Ah, that. Yeah, it's an ongoing subject in the world of fretless bass. My feeling about it is go with what sounds good. What sounds good to my ear and feels good to me is wood and I really having an epoxy coating which protects the wood pretty much completely. However, it does have a particular tone that goes with it. My David King fretless has a bloodwood board with epoxy and it's pretty much unmarked after years of hard service. I also like the Alembic fretlesses I've played with ebony boards that seem more or less uncoated. It depends also what strings you use. I love roundwounds on a fretless. That does create more wear. If I loved rounds on ebony, which I do, I would just do it and then get the board resurfaced and replaced as necessary. Just like I do with frets.
The wood resource is another issue, but the way I look at it is that if you took all the wood that is used for ebony fingerboards every year, you're probably talking maybe half a dozen trees every year. Far more of this valuable lumber is victim of forest clearing to make room for fast food beef or palm oil production. So, I'll forgo eating fast food burgers and use coconut oil. That does far more for the ecology of exotic wood than forgoing an ebony fingerboard that I use for a fretless.
