Crushed stone fretline inlay?

[John Metta]

I was wondering if anyone has ever done crushed stone inlay for fretlines on a fretless bass. I've searched and found threads on plastics (Pearloid, etc.) and metal (silver or filed frets) but haven't seen anything on more detailed inlays, here or anywhere else, actually. I have a raw piece of black walnut that I'm shaping into a body with some malachite inlays.

I'm thinking of buying a rosewood fretboard with fret slots but no frets, then inlaying it with crushed malachite glued with either CA or epoxy (Not sure which would be better for allowing swelling, CA seems a slight bit more flexible). Realizing that the stone/glue mix will be harder than the wood, I was thinking of finishing the fretboard with poly for protection (I play with flatwounds).

Just wondered if anyone has seen such a beast.

 

[Scoops]

off the top of my head....

You would almost have pulverize the malachite to a powder in order to get it down into the fret slot.

 

[Means2nEnd]

I do a lot of inlay with crushed stone. The issue is unless the line is super clean cut you will see rough edges even if you get powdered stone. Wood veneers or plastic is a much better option IMO.

 

[John Metta]

@Scoops, I can used crushed malachite powder, that's not an issue. What would be an issue is the concern @Means2nEnd poses. I'm not sure how clean the fretboard cuts will be. Even with a new, unfretted neck, I could see them not being super clean because of the expectation that they would be fretted. That's a serious consideration.

Thanks all.

 

[Scoops]

@Scoops, I can used crushed malachite powder, that's not an issue. What would be an issue is the concern @Means2nEnd poses. I'm not sure how clean the fretboard cuts will be. Even with a new, unfretted neck, I could see them not being super clean because of the expectation that they would be fretted. That's a serious consideration.

Thanks all.

Ok,

So Im looking at a slotted and radiusd (SP) FB i got from LMII. The slots are incredibly clean. Don't know for sure, but I'm guessing they put the radius in after they cut the slots.