Repair Questions for Fretless bass

[Jake Reber]

I have a Sammick jazz bass that was my first instrument that I love. It was cheapy, but it had this beautiful wood body and has served me 8 long years with many a modification. I put on a bone nut, had the frets ground even to the neck (making it fretless) and had the front j pickup replaced with a guitar humbucker ( giving it a triple-coil effect) . With my VERY dead flatwound strings, It sounds like a really present upright bass and I love it!

My current question is as follows: The neck is in dire need of a truss rod adjustment; but I'm scared that if I fix it the fret's will raise off the nick a whole lot

Second part: I'm though to fix the fret issues and such perhaps a layer of epoxy or some thing to smooth the neck over might me the trick. But I also don't know **** about epoxy on the neck, so I would like any and all suggestions. Would that give me strong Jaco-type sound? I love Jaco, but the last thing I want to do is sound like him, I want to sound like Jake Reber, I just want my fretless to sound as a good as possible.

Thanks in advance

[JustDavid]

Well, "good fretless sound" is actually a broad range of sounds. I like a Jaco-y sound on the fretless, while my son wants as upright-y as possible.

I'd say fix the truss rod then see if this causes any frets to 'up'; I doubt it will but feel it'd be due to other issues than a truss rod adjustment. I don't recall ANY posts in here about truss rod adjustments causing frets to rise.

[santucci218]

Originally Posted by JustDavid

Well, "good fretless sound" is actually a broad range of sounds. I like a Jaco-y sound on the fretless, while my son wants as upright-y as possible.

I'd say fix the truss rod then see if this causes any frets to 'up'; I doubt it will but feel it'd be due to other issues than a truss rod adjustment. I don't recall ANY posts in here about truss rod adjustments causing frets to rise.

well, straightening it more will cause the woods around the fret to "pinch" it less. I honestly don't think you will have a problem buddy.

[202dy]

While it is true that on a micro level tightening the truss rod (causing the neck to stiffen into a back bow) opens up the fret slot, there is no danger of the fret rising out of the slot. The barbs on the tang are much larger than the slot itself.

[Stempelloos]

The truss rod of my first fretless, a PJ, was adjusted by a shop owner/mechanic. He gave me a few directions.
First, hold the body well between your knees, keep the neck in line with
the body, and don't give the truss rod more than a 90 degree turn at a time. Give the neck time to adjust to the new tension before giving the rod more or less tension. Proper adjustment is supposed to leave
o.6-1mm space on the 7th fret when the string is held down against the highest fret. Normal adjustment doesn't raise frets.

[Jake Reber]

"The barbs on the tang are much larger than the slot itself."

That is a wonderfully absurd sentence.

Thanks for the info. I'll adjust the neck asap. Anyone know any about epoxy or polyurethane or something to smooththe neck? If that going to brighten the sound significantly? I'm one of those dude who wants it to sound as uprighty as possible.

[202dy]

Originally Posted by Jake Reber

"The barbs on the tang are much larger than the slot itself."

That is a wonderfully absurd sentence.

Thanks for the info. I'll adjust the neck asap. Anyone know any about epoxy or polyurethane or something to smooththe neck? If that going to brighten the sound significantly? I'm one of those dude who wants it to sound as uprighty as possible.

First of all, welcome to the forum. It's good that you have an advanced sense of humor.

The fret slot is ~.022" wide. The fret tang is usually a matching dimension +/- .001". The fret tang has barbs that usually double the size of the tang. When the fret is installed, it is radiused and pressed into the slot. This moves the barbs slightly underneath undisturbed wood in the fingerboard slot wall further insuring that the fret remains seated.

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by Jake Reber

"The barbs on the tang are much larger than the slot itself."

That is a wonderfully absurd sentence.

Thanks for the info. I'll adjust the neck asap. Anyone know any about epoxy or polyurethane or something to smooththe neck? If that going to brighten the sound significantly? I'm one of those dude who wants it to sound as uprighty as possible.

I recently epoxied the fingerboard on my tobias (the plastic inserts in the slots were popping out, but not because of adjustment) and it made the sound much brighter than it was with the bare wood (I believe the board is rosewood). In fact, it was almost objectionably whiney with the new set of ken smith rounds I put on it until they started to die down. Even now it's still pretty whiney.

So I'd be careful about putting a finish on the board, it may make a big difference in the tone. If it's the only way to keep the inserts/fret tangs in there, go ahead and do it. You may have to switch to deader strings like flats or something like that.

LS

[JustDavid]

Originally Posted by unclejane

You may have to switch to deader strings like flats or something like that.

OP, if you want an upright-y sound & haven't yet tried Flats, Christmas will come early for you this year!!!

Originally Posted by unclejane

If it's the only way to keep the inserts/fret tangs in there, go ahead and do it.

Good tip Uncle. I'd instead remove the popped frets & fill the gap with wood veneer glued in. Or a sawdust/glue slurry.

[Jake Reber]

I already have the deadest set of fat-ass flatwounds I could hope fer, so that shouldn't be problem. I just don't need the bass to be any brighter. hopefully the truss rod adjustment will be enough and won't mess up anything. Thanks for all the help!