hopefully add to it.

 

[Kael]

Before using anything on your oil finished board I would recommend using some denatured alcohol (stay away from lacquer) to try and strip some of the oil out of it.

I'd recommend denatured alcohol even if you didn't have an oil finish already on it. The cleaner the surface to start with the better.

 

[SamanthaCay]

I've done epoxy before (not sure what the brand was) I remember the whole process taking about a week and being quite a bit of work.

On the other hand I've done Ca quite a few times, enough that It is only about a six hour job give or take.
IMMHO. Ca takes the cake as far as fretless finishes are concerned.

 

[sricks3]

Thanks for the responses! I'll look into mirrorcoat and Ca. I think I might actually put a set of round wounds on first and just see how the board holds up. If I don't end up with any major scratches or trenches, I might not put anything on it just yet.

 

[joeyl]

some useful tips from luthier Bruce in my attempt at epoxy thread. I used System 3

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f18/system-3-mirror-coat-epoxy-fretless-neck-882223/

 

[bigalbass]

Thanks for the responses! I'll look into mirrorcoat and Ca. I think I might actually put a set of round wounds on first and just see how the board holds up. If I don't end up with any major scratches or trenches, I might not put anything on it just yet.

I am currently using nickle rounds on my factory fretless Jazz bass and have had no problems.

 

[masonsjax]

I was getting marks on the maple board on my Rondo fretless P from flats, so I recently epoxied that bass using System 3 Mirror Coat. I put rounds on it and it sounds a lot better now and so far has no marks of any kind.