Best fretboard wood for fretless w/ roundwounds?

[Burlington]

I know rounds will chew through wood no matter what, given time. What I'm asking is what will be the most durable?

I'm going to order a neck from Warmoth and am thinking of going with an ebony fretboard, maple neck, and keeping it unfinished. Will rounds chew through ebony?

[Slowgypsy]

Originally Posted by Burlington

I know rounds will chew through wood no matter what, given time. What I'm asking is what will be the most durable?

I'm going to order a neck from Warmoth and am thinking of going with an ebony fretboard, maple neck, and keeping it unfinished. Will rounds chew through ebony?

Ebony is a very typical fretboard wood used on fretless instruments, and an excellent choice. It holds up very well. As you already mentioned, round wound strings will be more abrasive than flat wound strings, but if the tone of round wound strings is what you want, it simply comes with the territory.

Something to be aware of is... technique plays a huge role in how much and how fast a fretboard gets "chewed" up. A very light and even fretting hand goes a long way to the life span of the fretboard.

[lowendfriend]

Ebony is the most common answer. Squier went with an Ebonol board which is like a hard epoxy or something.

If rounds chew up ebony, they'll chew up anything else even faster!

There are tapewounds, groundwounds, half-rounds, and the most sensible answer: Flatwounds! Yay!

[micahturner]

Didn't Tony Franklin use round wounds on his Fender fretless? I'm pretty sure he had an ebony fretboard on his original. I know the Fender sig model uses ebony.

[micahturner]

University Place? I'm in Steilacoom, WA.

[NoFretsNoWorry]

I am not sure there is a perfect answer for this.

My fav fretless, on which I use Dean Markley Blue Steels, is a bird's eye maple neck, raw without any finish on it whatsoever.

I have been playing it since about 1989 (not as much in the past 10 yrs). It does have some wear grooves on it and when it gets to a point I will have it re-planed by a luthier.

Other than that, I had a nice Pedulla buzz (circa 1990) and wore grooves into the finished neck in about a month. I think the current finish tech today is much better than the 1990's.

Hope this helps

PEACE

[Burlington]

Thanks guys. I have to go with rounds, they just have the sound and feel I want and am used to. I just can't do flats.
My left hand has gotten more gentle over the years, so hopefully I won't have too much wear. Thanks!

[line6man]

Originally Posted by micahturner

Didn't Tony Franklin use round wounds on his Fender fretless? I'm pretty sure he had an ebony fretboard on his original. I know the Fender sig model uses ebony.

Tony Franklin's '70s P bass had a Rosewood board, just like all the other Fenders. His signature model has an Ebony board, however.

Ebony would be the most durable material Warmoth offers for necks.
Bloodwood should be a close second.

[Mulebagger]

The fretless basses I've had over the years have been: Ebony (Warmoth), Phenowood ( Zon ), Chechen ( Modulus ), Ebonol ( Status ), and Rosewood (Fender).

Only the Rosewood got pretty chewed up. All the rest managed to hold up well. I've always used Roundwounds except for one sweet set of LaBella flats that came on one of my basses once.

like Slowgypsy said, technique goes a long way in regards to wearing out the board.

If your board needs refinishing, check out HG THOR. He does incredible epoxy coating and refinishing.

[bclark812008]

yeah I agree with contacting HG THOR if you need/want a fretless conversion or refinish/epoxy a worn out fretboard. My EBMM 4HH is on his waiting list...2 months down...2 years to go!

[darkstorm]

Ebony as best choice for fretless fretboard imo.