Pimping up the fretboard of my baby

Gear
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Greetings my fellow 4-string warriors (yes 5+ strings also exist),

After two years of playing this beautiful piece of work, my modified Squier Classic Vibe 70’s P Bass, I finally decided to baptise him and give him a name (Yes I know it sounds stupid).

I came up with an 8-letter name and a fitting symbol to put over the 9 fret markers it has. The fretboard is glossed, so I’m not worried about damaging my bass or reducing the playability of it.

My main question is: How should I do it? I already had the idea of getting high quality stickers which will last a lifetime and are thin enough to not get into the way of playing. Anyone who knows what type stickers are the best for this ‘odd’ pimp job?

If you have any other idea’s, please share them. Just remember I’m on an average salary so nothing crazy alright? :slight_smile:

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Also, my bass’ name will be ‘Son Of Man’, named after the song from Phil Collins ^^

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Carve it in with a chisel to show your true commitment to the idea.

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Don’t know the right ingredient to use.
Sorry.

I will say that I did - at one point in my young rocker life - put jet-fighter stickers on the frets.
(They were NOT good quality, so take this with a grain of salt.)
Because I played the bass plenty, the stickers started to peel, and that was a real mess.
It looked bad, pulling them off was bad, lots of trying to get the adhesive off, but trying not to ruin the neck/wood/etc.

So, if you can find something that keeps you from that unhappy fate, I wish you luck.

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Ooohhh that sounds amazing! I will give it a consideration, but I’m like the Sid Vicious of woodworking :sweat_smile: too much risk hehehe

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You could get a custom neck made with the letters done as the fret markers.

That would be within the budget on an “average salary”, right?

:laughing:

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If I were single and living alone, I would but I have mouths to feed here :laughing: (small family of me, a guitarist and a drummer).

Also, my baby will get other upgrades:

  • Conversion to PJ Bass
  • Hipshot D-Tuner

Need to make choices:)

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It’s what every girl wants

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Lol that’s overkill for me. I had a more ‘punk’ solution in mind.

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Then a magic marker and misspelling would be the answer. Cheap and sooo punk.

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if I did it I would try something like these:

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This is how a dove was put on my fingerboard.

No I don’t suggest that you get a CNC machine but carve it out then fill it with black(en) epoxy and sand it out.

You can also do glow in the dark.

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Another inspiration could be this right on to the inlays

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Or this
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Al. That last one. Tell me more :wink:

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Absolutely The Green Man - Esh Basses

You remember I have the green EMG pickups I did this but I also have a matte black Sterling and another dark fingerboard that I can do this.

I like that grain may be do it with my Sb4. Sand it down to the grain and put the green glow in the dark inlays. That would be sick too.

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Gustav does such beautiful work. Love my short scale fretless 5-string Spring.

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That is beautiful. The grain pattern on Ebony the fingerboard is just so cool.

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:rofl: Thank you, Barney! My tea came out through my nose! :joy: :rofl:

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Thanks for posting the video! It was a joy to watch. I wonder how long the whole process of building the bass took. I really like the attention to details. Very interesting!

And the bass is super cool!

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I would use a power tool, just like I learned from you :slight_smile:

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Well given that they have other things to do and this was their 8th instrument made it took about 6-7 months if memory serves. What’s interesting is the amount of hands on. One would think with all the CNC there would be less hands on but it’s over 200 hours.

Both @StevFargan and @fennario spent some time with it.

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I didn’t know it takes so long, but it seems it is a complicated process with many stages. And it is undoubtedly a work of art! :heart_eyes:

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