Roundwound Strings and Fingerboards

Nathan Parker · #1 01-30-2010, 12:07 PM

I'm looking for some insight into the damage my roundwound E and A strings are doing to my fingerboard. I have noticed some wear in the 1/2 and 1st positions especially. I haven't been able to hear any buzzing or other erroneous noises, so no worries there.

I'm curious about how often you other gut stringers get your fingerboards dressed. Is it a scheduled thing, or do you just wait until you can no longer play louder than the buzz the fingerboard is making? Or something in between? I would appreciate your opinions.

forester · #2 02-04-2010, 06:54 PM

ebony board?
is it actual wear or scaring on the surface?

M Ramsey · #3 02-08-2010, 08:34 AM

Nathan,

No doubt, the roundwounds DO take their toil on fingerboards, rosewood and ebony alike. My old Standard bass (currently strung with Red-O-Rays on bottom) is in need of work.

I'm just going to tough it out for a while, since my fingerboard is so far gone, it'll have to be completely replaced with the next step. It was dressed nicely about 3-4 years back, when I had a neck set done. At that point, it became pretty thin. In an earlier life, some jazz player had grooved it out all across the board, even down below the neck joint on the A string.

I'm not really looking forward to a much thicker (and new) fingerboard, but I do want to keep this bass alive. Such is the territory covered with gut strings and plywood basses.

And the carved bass folks wonder why I don't want to put up with the added responsibility of hauling around a nice carved bass, worrying about cracks.

robobass · #4 02-08-2010, 10:45 AM

This must be a common problem. I've grooved a good ebony board under the Bb/Eb even with Pirastro orchestra strings. Has anyone tried filling with ebony dust and Krazy glue?

Nathan Parker · #5 02-08-2010, 11:08 AM

Thanks for the responses, folks.

Yes, it is an ebony fingerboard, and I would say at this point that it is just scarring, nothing to serious yet. I was just trying to get a feel for how other gut string users approach their fingerboard woes.

I guess it's a small price to pay for having strings that last so damn long.