roundwound on a fretless?

VingThorr · #1 11-04-2008, 11:27 AM

will roundwounds chew up a fretless neck over time? does it depend on the fingerboard material? how about an ebony neck?

thanks

bassteban · #2 11-04-2008, 11:31 AM

Search. Done to death.

pbagley · #3 11-04-2008, 11:37 AM

Agreed, done to death. A quick answer from my limited experience:

Yes, they will chew up a fingerboard. My fretless with Ebony board was used for 8 years as a primary Church bass, about 4 hours playing time a week on average, so 1600 hours + of playing time. I see the wear, expect it is half way to needing a fingerboard dressing.

I hope that helps.

VingThorr · #4 11-04-2008, 11:42 AM

thanks. may be done to death but i still couldn't find anything with the search. plenty of description of what half-rounds were, but nothing that addressed my question. thanks again

fretlessguy · #5 11-04-2008, 06:15 PM

Over time, even on an ebony board, yes. You could get it coated and extend it's life by quite a while, however.
Light gauge strings in nickel will help slow it down, and also help with the mwah factor. I have been told and also said in many posts here that coated strings also are not quite so abrasive.
Two of my fretlesses are wearing flats while another wears rounds. I think all of them sound great with what they have.
I have had my fretless Carvin Bolt Five with a set of Fender 7150-5 light rounds (.40-.115) which the bass has had most of its 11 year life. The board has very little wear on it, but of course I play with a light touch. The bass has had flats of various types for some of that time.

P-BASSLOVER · #6 11-06-2008, 01:48 PM

Try Fender Nylon Filament Roundwounds. They have the round feel and sound, but won't eat your fretboard.

Davo-London · #7 11-07-2008, 06:56 AM

And if you are paranoid (like me) you can get the board epoxy coated.

http://www.woodwiz.com/epoxy

If you hunt through there's even a sound clip from me!!!

Then you can use what ever strings you want and never have to worry again.

Davo

P-BASSLOVER · #8 11-07-2008, 07:34 AM

Epoxy is the way to go, and you can do it yourself. Sand, apply a coat, sand again, then another coat. Repeat process according to how many coats you want to put.
I would put about 10 to 12 coats, seriously. After your done and the epoxy is fully cured,
wax it with carnuba wax 2 coats, and your ready to play. Make sure to take the neck off before doing the work if you have a bolt-on. After this process, you will be able to use a smooth nickel roundwound without causing damage.

Deacon_Blues · #9 11-07-2008, 08:14 AM

Try elixirs. A local bass hero (really, he's very good) use a set of those on his fretless Jazz with rosewood neck, and although he generally don't like the elixirs, he told me he loved them on this bass (CIJ Fender "jaco" bass). He used the Polyweb ones, and they did sound awesome on that bass. They're proably way easier on the neck than standard roundwounds.