fretless ebony bass advice

[sir juice]

i've recently ordered a new neck for my modded squier j-bass off ebay, it's a fretless precision neck with ebony fingerboard and this will be my first fretless. the only pickup is a kent armstrong soapbar in the bridge, with a seymour duncan 3-band EQ for music man. I basically play jazz, funk, fusion and some rocky stuff and am a huge fan of effects.

so any advicve on how to compliment this with specific strings will be much appreciated

[Lonnybass]

I'd strongly advise you to go with nickel strings rather than stainless steel as they will be much easier on your fingerboard. You'll still get lines, but it won't gouge out the wood.

Lonnybass

[Bassflute]

Originally Posted by Lonnybass

I'd strongly advise you to go with nickel strings rather than stainless steel as they will be much easier on your fingerboard. You'll still get lines, but it won't gouge out the wood.

Lonnybass

if you're going for aesthetics or sound.

Roundwounds will eat your fingerboard - a little teeny-weeny-insy bit. Once every 6 months or so, sand it down with 600 grit, finish with ultrafine steel wool, and oil it. Problem solved.

MTD uses roundwounds on their fretlesses, and Mr. T wouldn't do it if it was really harmful. In about 25 years you may need to get a new fingerboard if you play a LOT. Otherwise, get roundwounds and enjoy.

IMHO, MTD strings are fabulous, I use them exclusively, and I have a DR endorsement. The DR's are very nice, too, especially the Marcus Miller series; got a little extra low-end grunt. Used to use them before I got an MTD. I broke a lot of C and G strings when I used the DR's; haven't broken one since I switched to MTD.

BTW, Steve Bailey's Fretless Bass book is indispensible. The intonation exercises are gruelling, but they work like nothing else. Brilliant.

C.

[Zebra]

Originally Posted by Bassflute

if you're going for aesthetics or sound.

Roundwounds will eat your fingerboard - a little teeny-weeny-insy bit. Once every 6 months or so, sand it down with 600 grit, finish with ultrafine steel wool, and oil it. Problem solved.

C.

I'd be damned if you need to do it that often. Even once you start to see wear, it'll be a long time before that affects playability, let alone on an ebony board.

[chunkstyle]

i like nickel roundwounds on my tony franklin p-bass. it's got an ebony board. ghs boomers are pretty soft strings. i'd say start there.