• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

defretting without epoxy

#7
Unfinished wood will wear, how quickly depends on a number of factors: set up, how hard you play, the strings you use and how much you play the bass. Even an epoxy or super glue finish will wear over time. I am starting to get wear on my bass with an ebonol fingerboard and that stuff is super hard. One of the reasons i use tung oil is because it does harden the fingerboard but still feels and sounds like a natural board. Feel and sound should be the factors in your decision as well as the long term wear.
 
#9
that guy wanted to put white plastic but i didnt want fretlines.he said thin wood pieces to fill the slot and making them normal and sanding etc would consume too much time.

but what would be the damage on the fretboard without any coating with roundwounds.
 
#10
Akshat said:
that guy wanted to put white plastic but i didnt want fretlines.he said thin wood pieces to fill the slot and making them normal and sanding etc would consume too much time.

but what would be the damage on the fretboard without any coating with roundwounds.
Click to expand...

It depends on your technique. My 5 string fretless is my main player and it, too, was defretted -10 years ago now. It has an uncoated rosewood fingerboard and the slots were filled with rosewood veneer so they're virtually invisible. It's had a lot of use foe that 10 years and has only just started to show small signs of wear (I'm talking about a couple of 'hot spots' that buzz a tiny bit rather than cosmetic 'snail trails') - it's probably coming to a time when I'll need to level the board, but it's no more maintenance than a fretted bass would've needed because I've had to have a a refret on those after 10 years usage.

I put it down to making sure I use cello type vibrato rather than sawing the strings widthways across the neck.
 
#11
Here's my amatuer $0.02; I defretted my first bass and used a Home Depot wood filler for the slots, since I wanted fretlines, and I did a coat of Mirawax Polyurethane clear coat on top. It came in a spray can and has held up great. I use rounds on it and I get no "chew" or grooves from the rounds. I'm in the process of doing this on a second bass for a friend, and he trusts my work with the cheap materials I use. So that's what I got.
 
#12
12FootTroutBass said:
Here's my amatuer $0.02; I defretted my first bass and used a Home Depot wood filler for the slots, since I wanted fretlines, and I did a coat of Mirawax Polyurethane clear coat on top. It came in a spray can and has held up great. I use rounds on it and I get no "chew" or grooves from the rounds. I'm in the process of doing this on a second bass for a friend, and he trusts my work with the cheap materials I use. So that's what I got.
Click to expand...

I did the same thing but haven't played it much so can't vouch for the wear.
For the actual defretting I use a pair of "nipper" pliers which I ground a bit flatter and a soldering iron applied to the fret wire to help them come up easier. 1 hour job for all frets.
 
#15
Akshat said:
that guy wanted to put white plastic but i didnt want fretlines.he said thin wood pieces to fill the slot and making them normal and sanding etc would consume too much time.

but what would be the damage on the fretboard without any coating with roundwounds.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't let him work on my instrument - he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. You MUST have a hard material in those fret lines...and veneer is no more trouble than plastic strips. IMO he's taking the easy way out and in my opinion, doing an inferior job.

DO NOT settle for anything less than a hard material to fill the line where those frets came out. And once they're properly filled, you don't need any hard coating on the fretboard. Rounds will eventually cause wear on the board, but that's part of the deal.

If it's already done, then don't complain if the neck starts to bend forward more than you can compensate for.
 
#17
Pilgrim said:
I wouldn't let him work on my instrument - he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. You MUST have a hard material in those fret lines...and veneer is no more trouble than plastic strips. IMO he's taking the easy way out and in my opinion, doing an inferior job.

DO NOT settle for anything less than a hard material to fill the line where those frets came out. And once they're properly filled, you don't need any hard coating on the fretboard. Rounds will eventually cause wear on the board, but that's part of the deal.

If it's already done, then don't complain if the neck starts to bend forward more than you can compensate for.
Click to expand...

That makes sense to me.

An old technique for curving wood is "kerfing", where a series of cuts or grooves are made, partway through the piece of wood. It's logical that a defretted neck with no hard material in the slots should bend forward in the same way. Depending on the overall neck/fingerboard dimensions, material and construction, there may not be a problem that can't be compensated with the truss rod; but I don't think I'd want to chance it myself.

Adrian
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back