Rounds on a fretless?

[ajota_di]

Okay, so I did a search... But I'm wondering... How bad does the wear of rounds get on the fingerboard of fretlesses? I want to upgrade to fretless... But I've never tried flats... And my band is recording next month, so finding a new tone might be tough?

Thx

[Peepaleep]

If it's good enough for Jaco...

[pgolliher]

I had some rounds on my bass and it chewed up the board pretty bad. The action might have been too low at the nut, so it might have just been an issue with my set up- but I wouldn't advise it unless some of the experts here said otherwise

[groooooove]

i dont think fretboard wear from rounds should ever be a legitimate worry.

i had a wishbass that i only used stainless steel S.I.T. strings on, and the worst it got after a few years of playing was just discoloration of the wood under the strings.

i also have a fretless that's always had the same SIT strings on it, that was made in '02, and that shows no wear whatsoever.

if its a cheap bass, then just epoxy the fingerboard and itll never wear.

[BassGamer56]

round wounds to me are just reminiscent of the stand up bass. what it all comes down to is personal preference.

[JTE]

Do a search again- in the strings, in the set-up and repair forum, and in the basses one. You'll find all the usual arguments boil down to these three. There's a ton of threads about this- it pops up about every three weeks. Three basic arguments appear

A. DON'T DO IT!!! IT'S HORRIBLE!! AHHH THE HUMANITY!!!

B. It's not an issue at all and fingerboard wear is a figment of peoples' imaginations- besides, Jaco used stainless rounds so you should be able to as well...

C. Use what sound good to you and count on the minimal amount of fingerboard wear as the cost of doing business.

I'm firmly in camp C. There is some wear to be expected. You can minimize it by having good technique with your left ("fretting") hand and by using nickle round wounds. Don't press any harder than you need to in order to stop the note, don't use a side-to-side vibrato, don't pluck any harder than needed, and keep your strings clean. Those things will reduce fingerboard wear to levels where while it's visible, it's not really damaging.

My first fretless fingerboard was a factory rosewood (Fender Jazz Bass Special in 1987). I used D'Addario rounds, mostly the XLS-570 stainless rounds 50-105 for about 10 years before I replaced the rosewood with ebony. And I exacerbated the wear by being too eager to buff it out with sand paper when I saw the marks the strings left. I replaced that board with a thick chunk of ebony around '96 or so and all I've ever done to that fingerboard is buff it with 0000 steel wool about once a year or less. It wore various rounds exclusively until June 2009 when I got another fretless (again with an ebony board) and put flats on the old one.

BTW, Jaco did use stainless rounds (and just about the most abrasive ones available, Rotosound RS-66) but his fingerboards were epoxy coated so it's not the same as bare wood. So using RS-66 on an inexpensive untreated rosewood board with an aggressive technique WILL result in some wear, and perhaps even extensive wear quickly. If that's the sound you want, then don't worry, just plan on replacing the board periodically. That is NOT at all a tragedy. To avoid rounds even thought they are the source of the sound you want in order to avoid wear is much like not driving your car because it will cause wear on the tires and drive train. It's a tool for creating the music, it's NOT the reason for the music.


John

[krafty]

My instructor has a Stingray fretless with rounds on it primarily because he really prefers the sound and feel of the rounds - but it has dug into his fingerboards enough that he's had them repaired at least once. His luthier cringes a bit, but ultimately it is the sound and feel he's looking for and he's willing to put up with the wear.

[fretlessguy]

Although three of my fretlesses have flats or tapes on them, I have one with S.I.T. Powerwound nickels. I just love that singing mwah sound they have. So what if the ruin my board.....I'll just have another put on.

[ajota_di]

Ah thanks everyone!! Ok followup questions.... Do coated strings (a la black beauties, neons, etc) protect the freeboard? And can you replace the freeboard without getting a new neck? (stupid questionnnn Lulz)

[FretlessMainly]

I used a set of coated DRs on my Rick FL and they chewed up the varnish within two weeks. Loved the sound, however. But I do everything string-wise, side to side and up and down vibrato, slides, heavy-handed technique, etc. It really depends on what type of board you have and how you play (the Rick has conversion varnish on the board). I have a bare rosewood board on a CIJ Fender Jazz FL that took LaBella DTB rounds no problem for over a year. Many ebony boards can handle rounds; maple boards are coated to avoid wood oxidation (sorry, I don't know my varnishes from my lacquers from my epoxys, so that matters too), and rounds will typically erode the coating which can create an uneven surface depending on which notes you use most often.

Best advice is to play what you like, knowing that a fingerboard replacement every so often might be needed. So, plan accordingly.

[line6man]

What kind of fingerboard does the bass have?
The durability of the fingerboard is largely dependent on the hardness of the wood.

[ajota_di]

Ebony fingerboard with inlays.

[FunkyMcNasty]

Originally Posted by Peepaleep

If it's good enough for Jaco...

I believe that Jaco practiced with a fretted bass because his rounds would mess the fretless up too fast. He mainly played the fretless for shows. That's also why he went epoxy with it.

[Syco_bass]

Why ruin your fret board ($200 or otherwise) when you can have a luthier epoxy or "superglue" a great hard finish on it for less than replacing it once? or better yet, go to the luthier threads and do a search. You'll find tons of DIY techniques to do it relatively easily and for very little money. Want great Mmmmmwwwwaaaaahhhhh? do what Jaco did. Stainless roundwounds + hard epoxy finish = Mmmmmmmmwwwwaaahhhhh!!!!

Good luck.

[Skitch it!]

I've used the same fretless for 20 years with a rosewood board, always used rounds (softer tension strings though), the board has been skimmed/levelled twice in that time. Finger pressure and the type of string you use will decide how fast the board gets grooved, but I wouldn't worry about it too much, it's normal wear and tear imo as I stated above twice skimmed in 20 years.

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by Syco_bass

Why ruin your fret board ($200 or otherwise) when you can have a luthier epoxy or "superglue" a great hard finish on it for less than replacing it once?

My personal answer to that is that I prefer the sound of wood to the sound of a synthetic coating. Sure, I get less mwah (add a's and h's as needed), but that's what I go for. Since I've never done a direct comparison on a coated board, sanded it off and then replayed, I can't say for 100% sure, but I do prefer natural boards to coated boards, in general.

To me, ebony is the closest you can get to a coated board sound without a coating. YRMV, of course. And I generally use flats on my FL's, so there's that to consider as well.

[Kael]

Just use the rounds. If you get excessive wear you can either have someone sand it out or just go ahead and epoxy the sucker at that point. I've done epoxy jobs on fingerboards with round wear before. If you do it right, you can't even tell there was any wear on there when the epoxy dries up and is buffed.

Oh, and the amount of wear nickel rounds will put on a rosewood board is pretty minimal. It is real, but it's been WAY overblown here on talkbass.

[Ric5]

Rounds on a fretless ... that is how I string my fretless.

[Rockingbird]

Mylar coating on fretless board -- RESULTS!!!

^This.

[Denial]

I've used nickel rounds on an epoxy coated ebony board and on plain rosewood and ebony boards and have not noticed excessive wear (but I don't gig regularly). If you need a slight touch up on the board, just get a radiused sanding block - it is really easy to do.