Fretless Strings

[fake-bass]

I recently acquired a second hand Warwick corvette fretless bass that came equipt with roundwounds. I LOVE the sound of round wounds on a fretless but am afriad of fretboard wear.

Can i wreck the bass by continuing to use round wounds?

Can i coat the fingerboard with anything?


Thanks in advance.

[tplyons]

Yes. You CAN wreck your bass with roundwounds on an uncoated fretless.

However, years of playing with a proper technique can provide a great sound with little or no wear. My 1995 fretless Precision has been strung with rounds for 12 years, and the fingerboard has never been levelled. The previous owner played with a light touch, and so do I. Very little wear is apparent.

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Yes. You CAN coat the neck. It will significantly change the tone of your bass. Epoxy is common. Polyester is also common as well. There are threads stickied at the top of the setup forum with more detail on this.

[WovenGraphite]

Yes you can but it also depends on the type of fingerboard that you have.

After ordering my F Bass fretless, I was surprised to see rounds on it. I always thought fretless meant flats to protect the fingerboard.
I called George Furlanetto and he explained that with ebony fingerboard, you're good for about 15 years before anything needs to be done.

I mentioned some marks I could already see after playing a couple of days. He said that it was just the finish, nothing to worry about.
He suggested that next time I change strings, I use a light 000 steelwool to remove the marks... haven't changed the strings yet

I would be a bit more careful with rosewood.

[Ian Perge]

I used Teak Oil when defretting and setting up my rosewood-boarded Yamaha - I find that it helps to "stabilize" the fretboard, fill in most of the open pores, and generally harden it without giving it the brightness of an Epoxy/Poly finish. About two a year (whenever I change my fretless' strings) I give it another coating, let it soak in for about an hour, and wipe it down. Other than a few very minor marks, I've had no grooves or other issues.

However, Tim is absolutely right about how hard you "dig in". I as well play with a light touch and let my amp do the work for me, so I'm not stressing the fingerboard coated or not.