Fretless board finishes?

[Invader Zim]

Hi Steve, Hi Micheal,

I'm new to this forum so I'm just finding my way around.
Just got a new fretless and was trying to find someone in the UK who could offer a hard wearing finish on the board as i'd like to carry on using roundwound strings. I've seen HG Thor's site but there is a 2 year waiting list.

Any information related to this would be great

Thanks,
Zim.

[Fishbrain]

/subscribed/ i'd quite like to know too!

[kevcooke]

A lot of people like to use epoxy. My TRB1006 is gonna be defretted next week, so I'm saying tuned too! In fact I might wait until we hear from Steve/Michael

[spade2you]

The Zons and Modulus basses both feature a wood resin that's not technically coated, but extremely strong. It utilizes birch impregnated with a phenolic resin, which is compressed at high temps to 1/2 thickness. It was originally used as a light weight metal substitute during WWII.

[Basshappi]

I don't know about in the UK.

Here in the states there is also this guy:

http://www.dontfrettt.com/

[agfrag]

I built a fretless bass 15 years ago (my main axe since!)and only now am needing to re-finish. I used superglue gel from those little tubes (about ten of them!) and smoothed it out with the edge of a playing card over the fretboard, let it dry really really good, then fine sanded it with a flat piece of 1 inch thick plexiglass 4 by 6 inches with self stick 180 grit sand paper.

I wanted to get the "Fretttless" finish, but I am in the auto business, and job security looks bad right now, so I am going to do it again. I have a Carvin neck with ebony fretboard. This time, I am going to build a neck leveling jig and am using a 12 inch radius sanding block that is 18" long. I did not do such a great leveling job last time, and had some wolf tones below the 3rd fret marker. I know how to adjust the truss rod and bridge height to avoid them, but this time I am going for perfection!

[Burg]

You could get a Status with Graphite neck.

[Michael Manring]

Your best bet in dealing with this question is probably to consult an expert builder or repair person, but I’ll offer what perspective I can.

There are a few different methodologies when it comes to fretless fingerboards. Some folks like the dark, soft sound you get with an unfinished wood board. These tend to wear quickly, so they need to be sanded back to level often, and usually need to be replaced at least once during the life of an instrument. That’s not as big a deal as you might think, however and it is, after all, basically what happens with members of the violin family. Coating the board with a hard finish slows wear and makes fingered notes brighter with more sustain. Coated boards still need to be re-leveled occasionally, but it’s unlikely the fingerboard will need to be replaced, as you can sand the finish without reaching the wood and you can re-apply as necessary. There are several different kinds of finishes available and I don’t know enough to offer much info other than to say, in my experience, each one has its own sound and feel. Alternatively, you can use a fingerboard made of an extremely hard material, but it’s not unusual for such boards to be coated as well.

I own fretless instruments with just about all of these options and I like the variety of sounds they produce.

[Steve Lawson]

i think Michael's point about having to put up with refinishing if you want the kind of sound that comes from a slightly softer wood - it's going to require occasional sanding, and eventual replacement... in terms of how much it'll cost, it works out much less than you'd spend on strings...

The other thing to test is string types and material - some kinds of strings are easier on the fingerboard than others, and there are a lot of options between flats and stainless rounds - ground-wounds, half-rounds, nickel strings etc...

cheers

Steve
www.stevelawson.net