Why No Translucent Finish On Fretboards???

[Jaco Taco]

I've got in mind getting a bass made that's all maple: body, neck, and fretboard; and thinking how cool it would look if the whole bass had a translucent green finish, including the fretboard. Yet I've never heard of this before.

Is there no such thing as a translucent color finish on a fretboard? Would it just get marred and scuffed up by the strings?

 

[pklima]

Sure, it's possible. Even in green.

It also comes in pink, and the guitar version in yellow and purple.

There are also some old banjos with pearloid-covered fingerboards.

 

[Jaco Taco]

But that top example is just painted and finished, right? I suppose that's no different than a translucent job?

 

[lowfreq33]

Any part of a bass can be stained to whatever color you like. It's just not a very popular choice.

 

[Jazz Ad]

Status let you choose any color you want for the fretboard, solid or not. Yet you barely ever see them. Not a popular choice indeed.

 

[Jaco Taco]

Huh, I'm imagining how cool a translucent green finish would look over a birds-eye maple fretboard. Weird to me that more people wouldn't do it.

 

[Dave W]

Huh, I'm imagining how cool a translucent green finish would look over a birds-eye maple fretboard. Weird to me that more people wouldn't do it.

Different strokes for different folks

 

[Clef_de_fa]

With all the maple fretboard that the finish went away by playing it ( strings rubbing again the finish on the maple fretboard ) and it starts to attrack dirt and then the maple look all dirty and very aweful ...

if you put a finish on your fretboard ... I bet that one day it will look awful.

 

[DwaynieAD]

if you put a finish on your fretboard ... I bet that one day it will look roadworn.

fixt

 

[mmbongo]

See: Brubaker Basses

 

[M.R. Ogle]

I hope someone posts a pic of that all-blue bass, I think It was an ESP "Surveyor"?

 

[JayfromDeeKay]

Ritter does it:

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[Brad Johnson]

I have several basses with translucent finishes. They've all held up very well including my 78 Fender Jazz. My two main Brubaker sixes are orange and black over Birdseye Maple. Anyone who can do a competent durable finish on a bass should be able to do this.

In the cases of my Brubakers the wood is not stained, color is added to the finish material.

The red six above used to be mine. I got the six in my avatar before it so I let it go. Up close you can see that each fret position actually had a red to yellow burst in addition to cutting color into the Spalted Maple figuring elsewhere. Lots of time spent in the paint booth on that one.

 

[Feral Feline]

Get the stained fingerboard and yank the frets, pour the epoxy and VOILA!

A coloured fingerboard that will last a long time.

 

[DwaynieAD]

Love me that purple ritter.

 

[two fingers]

Ritter does it:

I would rock the ever loving crap out of this bass. And I would do it in a bluegrass band just to ruffle the most feathers possible. That is one of the most beautifully tacky objects I have ever seen. Is it still for sale?

 

[two fingers]

See: Brubaker Basses

And, oddly enough, while I really REALLY dig the cartoon rainbow Ritter, I find these to be awful looking. Go figure.

 

[StuartV]

With all the maple fretboard that the finish went away by playing it ( strings rubbing again the finish on the maple fretboard ) and it starts to attrack dirt and then the maple look all dirty and very aweful ...

if you put a finish on your fretboard ... I bet that one day it will look awful.

If the bass is fretted, don't you have to be playing with fingers of steel for the strings to be touching the fingerboard and not just the frets?

 

[StuartV]

See: Brubaker Basses

That green one looks exactly like a bass I saw in person at Andy's Guitars, in Tallahassee. If it weren't for me not liking single cut bodies, and not like that shade of green, I would like it!

The red one, though, I LOVE the cherry burst job on the fretboard. That idea is being filed away for future reference!

 

[DwaynieAD]

And, oddly enough, while I really REALLY dig the cartoon rainbow Ritter, I find these to be awful looking. Go figure.

I like the green brubaker but not the red one, and i'm an advocate against the color green.