Author Topic: Polyester finish on fretless (Read 108 times)

funkyjazzjunky · « **on:** April 22, 2008, 02:52:03 PM »

I saw an maple neck & maple body Pedulla bass with a polyester finish on its fretless ebony fingerboard.

It seems like a good idae to get the fingerboad refinished every few years and not worry about messing up the ebony.

Any experience with a protective finish on a fretless fingerboard?

3rd_ray · « **Reply #1 on:** April 22, 2008, 06:05:31 PM »

I had a Fender Jazz fingerboard epoxied by HG Thor (http://www.woodwiz.com/epoxy/) a few years ago. I didn't notice any difference in tone before or after the epoxy. I thought it looked cool and would keep the fingerboard safe. I didn't keep that bass long enough to tell how it would hold up over time.

ajdover · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2008, 07:07:55 PM »

I have a '99 MIA Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe with an HG Thor Epoxy board. I love it - it looks great and it doesn't give me any problems. HG does a great job, and I can vouch for their work.

Alan

slawie · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2008, 09:53:42 PM »

My mother used to have a plastic cover on her couch. It protected the material but on hot days......I will spare you the mental image.

Slawie

jacko · « **Reply #4 on:** April 23, 2008, 09:23:43 AM »

I've been playing my fretless almost non-stop since early 2005 using roundwounds and haven't noticed any wear at all.

Graeme

keith_h · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2008, 02:06:33 PM »

I think the polyester would be softer than the ebony fingerboard. It definitely will show the string wear more than the wood. If you were to coat it I think you would need to use something harder like epoxy.
Personally I think it would be a waste of time and money. If coating them was so great I would think the various manufactures of bass guitars and uprights would make it standard.

Keith

edwin · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2008, 07:34:59 PM »

I have a Dave King fretless which has seen a lot of use since 1993. Except for some chips along the sides of the fingerboards, the epoxy has held up great with some very hard playing, including slap. Before that, from 1991 to '93, there was a polyester finish on it, and it wasn't nearly as good, tonally or as far as durability.

YMMV,
Edwin