Roundwound on a fretless, bad for the board?

[collicsws6z28]

I've read a few threads where people talk about roundwounds being bad for a fretless board. Is this really a big problem? I'm thinking of picking up the squire VM fretless after all the great things I've heard about it. Also, if I do switch to flats, I don't have to change them nearly as often as roundwounds,correct?

[fivestringgecko]

If you're thinking about picking up the VM Fretless, I'm sure you're aware that it comes with rounds installed. It's got an ebonol board, which I think is a little more tough than rosewood (anyone know for sure?). I think they're great basses and it's on my G.A.S. list. However, I checked one out at GC and it did have some wear on the fretboard from the rounds... but think about how many people just go in and bang on stuff at GC...

I had a Fender MIM fretless jazz that I put rounds on and really dug the sound. It came with flats, but flats just didn't have the "zing" I wanted. I didn't really have trouble with fretboard wear, but I tend to have my rig set pretty loud and play with a fairly light touch. How much fretboard wear you have will depend on how aggressive your play style is.

5sg.

[BillyB_from_LZ]

Rounds are fine... Yes, they can wear the board but you can always have it planed.

If you use a coated set of flats like Elixirs the board wear seems to be minimized.

Just remember...Jaco didn't use no stinking flats!

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by collicsws6z28

I've read a few threads where people talk about roundwounds being bad for a fretless board. Is this really a big problem?

No, it's not. Don't worry about it. If roundwounds damage your board, they do so in such a gradual way that, by the time you have played enough for the damage to make any kind of difference, you will be so good that you will get any gig you want, and you can buy yourself a new bass.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by BillyB_from_LZ

Just remember...Jaco didn't use no stinking flats!

Sure, but he also did this:

From Guitar Player, August 1984

"I just used standard Rotosound strings - the round-wound Swing Bass set."

"When I got the bass, the cat who had it had taken the frets out himself, and he did a really bad job of it - left all kinds of nicks and chunks taken out of the fretboard. So I really had to fix it up. I filled in all the chunks with Plastic Wood. Hell, when I was a kid, I used to make a living by fixing and dealing old, beat-up instruments. I was the first cat to use epoxy on the neck of a fretless bass so the strings wouldn't eat the neck away.

I used Petite's Poly-Poxy; it's boat epoxy. You can find it in any boating supply store around Florida. It's the toughest epoxy they make. You apply it with a brush, and it takes several coats. I used about six coats on my fretless, and it took about a day for each coat to dry."

[fretlessguy]

If you like the sound of rounds on a fretless, then go ahead and do it. Since the Squire VM Jazz fretless has an ebonite board, which is the same stuff bowling balls are made of, it should last for quite a while.
Most fretlesses with natural fretboards are rosewood, which does get eaten away over time. Most fretless players know this will happen, and do one of the following:

1. Live with it, it gets such a great sound.
2. Coat or epoxy it, and simply reapply it when needed. I hear Envirote\x Lite is a good one.
3. Have the surface plained when needed, until the board cannot be used anymore. Then simply have a luthier put on a new one.
4. Fill those ruts created by the strings with super glue and sand the board down smooth again (this is a new one to me, an earlier post on this subject suggested it).
5. Either buy a bass with an ebony fingerboard or have one put on after your original board finally plays out. My two Carvin fretless basses have ebony boards. I have had them for 9 and 10 years, play them often, and have never had to replace or plain them.
They both have worn flats and groundwounds for some of that time, so take that into account.
6. Play a very smooth feeling roundwound set of strings, which will prove less abrasive to the board and extend its life. Two good ones would be Fender's original nickel strings (7150s), which are nickel and very smooth, or GHS's compressed string set, which are nickel plated iron and have been compressed or literally squashed by rollers to make them have a smooth feel. There are also Deam Markley's Fretmaster strings and and a new set of strings made by SIT (Silencers) that are also compressed, and I have heard good things about them for fretlesses, although I have not personally tried them myself.

I wish you well with whatever route you take, and may you have many years of listening pleasure playing and listening to that classic mwah sound.

[the low one]

Yes rounds will wear the board quicker as has already been said but if you like the sound then don’t worry about it. I use flats now because I prefer the softer attack but I’ve used rounds on fretless in the past and you do get the initial wear show up quite quickly but then it settles down and stays playable for a long time.

Technique on a fretless is important too, don’t bend notes like you do on a fretted bass.

Flats will last much longer. I’ve had a set of Rotosound flats on my MIM fretless jazz for two and a half years and they still sound good. Other TB’ers will tell you they’ve had them on much longer than that too, many years in some cases.

[Davo-London]

Yeah flats last forever and don't really change in tone much.

Good advice given ie go for the string that gets the tone you want. Don't worry about the wear.

If you buy an expensive fretless (I know this is relative) then epoxy coating is a good idea. I've had it done on a Jaco Jazz and I think the coating will outlive me.

Davo

[Philbiker]

Originally Posted by collicsws6z28

I've read a few threads where people talk about roundwounds being bad for a fretless board. Is this really a big problem?

No. Just something to be aware of.

[T-34]

I was never happy with the tone of the flats on my fretless (being hardcore flats-on-PB fan). Tried many times, always returning to nickel roundwounds. Ebony fretboards like mine are pretty tough and can support rather heavy playing.

[buckminster]

But what about rosewood? I've seen some pretty chewed up fretless rosewood boards after roundwound abuse...

[JTE]

Yes, roundwound strings will chew up a finger board, fretted or fretless. And stainless steel ones will do it faster. And really coarse ones like Rotosound RS-66 will eat it. But that's not the issue. It's a musical instrument, so its function is to make sounds. If it has wear in the process that's part of the cost of doing business.

Find the strings that give you the sound you need for your musical expression. Deal with the consequences of that. If that means having the fingerboard dressed, do it. If that means replacing the fingerboard with an ebony slab (that's what Pino diid- his famous StingRay has a replacement fingerboard). If that means doing the epoxy thing like Jaco, do it. But let the music guide you.

jte

[Demon_Hunter]

Originally Posted by JTE

Yes, roundwound strings will chew up a finger board, fretted or fretless. And stainless steel ones will do it faster. And really coarse ones like Rotosound RS-66 will eat it. But that's not the issue. It's a musical instrument, so its function is to make sounds. If it has wear in the process that's part of the cost of doing business.

Find the strings that give you the sound you need for your musical expression. Deal with the consequences of that. If that means having the fingerboard dressed, do it. If that means replacing the fingerboard with an ebony slab (that's what Pino diid- his famous StingRay has a replacement fingerboard). If that means doing the epoxy thing like Jaco, do it. But let the music guide you.

jte

+1

Totally agree. You do what you like.
I have rotosounds on my fretless and it sounds killer.

[ehque]

Originally Posted by WJGreer

No, it's not. Don't worry about it. If roundwounds damage your board, they do so in such a gradual way that, by the time you have played enough for the damage to make any kind of difference, you will be so good that you will get any gig you want, and you can buy yourself a new bass.

+1.

Adding to that, i notice most of my string/fret damage comes results from the bass knocking around in the gig bag. It's not such a big problem for me, but if i used a natural wood fretless, i'd keep a piece of cloth between the strings and the fingerboard.

[buckminster]

I agree with going for whatever tone suits you the best, but some of us don't have the funds to get boards replaced, refinished, or dressed. Or if you do, it may mean taking your main bass out of action for a while to do it. On top of that is finding a quality luthier to do the work. Some of use don't have access to a good luthier. If the modifications are poorly done they can affect the playability and tone of the instrument forever. So think carefully before you commit to these mods.

If you can't or won't get this work done, I think it is better to go with an ebony or phenowood board or use flats.

I have an fretless ATK300 with an rosewood fingerboard on hold with a TBer. I am debating whether or not to have the fingerboard finished. I'm going to check out the tone with flats and see if I like it.

[René_Julien]

I'm glad someone directed me to this thread.

I'm gonna do it now: putting roundwounds on my fretless.

Thank you everyone above for your experiences and opinions.

[Jools4001]

I've played fretless as my main bass for about 10 years now, with roundwounds on a rosewood board. Maybe I've just been lucky, or it's something to do with technique, but I've never suffered from anything more than a few 'snail trails' under the strings and haven't got anywhere near having the board planed, let alone replaced.

The rosewood board that I have is not epoxied, and has been used with stainless and nickel roundwounds - although for the last 3 string changes I have used Elixir's. I know some people hate them because of the feel of the coating and the fact that they start off sounding like two week old roundwounds, but I find that they sound very consistent for their entire life. I used to change my roundwound strings around once a month but I find Elixir's last about 6 months. I also find that the slippery feel of the coating suits fretless very well.

As somebody said board wear has a lot to do with using proper 'fretless' vibrato technique rather than scraping the strings across the board, but I've always liked bright zingy sounds (although my favoured fretless sound is mellowing) and like others I would not compromise the sound I wanted because of wear to the instrument. I've been playing bass for nearly 40 years (started when I was 14 and I'm 53 now) and in that time my Rickenbacker 4001 has been refretted 3 times due to fret wear caused by Rotosounds (and later Hi-Beams). So, you would quite happily accept that basses need a refret every now and then, why should fretless be any difference in needing maintenance from time to time

[Oric]

Halfwounds will do you good if you want the roundwound tone.

I got some of these (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...04576)(strange, I remember them being more expensive) on my Squier VM, and they sound great. They feel a little different than rounds, but they sound just like rounds.

[maston]

I have the Squier VM fretless jazz WITH Roundwounds on. Yes it does show signs of wear (I have only had it for about 4 weeks now) however i think the sound is much better with rounds on. I polish the neck on a regular basis though - this helps. Other than that there isn't much you can do!

It's all down to personal taste though........

[Erick Lam]

Originally Posted by collicsws6z28

I've read a few threads where people talk about roundwounds being bad for a fretless board. Is this really a big problem?

No it's not a big problem. It's a myth perpetuated by non-fretless users who feel the need to spread their "knowledge" over the net.