Adding maple lines to a pulled-fret fretless

[el_crawfordo]

Quick question for the more knowledgable. Ive got a 1980s hohner “the jack” headless bass, it came from a yardsale with the frets pulled and rounds on it. I used my fret saw to clean out the slots and have maple veneer of the proper size to glue in, radius block to to a little smoothing, and a set of la bella double ball end flats....but my main question is whether you put the maple into the slot with its end grain up (like a heavy duty butcher block?) or do you lay the maple in so the grain is going long ways? It seems to me that the end grain would be stronger over time? Any thoughts?

 

[Slidlow]

Grain across the neck. If you put it in with grain end facing up it will get dirtier and darker over time, more so then if the side grain is exposed. Even if you seal or finish it end grain is always darker.

 

[el_crawfordo]

Copy that, Slidlow! Thanks! I also thought there might be more potential for chip out on the outer edges of the lines with the end grain facing up...