Weird Ibanez Garry Willis fretless question.

[KB5]

Stopped by a GC at lunchtime today. They had a used Ibanez GWB1005 frettless. The board was thinly coated and lined with what looked like a white plastic of some sort. The lines stood quite proud of the finger board. It sounded terrible as a result. Instead of all mwah it was all buzzy. It was the worst sounding fretless I have ever played. Please tell me this isn't a design feature. I'm guessing the lines just sprouted due to dissimilar material properties of the rosewood fretboard and plastic line material.

It was this model:

 

[Watchootognbout]

B-stock is my guess.
Some one who is skilled at dressing a fingerboard might hagle the price down and walk away with a fine bass.

 

[Stevorebob]

Nope. Not a design feature. Just a well-worn fingerboard in need of some work.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Premature inlay sprout.

 

[KB5]

Premature inlay sprout.

That was my guess. The board didn't have much wear. I was surprised they took it in. It was also over $1000.

 

[shawn1288]

If that's the one in commack gc it did play awful I figured it was the setup, but I wasn't too invested. If it's not the same bass I wonder if it's a common issue