Fretless necks

[mentalextra]

I understand that this is the greatest story ever told but just to be clear in my mind. If I decided to add a finish to my fretless fretboard is the idea to get a finish without sanding. If I finish with say yacht varnish, is the idea to put a couple of coats on with a brush, leave to dry hard for a week then string up and play. Or, is it to be treated a little like automotive finish with the varnish/lacquer coat needing some final polishing to get a high quality finish. Or even sanding between coats of varnish.

If I chose to use 'superglue', a thick viscosity would I assume be applied the same as yacht varnish; whereas thin viscosity would effectively soak into the wood. Would that then just need sanding down to get a smooth finish.

Also, why is spray painting laquer a 'no no' when the finish is clearly good enough for smooth high quality automotive finishes. Surely half a dozen coats with a rattle can and the neck masked up would be the best way to achieve an even smooth coat compared to a brush. I have never seen a brushed paint finish that could equal a can?

Cheers

[henry norton]

OK, you'll have a vaguely playable fretless with a brushed on finish but no paint application (spray or brush) goes on super smoothly so you generally have to cut it back with sandpaper to give it that silky smooth finish. Some people on here have used superglue - I think most use the thin stuff. You can spray paint a lacquer onto a fretless fingerboard (Fender used it on their maple necks), but the only lacquer hard enough to withstand coating a fretless board is polyester, which is poisonous enough to kill you without a proper spray booth and an air fed mask.

[mentalextra]

Thanks for the reply. If you have a vaguely playable instrument with a brush finish, how do you make sure it is level and has not sagged. Is it a case of basically setting the instrument perfectly level until its dried. Does ambient temperature effect this process.

As opposed to applying a coating to the fretboard is there an application that would soak into the surface to 'toughen' it up. EG thin viscosity superglue

Do manufacturers brush or spray finishes on fretless necks?

Thanks again, sorry for all the questions

[lettsguitars]

Laquer is sprayed on, always. Super glue should be thin. Coating up until a thick gunky mess is acheived which is then sanded back without sanding through to the wood in various places (impossible). Epoxy is the best finish for fretless. Ebony is hard enough as it is. Any paint/laquer or varnish will not protect from string wear for very long and you would just end up having to strip it all off again within days of playing. Poly goes on pretty flat and just needs buffing but is not nice stuff as said above. Leave it as it is would be my first suggestion, epoxy being my second.

[mentalextra]

OK thanks

[Sambrook]

I must add my tuppence here. I copied a technique of Paul Rose's (Prose bass) that worked fantastically well. Rustin's plastic resin-mix it with the supplied hardener, then pour it into the 'moat' you have created on the fingerboard using (LOTS) of masking tape. Leave for three or four days undisturbed on a level surface, then use progressively finer wet and dry to level and smooth it. The finish is like glass without any of the brittle squeakiness you might get with varnish. It's so good that hammer-ons almost play themselves!