Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

[rmcfee]

I am trying to find a good, appropriate epoxy for coating a freshly de-fretted bass neck.
I used some West System epoxy years ago from Lee Valley Tools for a couple of fingerboards but the leftover epoxy is well over 10 years old now and I'm thinking it might not be any good now.
Also, that stuff is really expensive! And I guess the coating does not have to be an epoxy if there are other suitable coatings.
So I would love to find a cheap durable coating that will handle roundwounds. Thanks for any advice.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

I am trying to find a good, appropriate epoxy for coating a freshly de-fretted bass neck.
I used some West System epoxy years ago from Lee Valley Tools for a couple of fingerboards but the leftover epoxy is well over 10 years old now and I'm thinking it might not be any good now.
Also, that stuff is really expensive! And I guess the coating does not have to be an epoxy if there are other suitable coatings.
So I would love to find a cheap durable coating that will handle roundwounds. Thanks for any advice.

I use West or G3 epoxy from Lee Valley Tools.


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[Ayrton]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

West stuff is expensive... I use US Composites when I need that much.

You can use big box store two-part epoxy or CA glue for just a fretboard. Personally, I would use the CA glue over epoxy.

 

[rmcfee]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

Thanks for the replies! I would have thought that CA would be too thin a coat to last very long.
The West stuff gave me excellent results but I only have 1 job to do and $100 for epoxy seems too much.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

I have never even considered clear coating a fretless board, but I don't think epoxy would be my choice for that job. I'd likely use several layers of spray-on polyurethane and see how that worked. That said, there are spray-on epoxies. I have no experience with them or detailed knowledge of them, however. If it really is true epoxy in a spray form (which I can't quite wrap my head around), then it would solve the main problems I can see with using epoxy for this purpose (having to mix a large quantity of it, apply it relatively evenly, and then sand it into the proper shape afterward).

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

Slow setting epoxy is harder than polyurethane or CA. That’s why you would want to use it.

I’ve glued entire bases together with G3 epoxy. It’s hard as glass when it’s cured.

I finished a maple fingerboard on a fretless with polyurethane back in the 80s. It held up ok, but it did develop wear marks from the strings after a while. Then I had to sand it down and redo it.


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[rmcfee]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

The epoxy gives a fairly thick and very durable surface but it's the sanding that is a pain. And you need to avoid air bubbles.
The idea for using it goes back to old interviews with Jaco Pastorius talking about using "marine epoxy" on his Jazz Bass.

 

[rmcfee]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

Hey DRM: Thanks for the advice. Those were my thoughts exactly. But I just checked and it's $95.50 Canadian for the resin and hardener. If I had a few jobs lined up I'd buy some.
I'm going to try a test with my old leftover West epoxy (from 2002) and see if it works. I did several basses back then.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

Slow setting epoxy is harder than polyurethane or CA. That’s why you would want to use it.

Oh, believe me, I understand the *why* of the matter, and I have no illusions about polyurethane being a more durable material. Epoxy would be really good for the purpose. I am just imagining the annoyance of the application. Has to be mixed perfectly in large quantities - no bubbles (that's not too hard, though; I've done it for tabletops). Has to be kept [largely] off of all the stuff you don't want it on (I guess I would build a "form" out of tape for this purpose). Has to be poured in a way that will make it very high on the edges (a lot of material to remove), so that the center of the arched board is covered. Then when it's cured, you've got some serious work to do. You've basically got to radius your fretboard out of a block of extremely hard resin, as opposed to out of wood.

Have you ever used a spray epoxy? I'm curious about them.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

I could be completely wrong but I think resin has a pretty long shelf life. I would pick up some local hardener and try the left over West

 

[rmcfee]

Re: Epoxy advice for bass neck from any builders out there?

The old resin looked fine but the hardener had taken on a bad smell and brown color. The can might have been corroding a bit. But it hardened very solid. The color was quite off of course. Not bad for 16 years old.
I think some fresh hardener may be the answer. Thanks!