Painted fretboards?

[Devotee]

Something I've been wondering about for a while now after I remember seeing a zebra finish Charvel with a matching fretboard a while back somewhere on the net... How does a painted fretboard differ in feel and/or tone to an unfinished one? How does long term playing affect the finish? Is there any particular reason why 99.9% of guitars manufactured do not get a finished fretboard?

Anyone here got an axe with a painted board? If so, post yer pics!

[Nagash02]

Painted boards are lame IMO.

[Musician78]

I don't know if I have ever seen one with a painted board.

[Devotee]

Here's the one I saw on this forum:



Original thread

[ulijdavid]

Is there any particular reason why 99.9% of guitars manufactured do not get a finished fretboard?

Because it adds labor and finishing costs. Many of the maple fretboards from Fender have a clear lacquer finish on the entire neck. But once you paint or clear the fretboard, you have to remove the lacquer from the frets or go the other route and install and do all of the fret dressing after finishing.

[6string40]

That's Pat's (shreddermon) zebra...check w/ him if you want to know how the neck plays/feels.

[Nagash02]

I don't know if I have ever seen one with a painted board.

If you want some butt ugly examples, check out Dean Guitars website...

[MetalHeadMat]

I don't know if I have ever seen one with a painted board.

Here are some Deans:

http://www.deanguitars.com/custom.htm

[metalone]

Here are some Deans:
http://www.deanguitars.com/custom.htm

Nice firewood !!

[Twitch]

Those Deans, as atrocious as the boards look, are pretty fucking fast. That enamel or whatever it is the use is just as fast as a graphite board, nearly no friction on bends and what not.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

A painted/colored fretboard would be no different really compared to a standard maple board with poly clear on it, like most Fenders, in terms of playing feel and tone.

[shreddermon]

Yep, that one's mine. And, yes, it plays and feels pretty much no different than an older Fender Strat with a clearcoated maple fretboard. As to wear and tear, that will take years - perhaps DECADES - to have any effect.

And, yes, the reason you don't see more of these is because it adds a lot of time, precision labor and expense to the build. Not an easy build by any means. That means lots of dollars.

[Devotee]

Thanks for all the great replies guys. Any idea what the specs are on those hideous Deans?

I figured that labour and cost is the biggest argument against painting a fretboard, but i was wondering whether if there was anything more than that (tone, etc.). Either way, it might be pretty cool to see more guitars done like this.

Just remembered a couple of pics i saw on Audiozone of this weird CS Kelly looking thing too:

[DalyTek]

Thanks for all the great replies guys. Any idea what the specs are on those hideous Deans?

I figured that labour and cost is the biggest argument against painting a fretboard, but i was wondering whether if there was anything more than that (tone, etc.). Either way, it might be pretty cool to see more guitars done like this.

Just remembered a couple of pics i saw on Audiozone of this weird CS Kelly looking thing too:

I LOVE Jackson Kellys, but that thing is AWFUL!

[Musician78]

Those Deans are ugly as hell.