How To Defret A Bass Guitar
Part 10 - Apply Polyurethane
10. Apply Polyurethane:
There are several schools of thought regarding the application of finish. My choice was to use a sanding sealer on the board, and to allow that to dry for a few days, and then return to sand smooth again. I did that using a basic sanding sealer I found at the nearby big-box store.
After that was applied and dried, I began the re-sanding process to obtain the smooth, filled condition I was looking for. What I found was a bit disturbing. The sanding sealer was still gooey in three places on the fretboard! Through the process, I discovered that the areas where it was gooey were consistent with the grain pattern. My best guess is that where the grain was more porous, it was also more oily, thus causing the conditions where the sealer, and subsequently the polyurethane, would not completely dry.
That was kind of disappointing, because I was looking for a nice glossy, dry finish coat, consistently covering ALL the fretboard! I could see that I had to change my tactic a bit when after applying another coat of polyurethane, the gooey spot would appear again! I attempted several times to obtain the result I mentioned above, each time with very similar results.
When I would sand the board back to the rosewood, the gooey spots would simply go away. So, that’s where I left mine. I figured I could use an oil to condition the rosewood, and be done with it! My friend, Dave, finished the Kramer, a Squier, and a Danelectro bass with great success using the polyurethane process.
Just apply two or more coats with light sanding between coats. When satisfied with the results, you can steel wool the board to create a slight matte finish which will reduce the friction, and make the neck faster and easier to play.
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Apply Polyurethane 
