Has anyone added any wood to a upright bass fretboard?

[Thomas998]

I picked up an upright at a flea market that plays reasonably well, however I get a buzz on the "A" string if you press down about an inch below nut that continues until you are about 3 inches below the nut, at that point the string is fine.  When I look closely it appears that someone took off too much wood on the fretboard as you can even feel a slight dip in the wood below the "A" string that goes on for about 1.5 inches.  If I put 4 sheets of paper between the string and the fretboard to simulate the board being just a tad thicker the buzz goes away.

So my question is whether I would be possible to apply a thin layer of epoxy that you would use to make fiberglass repairs on the deep... I'm guessing my other option is to lower the fretboard from the dip all the way down, but that would seem to be a lot of work for what appears to be just one tiny 1.5 inch problem.  Has anyone ever tried this?

[jebroad]

I think the best solution will be using epoxy, because the fretboard is ebony you should be able to sand it to the same matteness of it. 

[Grangur]

On a cheap upright I'd go the epoxy route.  @jebroad, would this really be ebony on a cheap flea market upright?

What I would do, if I were you, before starting is get a lump of wood and and paper and make a radiused sanding block. To do this, remove the strings and stick a sheet of glasspaper to the neck. Tear the sheet in half and join the 2 halves to make a long strip using strong, but thin tape on the back,. Then stick the sandpaper to the neck, rough side up, using something like double-sided tape or Pritstick - any glue that will come off easy.

When you've done this, get the wood block and rub it up and down the neck covered in glasspaper. This will make a radius block of the same curvature as the neck radius. So, when youve done this, you can use this block to sand the epoxy to the same radius as the natural neck shape.

 

(Hey! 4700 posts!!)

Edited June 4, 2018 by Grangur

[jebroad]

2 hours ago, Grangur said:

On a cheap upright I'd go the epoxy route.  @jebroad, would this really be ebony on a cheap flea market upright?

What I would do, if I were you, before starting is get a lump of wood and and paper and make a radiused sanding block. To do this, remove the strings and stick a sheet of glasspaper to the neck. Tear the sheet in half and join the 2 halves to make a long strip using strong, but thin tape on the back,. Then stick the sandpaper to the neck, rough side up, using something like double-sided tape or Pritstick - any glue that will come off easy.

When you've done this, get the wood block and rub it up and down the neck covered in glasspaper. This will make a radius block of the same curvature as the neck radius. So, when youve done this, you can use this block to sand the epoxy to the same radius as the natural neck shape.

 

(Hey! 4700 posts!!)

That method is a great idea, does anywhere sell radius blocks with such small radius as that on an upright 

[Grangur]

I'm not aware of anywhere, but I'm a novice on upright. I know nothing at all in fact.

[Thomas998]

On 04/06/2018 at 11:45, Grangur said:

On a cheap upright I'd go the epoxy route.  @jebroad, would this really be ebony on a cheap flea market upright?

What I would do, if I were you, before starting is get a lump of wood and and paper and make a radiused sanding block. To do this, remove the strings and stick a sheet of glasspaper to the neck. Tear the sheet in half and join the 2 halves to make a long strip using strong, but thin tape on the back,. Then stick the sandpaper to the neck, rough side up, using something like double-sided tape or Pritstick - any glue that will come off easy.

When you've done this, get the wood block and rub it up and down the neck covered in glasspaper. This will make a radius block of the same curvature as the neck radius. So, when youve done this, you can use this block to sand the epoxy to the same radius as the natural neck shape.

 

(Hey! 4700 posts!!)

Pretty sure its a cheap bass, when I look inside it is one of those made in China so I'm guessing the fretboard is more likely to be made of random wood painted black than of real ebony.  I think I'll go the epoxy route, I suppose my only problem when I get done is the part that is epoxy will probably not wear nearly as fast as the rest of the fretboard... but it should give my daughter something to play around on without having to spend a fortune. 

[Grangur]

So, as you say, the board is almost certainly painted box-wood or something. Forget all I said about making a radius block, because if you start rubbing you'll probably be in for re-painting the whole neck, masking the brown wood, etc, etc.

So, I'd use epoxy and simply file carefully with a fine-grain nail file.

Good luck to the young Miss 998. We wish her well on her bass journey.

[Ghost_Bass]

On 05/06/2018 at 21:51, Thomas998 said:

(...)
I suppose my only problem when I get done is the part that is epoxy will probably not wear nearly as fast as the rest of the fretboard...

(...)

If you're going to the trouble of working on the fretboard applying epoxy why don't you cover the entire fretboard? It would be the best way of adressing that issue and end up with a job well made. you know, like they say, if you're going to do the work might aswell do it properly   

[Happy Jack]

Covering the entire fingerboard of a cheap double bass with epoxy, and then sanding/filing the whole thing back to a useable finish, would probably rank right up there on my list of things never to waste my life doing!