Fretboard finish?

[Presto]

Hi Guys, any thoughts on finish/ no finish for a Jarrah fretboard for a bass guitar?

[Daniel_M]

Hi Presto,
The tele that I made with a jarrah board I left it unfinished and then used a little bore oil to stop it drying out. No issues with it so far.

[Tod Gilding]

Hi Presto,
I'm not one of the guru's at this forum,but I have had very pleasing results with Howards orange tung oil,this type of finish is easily repaired if need be and is a finish in the wood not on the wood. I find it perfect for fretboards.

Tod

[pavliku]

I have also used Tung oil on a Jarrah fretboard. The guitar is still unfinished so I can't tell you how durable it is - looks good though. Tung oil is meant to be one of the hardest drying oils.
Paul

[Gizmo]

Ahoy Presto

I bought a little bottle of Almond Oil years ago for my woodwinds and I just use that on the fretboards of my basses and ukes. I think I got it from a pharmacy.

When I change strings, which isn't often, I wipe a bit on and leave for a minute, wipe off. You don't need much and it's not sticky. When I worked as a gilder we used almond oil to preserve old boxwood ornament moulds.

[Presto]

Hey thanks guys, I will look into the Tung oil! Any ideas where to get it?

[Allen]

I use a hard furniture wax on my fret boards.

You can get tung oil at Bunnings in the floor finishing area. There will be a couple of brands on the shelf usually. I've got one by Timbermate. A can of it is going to last you a lifetime for fret boards. It also makes a nice finish on other wood work projects.

[Luke]

I am currently building a fret-less bass and also wondering what would be the way to treat the fret board.
The bass is will have an acoustic tone (hopefully) as it is an experimental Frankenstein build it will use round wound Phos/bronze strings the fret board is Indian rosewood. On fretted boards I usually just use 100% lemon oil not sure what to do on a fret-less re wear from strings. Any Thoughts?

[Gizmo]

Luke, I don't know of any finish that will stop roundwounds gouging a fretless board.
If you're looking for acoustic tone try D'Addario ECB80 Chromes. I use these super light gauge flatwounds on my Fender Jazz, they are the closest to double bass tone I have ever had on an electric bass. The tone is different because the light gauge needs less tension to tune to pitch, which means less pressure on the board as well.

[kiwigeo]

Jaco slapped a coat of boat epoxy on the fretboard after he'd ripped out the frets from his Fender Jazz.....worked for him.

[Gizmo]

I didn't know that. Looked it up and found this...

Quote from January 2006 Bass Guitar Magazine that featured Jaco:

"...Jaco's sound was in part the product of Rotosound roundwound strings gnawing their way into his epoxy-coated fingerboard."

Ouch. Maybe a hypotheoretical replacable disposable fingerboard is what's needed.

[P Bill]

Gizmo "The Replaceable Fingerboard Membrane" for roundwound / fretless lovers could be a new product to add.