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Using masking tape on the fretboard wood

Euies

Euies

Jan 7, 2017
27
5
#1
I'm thinking of using masking tape to cover the entire square behind each fret (only those already with inlays).

Or, in other words, wherever an inlay is, I cover the full area with masking tape.

Will this cause any issues with the wood?
 
#3
Curious - what are you trying to achieve by taping the neck? And for how long?

BTW, I can't think of any issue this would cause other than residual adhesive, which is nasty and which masking tape is notorious for leaving behind. I don't leave masking tape on ANY surface a moment longer than necessary. And I'd plan on using Motzenbocker's Lift-Off to remove residue if needed.
 
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#4
Are you doing this for visual effect? Different color tapes?

I've put masking tape on fingerboards to protect against scuffing when cleaning/polishing frets. And to mask off for fixing finishes. But I've always taken it off shortly after. That has no effect on the wood. It sounds like you're gonna play with the tape on? The strings will tear up the tape, I don't know if they would grind it into the wood...
 
#6
I once covered my fretboard with a sticker and cut out the portions where the frets were so the sticker sat on the wood and the frets were protruding. It stayed that way for quite a while. The thing I noticed is the strings never touch the wood (and once the sticker was in place never touched the sticker), I was using just regular round wounds, it didn't matter which brand. At the time I was trying a bunch of different brand strings such as Ernie ball, dean Marley, fender, D'addario. None of them were so thin that the pressure of fretting caused them to touch the sticker. It never wore any of the printed graphic in any way, so unless you play with enormous fretting hand pressure or your strings are extremely light gauge I don't think it will matter. You may find some adhesive residue after you remove it, I didn't but since not all manufacturers of sticky things use the same adhesive, you may find residue. There is always the option of using low tack painters masking tape.
Fret something and look to see if the string actually contacts the fretboard.
 
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#8
Yep, the longer you leave masking/painters tape in place the harder it is to get all the glue to come off with the tape.
I don’t recall the brand but we used it and tin foil to mask all the hydraulic and electrical lines in airplane wheel wells. We had a twelve hour window to get the tape off with no residue.
 
#9
Like others, I am curious as to the why, but when my daughter first began with violin, the instructor put a couple of pieces of thin vinyl tape on the fingerboard for reference, with the idea being that by the time it was worn off, she wouldn't need it. It lasted for most of the school year. It left no residue and did no damage at all to the fingerboard.
 
#14
It won't hurt the board, just leave a mess when it eventually dries out and starts flaking off. That will take a while. If you don't like the inlays you have, maybe check out the faux sticker inlays available on ebay and Amazon, it's a vinyl material that will hold up a lot better than tape, and will come off clean. Or, you could just use a vinyl tape wide enough to go fret to fret, 3M makes some very high quality tapes, but limited on color choices. What's the fingerboard wood? I have to say, this just sounds like a bad idea overall, but it's your bass!

https://www.amazon.com/3M-Vinyl-Str...rds=3m+vinyl+tape+black&qid=1582756703&sr=8-7
 
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