Rosewood Fretless wear

[Dave Vader]

If I were to continue using roundwounds on my rosewood fretless neck, without bothering to epoxy it or anything, what will eventually happen? Cos after just a year or so of being played a bit here and there (haven't even gigged it yet) it's got wormy trails on it.
Now, let me make it clear, if the problems are only cosmetic, I am fine with that, but will it become unplayable after a while and need sanding down, and all that Jazz (see what I did there? hysterical) because I'm not so happy with that, it was only cheap, and I begrudge spending any money on it which coulc be spent on a better neck.
Any experience with pushing it waaaaaay too far with a rosewood board? Let me know.

[wateroftyne]

After a while, it might choke or buzz on certain notes.

Then again, if you play with a light touch or smooth strings, you could be OK forever...

[Marvin]

I had a 2nd hand Hohner B2A (de-fretted) some years ago that had a similar problem and as WoT has eluded to it did buzz on some notes.

Whoever had it before me must have really hammered the fretboard.

[The Bass Doc]

If you're REALLY heavy-handed you could play through to the maple! Apparently Pino did, according to one of his early interviews. I imagine he had it skimmed a few times.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='820522' date='Apr 27 2010, 12:28 PM']If you're REALLY heavy-handed you could play through to the maple! Apparently Pino did, according to one of his early interviews. I imagine he had it skimmed a few times.[/quote]

That sounds like the sort of thing I might end up doing, I do squeeze the heck out strings when I get over excited (see the maple board of my Stratocaster for proof of this sort of thing).

Might go Flatwound then.

[MoonBassAlpha]

In my experience it takes quite a while for the wear to be anything more than cosmetic. I've a defretted bass, always played with rounds, rose board.
No problems in 4 years. That was a Hohner Jack bass.
I've got another Jack, defretted which I've finished the board in Tru-Oil which has come up really smooth and satin-y. I'm guessing this will help the board last even longer.

[lemmywinks]

My old Jazz got churned up pretty quick, i imagine it'd take a few years of regular use to get really bad. If it's just a cheapy then a new Mighty Mite neck would be economical

I'm currently using one of those necks with an ebonol board and it's holding up well with plenty of use, i'd definitely get another if it got bad as they're only about £75 - £80.

Another possibility is to use nickel rounds or half wound strings. I asked a similar question a while ago and got some good suggestions:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=28376&hl=pau+ferro"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;hl=pau+ferro[/url]

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='820552' date='Apr 27 2010, 12:49 PM']My old Jazz got churned up pretty quick, i imagine it'd take a few years of regular use to get really bad. If it's just a cheapy then a new Mighty Mite neck would be economical[/quote]

This was what I was thinking I'd do, it is very cheap and nasty, and slowly every part of it is being replaced with good bits, so new neck is on the list, but I don't want to have to get it too quick, as money is ridiculously tight at the moment, and I may have just got myself a gig where fretless would be a must have.
If money was no object I'd like one of them maple boarded 70s fretless Ps, like out of the bad company videos...
I just wondered if anyone had let it go down all the way, and if it buzzed and clacked and choked like a set of eaten up frets do.

[fatback]

Some helpful answers to my q about same here:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=85415&st=0&p=814732&#entry814732"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry814732[/url]

[hubrad]

I've always had ebony board fretless; even ebony eventually wears enough to produce the fretless equivalent of fretbuzz. Then it's a skim and you're as new again. As previous posters say, it depends how you play, how hard, how much and what strings. Roundwound are the worst, but if that's your sound you live with the wear issues.
These days I mostly use halfrounds and flats, but more on tone than wear - less wear is a bonus!
You can always learn to do your own skimming!

[hubrad]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='820559' date='Apr 27 2010, 11:54 AM']I just wondered if anyone had let it go down all the way, and if it buzzed and clacked and choked like a set of eaten up frets do.[/quote]
Yup, it does eventually.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='hubrad' post='820576' date='Apr 27 2010, 01:01 PM']You can always learn to do your own skimming![/quote]

Now this is probably where I'll end up, I do pretty much all my own maintenance on my instruments, done fret dressing enough times, will probably read up on it when the time comes and have a go.
A friend of mine is a furniture maker and often comes up with ingenious fixes for basses, I think he'll help.

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='820689' date='Apr 27 2010, 02:43 PM']Now this is probably where I'll end up, I do pretty much all my own maintenance on my instruments, done fret dressing enough times, will probably read up on it when the time comes and have a go.
A friend of mine is a furniture maker and often comes up with ingenious fixes for basses, I think he'll help.[/quote]

Groundwound strings are good place to start, they're still pretty bright but super smooth under your fingers. You can slide harmonics for miles with them too which is great fun (but maybe not for the audience though)

You'll probably be surprised how little skimming is required to get rid of the marks on your board, I've done it myself several times and you just need to go carefully and slowly and not take too much off.

But if it's a classic bass then get an expert to do it, whoever had my old Jazz bass before me has taken off everything but a millimetre or two of the rosewood fingerboard, I'm expecting the truss rod to burst through the front any minute like in the Alien movies. On the plus side, it's the slimmest Jazz neck in history!

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='820759' date='Apr 27 2010, 03:53 PM']But if it's a classic bass then get an expert to do it, whoever had my old Jazz bass before me has taken off everything but a millimetre or two of the rosewood fingerboard, I'm expecting the truss rod to burst through the front any minute like in the Alien movies. On the plus side, it's the slimmest Jazz neck in history![/quote]

My frankenJazz bass currently has a neck from a no-name POS I got from hatherleigh car boot for £15. Killing it will not make me cry, in fact it will be a nice excuse to get a new one.

Do you need a radius block to do it properly, or can you skim by eye with some heavy grit, and then smooth it off?

[BassBod]

A light coat or two of superglue works wonders, all you get are scratches. The sound is also fantastic!

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Dave Vader' post='820781' date='Apr 27 2010, 04:09 PM']My frankenJazz bass currently has a neck from a no-name POS I got from hatherleigh car boot for £15. Killing it will not make me cry, in fact it will be a nice excuse to get a new one.

Do you need a radius block to do it properly, or can you skim by eye with some heavy grit, and then smooth it off?[/quote]

Mine's been skimmed almost flat so I did it by eye with a sanding block.

But stay away from the heavy grit, you'll be surprised how little you need to take off.

And super glue can help as BassBod says, you have to apply it super quick or you'll glue whatever you're applying it with to the neck instead of to yourself.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Fat Rich

[Beer of the Bass]

One fretless I had (an old Aria TSB) had a fairly coarse grained rosewood fingerboard where the strings seemed to have dented the wood along existing bits of grain, rather than abrading grooves in the board. Also, I found that doing spot fills (rather than coating the whole board) with thin superglue worked well for localised buzzy spots and looked fine when carefully levelled. This could work as a way to extend the playing time before having the board skimmed, though I'd maybe avoid it on a super-classy bass.

[Jerry_B]

[quote name='fatback' post='820572' date='Apr 27 2010, 12:59 PM']Some helpful answers to my q about same here:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=85415&st=0&p=814732&#entry814732"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;#entry814732[/url][/quote]

And I'll take the opportunity to re-endorse what I said in that thread

If someone's hammered the rosewood before you got it, it can mean that you have to do a bit of maintenance. I had to do this with the Jazz I acquired awhile back. It [i]is[/i] doable though, without having to get a professional to do it for you.