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Fretless fingerboard coatings

#21
Gilmourisgod said:
The maple fretlines on my Warmouth fretless neck have never moved relative to the ebony fingerboard in the 25+ years I've had it. That may be due to the Pedulla Diamondkote finish. I haven't found anything better for parts builds than Warmouth, pricey but worth it.
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I'm looking to do this to a fender jazz bass neck with rosewood fingerboard, I need to research the process so I can determine if the guy I hire actually knows how to do this properly.
 
#22
To close the loop, I ended up with CA.
Polished like glass. Four months of playing with rounds and no visible wear.

45d29990c6f4eae1d2d52b2b814d07b2.jpg
 
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#24
7dollarbologna said:
I'm looking to do this to a fender jazz bass neck with rosewood fingerboard, I need to research the process so I can determine if the guy I hire actually knows how to do this properly.
Click to expand...
When I had Pedulla Diamondkote the neck, I had no idea what I was doing, I'd played a Buzz Bass, and was like "well, that's what a fretless is supposd to be like". I called up Pedulla in Rockland Mass out of the blue, and they were like "sure, bring it over". This was probably 1986-87, but I think it was less than $100 at the time, including a satin finish on the beck of the neck and headstock. I have no idea if they still do this, might be worth a phone call anyway.
 
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#25
Gilmourisgod said:
When I had Pedulla Diamondkote the neck, I had no idea what I was doing, I'd played a Buzz Bass, and was like "well, that's what a fretless is supposd to be like". I called up Pedulla in Rockland Mass out of the blue, and they were like "sure, bring it over". This was probably 1986-87, but I think it was less than $100 at the time, including a satin finish on the beck of the neck and headstock. I have no idea if they still do this, might be worth a phone call anyway.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'll do so.
 
#27
Means2nEnd said:
That looks great Rowka, what type CA did you use? thin, medium, thick? Looks like it would be an excellent finish on a whole bass body HHhhmmmmm.
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Yes.
First coat was thin, thinking it would be best to soak into the maple as much as possible. Wiped on with a little square of folded up paper towel. Only got about three or four wipes before it kicked.
Then I starteb building with thick in a similar fashion. When it started getting too bumpy I'd and it back and use medium and thin to spot-fill lows spots and pin holes then continue building with thick.

I don't know how many coats I put on, but the whole thing, including the final polish, only took about an hour, hour-and-a-half.
 
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#29
Use an Ebony finger board like they do on Double basses (mines been on over 100 years)
I made the bass on my Avatar from ebony with plenty of thickness so it can be cleaned up,also
Jaco states he always practiced on his fretted to save the roundwounds eating the neck up.
 
#30
Means2nEnd said:
Thanks Rowka sounds good... I also like this product. Cures in the sunlight...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Only that Polyester keeps curing with UV until it's quite a bit darker, keeps shrinking, and can chalk unless it is kept from UV or coated with a UV barrier.
That's why there's no bare Polyester on boats or fiberglass cars. Gelcoat is used over Polyester on boats- it's mostly clay, and doesn't let UV thru.
It'll be alright if it doesn't get much daylight, tho.
Epoxy will too, but to a lesser extent.
 
#31
LENNYX said:
Use an Ebony finger board like they do on Double basses (mines been on over 100 years)
I made the bass on my Avatar from ebony with plenty of thickness so it can be cleaned up,also
Jaco states he always practiced on his fretted to save the roundwounds eating the neck up.
Click to expand...
I used to have a mid 70's P-Bass that a luthier laminated an old double bass finger board to, man that neck was a handful!
 
#32
Gilmourisgod said:
When I had Pedulla Diamondkote the neck, I had no idea what I was doing, I'd played a Buzz Bass, and was like "well, that's what a fretless is supposd to be like". I called up Pedulla in Rockland Mass out of the blue, and they were like "sure, bring it over". This was probably 1986-87, but I think it was less than $100 at the time, including a satin finish on the beck of the neck and headstock. I have no idea if they still do this, might be worth a phone call anyway.
Click to expand...

Any idea if they are still in Rockland? The website says Mass but not what town. I didn't realize they were local. (To me, that is)
 
#34
Gilmourisgod said:
Yep, still in Rockland. See link to Facebook page below:
Pedulla Bass Guitars - Rockland, Massachusetts - Small Business | Facebook

List of Services
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info!

To avoid hijacking this thread any further, let me say i have used thin CA glue on a rosewood Squier neck I defretted and added maple lines to. I only did 2-3 coats before sanding and it came out pretty darn good. I only have used flats on it so no wear to speak of.
 
#35
Rowka said:
To close the loop, I ended up with CA.
Polished like glass. Four months of playing with rounds and no visible wear.

45d29990c6f4eae1d2d52b2b814d07b2.jpg
Click to expand...
How is the CA applied? My limited experience with CA is that it puts off some really nasty fumes. If anybody has done this recently and is willing to post a tutorial, I think a lot of people would be interested.
 
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#36
I seem to recall that there was an old issue of Bass Player that had a nice little tutorial from Dan Erlewine about applying a CA coating on a fretless fingerboard.

I don't have the ability to look up which issue it was in right now but I will try and look it up when I get home.

(edit: Hmmm. I remember the tutorial in Bass Player to be a bit more detailed about the finishing part but the pix seem familiar so I think that this might be the same one. [I don't see any mentions about "originally appearing in Bass Player Magazine" so maybe this is an abridged version?] Invalid Link Removed.)
 
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