fretless neck finish

[Henry D]

i have recently gone fretless, after buying a new neck off ebay for only £50! (about $100) it is unfinished, and to reduce the amount of damage to the ebony, what kind of easily obtainable finish should i put on the neck

(and i am quite experienced finishing and staining wood so that's definately not an issue)

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Depends i supose.

to reduce the damage to the ebony? so your wanting to epoxy the fretboard?

Ive not been playing fretless long, but . . .

A) Ebony is really hard, so is really good for fretless, its also quite consistance.

B) If you use flatwound strings, and dont play too agressivly. you wont have a problem.

C) Putting an epoxy on the fingerboard apparently has quite a noticable effect on the tone of the instrument also, so that may not be a good thing.

 

[Christov]

I would send the neck to Pedulla and let them diamondkote it for you. The polyester finish they claim is 80% as hard as glass. It sure makes my Pentabuzz growl!!!!

 

[62bass]

An epoxy coating or even polyester, which is harder would reduce the damage to the fingerboard and can be renewed when the inevitable wear from strings becomes noticeable.

These hard coatings will affect the tone however. They add a bit of zing to the top end. Some like that. I don't.

I prefer flatwounds and use Thomastics on mine. Fretboard wear is minimal. But that's the sound I like.

You can do it yourself if you are the handy type. There is a thread about that somewhere and more advice is available on line.

I've done it a couple times and its time consuming but not all that hard.

 

[fretlessspence]

Put roundwounds on it and let the damage be done. Every few years you might have to take it to someone to sand and setup the bass but thats the price you pay for good tone.

 

[spade2you]

Some luthiers can use a thin layer of super glue that's just enough to protect the board without changing the tone a whole lot. You can also use bright flats if you like the tone of rounds and don't want the wear.

Personally, I enjoy rounds, flats, epoxy, etc. Dang near any fretless will have a pleasant tone. I have one bass with rounds on ebony and 2 with LaBella Deep Talkin' strings. Soon I'll be starting one with an epoxied board.