Vintage clay side dotes are terrible for gigs

[Thom Fioriglio]

I owned a US made Lakland 44-94. Absolutely gorgeous instrument but it used birdseye maple for the front and side dots on a rosewood fretboard. They looked great but were so hard to see, similar to the clay.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

I used a little bit of white nail polish. Get a dowel with the appropriate dot circumference, and ever-so-slightly dip the smallest bit of the tip into that nail polish and carefully apply the bit on the dowel rod end on those dots. Others have used other methods.

Agreed. I used red with glitter for good visibility in daylight or under lights.

 

[FightMilk]

You could get a new warmoth neck and build in some luminlay or moon glow dots.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Yeah, I’ve noticed this too. I just started practicing more so I wouldn’t have to rely on the dots, or any dots.

 

[Pet Sounds]

So the title basically says it all. I e played a few gigs with my fender cs p bass and the vintage clay side dots are useless. I got some stickers from amazon and they work ok but I'm looking for a better solution that won't Peel off mid gig.

In the '90s, I used some tiny peel off stickers from a children's sticker set and they worked fine and stayed put. I need to do something about my American Original Precision Bass now. The clay dots are on invisible on stage.

 

[JIO]

My go-to for side position dots was introduced by Danelectro decades ago - aluminum (rod) dots - available at your local hardware store. Aluminum reflects any available light on stage, better than the luminous ones that require bright light to 'activate' and fade quickly. The only thing better is LED dots for low-light visibility but they are not generally a DIY job to install. Drill out the existing markers, install aluminum and file smooth. (aluminum is soft and files easily)

Dano made Coral Deluxe Bass from 1968 -

 

[Wfrance3]

I had your same issue. I got a beautiful 5A roasted fm maple neck from Warmoth. It came with side dots that match up with the flame pattern and virtually disappear. I took it to my DiPisa Fret Works here in Tulsa. Jess drilled out the side dots and made them just a little bigger. Then added some bright and easy to see white color to the cavity. Not sure if it's paint or what, but it's perfect. Project was completed by capping off the marker dot cavities with super glue and then lightly sanding and sealing. The neck was sealed by Warmoth with that clear lighweight satin finish they offer. Jess matched it perfectly. It's great now, and honesly looks like it came that way.
The pic is the "this is my plan, should we go ahead and do it"? pic. Th referene side marker dot in the bass neck isn't a very good example of the original problem. That dot was colered as an option A before the pic was taken. Before it was colored, the dot was just a little darker than the lightest finish tone on the bass neck.

I have Fender P-Bass Coversion neck (34" 12 deg. Jazz Neck, but it says "Fender Precision" on it....
That neck has the same problem. The dots fender used are barely a different color than the PF fingerboard. I'm going to ask Jess to do that neck, probably mid or end of summer...

 

[direwolf333]

Diamonds on my Gatton tele.

 

[JIO]

Diamonds on my Gatton tele.

Diamonds are a Tele's best friend...