Double Bass Fingerboard question to luthiers

[adarvas]

I've played a couple of 60's Fender Jazz Basses recently with capped fingerboards. They were very even string to string, and snappier more articulate than slab FBs.

Has anyone heard of capped FBs on double basses?

Apparently these were milled on the underside, not bent. I understand that this is a lot of work and you would have to start with a radiused neck. FB replacement would be a hassle too......etc. I know there are reasons not to do it. BUT, if it makes that much beneficial difference on an electric bass I'd be curious what effect it would have on a double bass to have a uniform thickness of ebony under all the strings. The surface on which the FB is married up to the neck would also be significantly larger especially on the double bass where the radius is much smaller than on an electric.

With a CNC machine the labor cost wouldn't be prohibitive either.

Any thoughts?

 

[robobass]

Apparently these were milled on the underside, not bent.

Are you sure about this? I can't imagine why it would be done, or why there would be any sound advantage on a slab or upright. For a slab, I can see gluing a hardwood veneer to the maple neck (with bending) to save money on wood. Yes, an ebony top on a slab is snappier than a plain maple neck, but I don't think it's anything to do with this curved glue joint. Fitting a fingerboard blank to an upright neck where both are radiussed and matched seems like extraordinary work compared to attaching flat surfaces, even with CNC, and it would make fingerboard replacement a real headache.

 

[arnoldschnitzer]

And half the fingerboard hangs off the neck of a string bass, suspended in mid-air over the top table. What would you do there?

 

[robobass]

And half the fingerboard hangs off the neck of a string bass, suspended in mid-air over the top table. What would you do there?

Oh... the things I might come up with if this weren't a polite forum.

 

[RCWilliams]

If you think there would be some advantage , veneer a maple finger board, and try it out. also you could carve/mill out the back of an ebony fb and plug it with a maple core. after all in cad/cam if you have the outside of a surface you also have the inside.

 

[adarvas]

And half the fingerboard hangs off the neck of a string bass, suspended in mid-air over the top table. What would you do there?

Nothing. The overhang is already scooped out in the back, at least at the end. I'd want that throughout the entire neck.

Apparently these were milled on the underside, not bent.

Are you sure about this? I can't imagine why it would be done, or why there would be any sound advantage on a slab or upright. For a slab, I can see gluing a hardwood veneer to the maple neck (with bending) to save money on wood. Yes, an ebony top on a slab is snappier than a plain maple neck, but I don't think it's anything to do with this curved glue joint. Fitting a fingerboard blank to an upright neck where both are radiussed and matched seems like extraordinary work compared to attaching flat surfaces, even with CNC, and it would make fingerboard replacement a real headache.

I'm not a 100% sure, but having read some guitar blogs on this issue they seem to agree that it was not a veneer. The grains are not stretched out as if it was bent and we're talking about rosewood not maple. I think you can tell on rosewood, it's porous enough. Also these guitar enthusiasts claim that they asked Fender about this. I still think it's not a veneer.

I get what you're saying about scooping out the back of the ebony FB and filling it flat with maple but it would be a half solution. I know from experience that a solid maple bass guitar neck without a FB has far better fundamentals than the ones with FB. My own custom bass is like that and I love it. So I would try to maximize the maple and in one piece. It's a good idea though for an experiment. My math is probably not accurate but I think you would get 20% more surface with a radiused back versus the slab.

I was just curious if anyone have done or seen this. I understand how hard this is but if it made as much difference on the double bass...........

 

[Jeff Bonny]

Oh... the things I might come up with if this weren't a polite forum.

You did just fine in spite of the limitations.

 

[iiipopes]

As alluded to above, one thing that is different between double bass fingerboards and electric bass fretboards for purposes of this thread is the concept of "scoop." Since electric bass necks are usually more pliable than double bass necks, hence they have a truss rod, to get relief so the strings have room for excursion, the truss rod is loosened allowing the neck to bow or bend slightly, the amount depending on the player's style and choice of strings. Since double basses generally do not have adjustable necks, once the bass is strung to tension and the bridge is adjusted for the action generally, then if any further relief is necessary to allow for string excursion for the player's style and choice of strings, then the relief is actually carved into (or would that be out of) the fingerboard, which we call "scoop." That, by itself, would tend to negate the ability to use a veneer or cap instead of a slab fingerboard on a double bass.

The other is wear over time. If a bass guitar neck wears out (which I have done), then because it can be adjusted, it is common to pull the worn out frets, if not all of them, take a radius sanding block and even out the fretboard humps, mix the resulting dust with epoxy to fill in any divots, touch up the fretboard surface again, refret and go. The fretboard, whether slab or veneer or cap, is almost never removed (although mine was when the truss rod anchor gave and the truss rod had to be replaced - long story for another time). With a double bass, the entire slab fingerboard is replaced, and of course it is much easier to replace a flat bottom slab than a curved cap.

 

[iiipopes]

And half the fingerboard hangs off the neck of a string bass, suspended in mid-air over the top table. What would you do there?

"Hang ten" and play surf music? Or just break it off and never go there, as I have seen on another thread? (as he ducks and covers, realizing the necessity of the end of the fingerboard as the anchor for pizz and to frame proper arco )

 

[robobass]

Since electric bass necks are usually more pliable than double bass necks, hence they have a truss rod,

If there is indeed veracity to this "radiussed glue joint" concept on slabs (I'm still skeptical), then I suppose neck stiffness would be the reason. After all, a round tube tends to be stiffer than a flat bar. I don't see any of this transferring to upright, though.