Picking up where my friends left off

[Zilla3154]

About 2 years ago my friends all pitched in and bought me a Axl P bass for my birthday and did two things to it, they 1) did a custom paint job on the back and 2) removed the frets from the fretboard and filled the gaps with some sort of white cement/appropriate noun here.
The problem is is that they didn't exactly finish the job and didn't coat the fretboard with a finish (thats what you are meant to do, right) and didn't varnish the body which means that the paint job can be smudged very easily.
I am no luthier (in fact, you could say that I have no idea what I am doing) and require your help.
What finish do I need to use on the neck to stop whatever strings I use from ripping into the rosewood?
What strings should I buy to minimise the damage to the rosewood?
How should I go about varnishing the body so the paintjob doesn't get ruined?

Thanks heaps

 

[HaMMerHeD]

1) Fingerboards are often coated with CA glue, epoxy, polyurethane, or polyester. Of these, I personally found polyurethane to be the easiest to apply. Mostly, that is because it is available in aerosol form. However, aerosol urethane seems to not cure as hard as the brush-on or wipe-on kind. Poly will require a touch-up application after some time though. How much time depends on how much use it gets. As far as I have been able to surmise, Epoxy will give you the most durable finish. Unfortunately, it also seems to be the most labor-intensive method...lots of leveling/sanding.

But for my money...Axl basses are pre-distressed, right? Honestly, I don't think a pristine beautiful fingerboard gloss would look right. I might give it a few coats of aerosol shellac with a satin finish by way of steel wool.

2) Flatwound and/or nylon tapewound strings would probably reduce wear the best.

3) What kind of clear coat to put over the body depends on what kind of paint they used. (Ex. Water based paints need water-based clear coats.)

Full disclosure: I am a rank amateur. I've successfully modified 1 bass and scratch built 1 other. Most of what I know comes from the few years of reading I did before I touched any tools. The real luthiers here probably have better advice.

 

[Stealth]

I think someone mentioned using mylar (metallized film material, similar to what "metallic" helium baloons are made of) to great success. Search the forum for it.