Negative Effects Of Sealing FB

[Sharkzy Lowend]

Can anyone here talk about how to tell a sealed fretboard and non sealed fretboard apart?

 

[Turnaround]

If it's a brand-name bass, the fretboard is sealed. To quote TB's own expert on bass necks, Bruce Johnson:

"Every manufacturer and small builder coats their fingerboards with some kind of penetrating sealer before the instrument ships out. We all do it, to prevent excessive shrinkage and cracking. It would be crazy not to. Most of us use one of the hardening "oil finishes", which contain a boiled linseed oil base or a more modern polyurethane base. They sink down into the pores and harden, sealing up the wood against moisture seeping in or out. That's why we do it.

The point is that any new or used instrument that you buy may look like it has an unfinished fingerboard, but the wood is actually fully sealed up."

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Can anyone here talk about how to tell a sealed fretboard and non sealed fretboard apart?

As Richard says above (quoting me!), any completed instrument from a manufacturer or small builder will have the fingerboard sealed with some kind of penetrating, hardening finish. We all do it, even the cheapest import instruments. If they didn't, half of their fingerboards would be cracked after the trip across the ocean in a container.

The only unsealed fingerboards you'll see are on kit parts: Necks from Warmoth or blank fingerboards from LMI.

In a previous thread about this subject, I compared wiping your fingerboard with some oil to using hair gel. It's not necessary at all for the "health" of the wood. It's just done for personal preference in look and feel. It'll make your fingerboard shiny and slippery for a while, if that's what you want. But then it becomes a sticky mess that you have to clean off and reapply regularly to keep that look. Your choice. I personally don't like oily, slippery fingerboards. Or hair gel.

 

[Sharkzy Lowend]

As Richard says above (quoting me!), any completed instrument from a manufacturer or small builder will have the fingerboard sealed with some kind of penetrating, hardening finish. We all do it, even the cheapest import instruments. If they didn't, half of their fingerboards would be cracked after the trip across the ocean in a container.

The only unsealed fingerboards you'll see are on kit parts: Necks from Warmoth or blank fingerboards from LMI.

In a previous thread about this subject, I compared wiping your fingerboard with some oil to using hair gel. It's not necessary at all for the "health" of the wood. It's just done for personal preference in look and feel. It'll make your fingerboard shiny and slippery for a while, if that's what you want. But then it becomes a sticky mess that you have to clean off and reapply regularly to keep that look. Your choice. I personally don't like oily, slippery fingerboards. Or hair gel.

Thank you good sir for taking the time to reply, I'll most definitely reconsider my choices before using a mineral oil on my fingerboard, thanks again!