Just finished first fretless job...G string problems..

[Kronos]

Hey there...I finished turning my fretted BC Rich into a fretless on Saturday, gave the fretboard 8 coats of polyurethane, and as it turns out, everything's great except for the G string. Seems no matter where I play it (unless it's open) the string has barely any sustain. Is it possible that I have too much poly on the fretboard? Or would this be a totally different issue that would be harder to resolve? Any help you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[theshadow2001]

You might of sanded the neck down unevenly

[Kronos]

hmm...that may be a possibility. The only thing that makes me doubt that would be that it's all up and down the g string. It's not just in spots. But, it's easily fixed if that's the case.

anyone else?

[tplyons]

Action too low?

[theshadow2001]

I take it you've filled the frets with something. One or two guys haven't bothered when making theirs

[Kronos]

Originally Posted by tplyons

Action too low?

I don't think so. I can get a credit card between the string and the fretboard at the nut...and I don't get any buzz...but if all else fails, I will try to raise the action slightly.

[Kronos]

Originally Posted by theshadow2001

I take it you've filled the frets with something. One or two guys haven't bothered when making theirs

Yeah, my slots are filled. I had to use wood putty as Home Depot did not carry veneers. I knew that having nothing in the slots would cause no carry over vibration. I remember reading those threads... Besides, if I didn't, I probably would have all dead strings.

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by Kronos

I don't think so. I can get a credit card between the string and the fretboard at the nut...and I don't get any buzz...but if all else fails, I will try to raise the action slightly.

measuring clearance at the nut is not a measurement of action.

is your note choked on an open G? my guess is it isn't. In which case it is either

Either, a) the action on the string is too low (I suspect)
or, b) the relief is too small or you have backbow (I don't suspect this, because the other strings are OK).

[Kronos]

Good point, Pillara.

I will raise the action tonight. If that doesn't work, I'll notify you guys later...

Thanks..Here's to hoping it works...

[Kronos]

Just raised the action...Now my G string is almost as high as my D. I still get the same problem. Maybe I'm not explaining it well enough? I get a good, clear note no matter where I play on the G string, it just doesn't sustain as long as the others unless it's open.

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by Kronos

Just raised the action...Now my G string is almost as high as my D. I still get the same problem. Maybe I'm not explaining it well enough? I get a good, clear note no matter where I play on the G string, it just doesn't sustain as long as the others unless it's open.

ahhhh...sorry, I thought your notes were getting choked.

fretlesses don't sustain long...and the G string, because it has lower mass, probably would sustain a little less than the rest of the strings.

My fretless does the same thing...

[Kronos]

Wow. I didn't know that. I guess you're right though if you think about it. It's not a hard fret making contact with the string to make the note, but a soft finger (albeit calloused) holding the string to the fretboard.

Thanks.

[Kronos]

Thanks for all your help guys! Turns out it was just an old dead string. I had put the same strings back on the bass after I finished defretting it, and when I went out and got strings today, big difference.

Thanks again, Joshua, Pilbara, theshadow, and tpylons for all your help! I am now no longer afraid to mess with my wood (no pun intended!)

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by Kronos

Thanks for all your help guys! Turns out it was just an old dead string. I had put the same strings back on the bass after I finished defretting it, and when I went out and got strings today, big difference.

Thanks again, Joshua, Pilbara, theshadow, and tpylons for all your help! I am now no longer afraid to mess with my wood (no pun intended!)

by the way, Kronos...welcome to fretless...and new strings help

and it is true that the sustain isn't the same as a fretted, one of the really neat things about fretless is that you can start to actually CONTROL the sustain by using finger pressure (or lack of). You'll see after a bit of playing around with it that you can get those "farty" jaco snaps, to tighter staccato "blips", to big full "blossomy" long tones, it's all in the fingers...no more true than on a fretless...

[Kronos]

Originally Posted by PilbaraBass

by the way, Kronos...welcome to fretless...and new strings help

and it is true that the sustain isn't the same as a fretted, one of the really neat things about fretless is that you can start to actually CONTROL the sustain by using finger pressure (or lack of). You'll see after a bit of playing around with it that you can get those "farty" jaco snaps, to tighter staccato "blips", to big full "blossomy" long tones, it's all in the fingers...no more true than on a fretless...

Thanks!

This is my first true venture into fretless, since I will play this one a lot longer than my first one. Many years ago, I had gotten an Ibanez fretless (which of course had no fret lines), and I had no idea what to do. I also had no idea how to set a bass up for action and intonation, so right off the bat I was trying to play ahead of the dots where I thought the frets would be, and not knowing how to change it around, I ended up giving up after a couple of weeks.

So, now that I have fretlines, and a bass I wouldn't want to give up, but don't really care too much if I mess it up (I mean, come on, it's PLYWOOD! ) I just basically breathed new life into a worthless bass. And, I will learn fretless because of it.

Hopefully I will learn all the things that you mentioned and more. My goal is to be able to play "Portrait of Tracy", and then to surpass it if possible.