My neck has a chip in it and the first fret is starting to produce a sharp edge. It's a Dean dual pickup 4 string. What should I look for in a replacement neck? Is there anything to be upgraded here? What about going fretless? Is there and advantage to a fretless? I really don't know the difference other then the lack of frets, does this change the sound too?Any advice would be apreciated, obviously I'm a new bassist.
OK I know it's a Dean but surely it's worth repairing. I did do a search on youtube last night and I think I discovered the difference in sound between fretless and fretted. If I'm right I'll stick to fretted till I get real good. So that leaves me to just replacing and posibly upgrading. Is there anything to upgrade? Dean advertises to have small necks and without having anything to compair it to I will say it seems to feel pretty good, but if I'm gonna spend the money on it can I improve anything?
I don't know how bad the chip is but.... I would suggest taking it to a local shop and see if they can fix it. It may be needing a little adhesive and some file work on the fret, ask them for an estimate before they get into it. It may be much cheaper than a replacement neck.
It was this way when I bought it, if they could fix it I'm sure they would have, but I can check the other shop in town. I has gotten much worse since I got it, the fret wasn't interfering then but now it is.
While the chip is ugly, it isn't tragic. Installing binding on the neck might work if the binding is thick enough but the process requires removing and replacing all of the frets. The cost would be prohibitive. Another solution to this problem involves adding a piece of wood to the fingerboard. It can be handled a couple of different ways.
The first fret is removed. Then a ridiculously sharp chisel is used to pare down the surface of the divot to establish a solid contact area for the glue. A small, oversized sliver of matching wood is glued and clamped in place and allowed to setup. It is then pared down using the chisel, files, and finally sandpaper. An appropriate lacquer is chosen and applied to match the existing finish. The first fret is reinstalled and leveled and crowned.
The second way involves using a Dremel or similar tool to rout a rabbet into the fingerboard. The rest of the technique is the same.
This is not a repair for the casual tool user. If you are not adept with edge tools and glue take it to an experienced luthier.
