Here's repected luthier Arnold Schnitzer's, response to my question about fingerboard camber (a.k.a. "scoop", "relief" etc)
Quote:
Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer  Sandpaper is not a tool; it's for smoothing. The graduation work (setting of the camber, or what you call "relief") is done with a razor-sharp block plane and scrapers, then smoothed, polished and sealed. This is expert work that is done after the fingerboard has been installed and the wood has acclimated from the glue-up. If you are an expert woodworker, you may have a chance of doing it decently. if not, you will need to have it done by a competent luthier who understands double bass set-up. |
Here are some links from the newbie sticky on fingerboard dressing
http://www.jeffbollbach.com/JB%20II/luthier_rant1.htm Dressing the fingerboard Jazz-friendly fingerboard dressing?
The lower your action (EDIT: string height) is set, the more precision and science is needed. It's already a very fine-tune process.
If you're talking about doing this on a real double bass, I'd think twice.
If you're talking about installing an ebony fingerboard in a homebrew project, like an EUB (which is what I'm doing), and you're trying to save money, your best bet is probably to try a fingerboard that is close to finished, install it, and see if you have any dead spots or buzzes, and if you have enough scoop in the FB. If you don't have issues, consider yourself lucky, and seal and polish that bad boy. Otherwise, have someone who knows what they're doing dress it.
Also, keep in mind, (if you're trying to save money), that it doesn't pay to go for a chintzy fingerboard. Uneven grain causes the FB to swell/shrink unevenly, which means that you'll be having flat spots and bumps repeatedly down the road....
