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Double Bass Fretboard sanding?

#21
bssist said:
Wow! I'm glad you're not cynical. Do you look down on everyone from way up there on that ivory luthery throne, on only the fellow luthiers who betray the secret brotherhood by being supportive of cheap diy bastards?

Thank ____________ (God, Allah, YHVH, Muhamed, Higher Being of your brand) that you never robbed the roadside assistance tech of his rent money by changing your own tire or you might not be entitled to look down from such a supremely higher place. :eyebrow: :rollno:
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Ummmm, kidding? Hence the big grin emoticon.. What happened to having a sense of humor on Talkbass? I miss P-dub.. :scowl:
 
#22
Square Bear said:
why is there all this talk about sanding? am i wrong in thinking ultra fine grit steel wool is more appropriate for this task? if you need anything more for playability reasons, i wouldn't DIY this one - you can easily mess things up and end up needing a more thorough board dress than you already probably do.
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+1, this is why I requested pics. If the board needs a good cleaning, that's all together a different animal than a sloppy dressing with sandpaper..
 
#23
My thought is that the location of the dings matters. There are places on the fingerboard that a beginner won't be visiting for a while. If the bass is relatively playable in the lower positions, then the OP can get a start on lessons, in which case his teacher can then help form a plan for bringing the bass into tip top shape.
 
#25
Well, I would add my vote to the "Get the Traeger book" chorus. Even if you end up deciding to have someone else do the work, you will gain a pretty practical understanding of the ins and outs of bass repair, maintenance and set-up. (But honestly, I think you could dress the board, too...)
 
#26
My advice: don't just do something... stand there. In other words, set up the bass and play it some before you start messing with it. Initially you can get the fb cleaned up with some 0000 steel wool. But make sure the soundpost is in place before you put tension on the strings.
 
#30
If the fingerboard is real ebony and not something else, and is raw ebony with no finish (as it should be), a drop of goo-gone on a cotton ball will take off the tape residue. Do that first, wipe down any excess to dry, give it a few days, then see how it plays.
 
#33
I don't know if I would liken redressing a fingerboard to changing a tire. There's no tool in the box that's gonna put wood back on a fingerboard once it's been scraped away.
Sure I'd be more likley to dive under the hood of a Yugo rather than a Ferrari to try and fix something, but if that Yugo was my only source of vital and necessary transportation AND since I am personally not mechanically inclined nor experienced in automotive repair, I'm gonna call someone who knows what they're doing.
 
#34
Ed Fuqua said:
I don't know if I would liken redressing a fingerboard to changing a tire. There's no tool in the box that's gonna put wood back on a fingerboard once it's been scraped away.
Sure I'd be more likley to dive under the hood of a Yugo rather than a Ferrari to try and fix something, but if that Yugo was my only source of vital and necessary transportation AND since I am personally not mechanically inclined nor experienced in automotive repair, I'm gonna call someone who knows what they're doing.
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True enough. My inappropriate outburst was backlash to some unrelated experiences with a politically empowered protectionist organization "strong-arming" customers to pay exorbitant fees for services they could safely and cost effectively perform with on-site staff.

That aside, I make exceptional income by correcting the mistakes of ill-educated and under-experienced equipment owners. I do my best to educate them on how their equipment works and what they can safely do themselves. I also recommend they leave particular tasks to someone with more knowledge and experience. In the end the choice is theirs, I try to be as helpful as I can.

If you are so inclined to learn auto repair by trial and error under the hood of your own Ferarri I say "Go for it! Call me if you have any questions. If you can't get it figured out I'll still fix it for you for $xxx.xx an hour, it may just take me extra time to undo what was done before I got there."

I am a DIY trial and error guy myself. I destroyed a LOT of electronics and a few guitars before I learned where to seek out the proper information before undertaking a project, and what parts to leave to someone more experienced. I think I would separate a board from a neck, set some back-bow, cut and install a new board. But I would gladly pay to have experienced hands plane it for me. But that's on my own instrument and I'm willing to pay for my own mistakes. If I go into it with a clear understanding then it's MY pile of toothpicks if I go "oops! :crying: "
 
#35
I've dressed a few boards on low-end plys with an orbital sander. "OUCH" I know, but I've got years of experience doing precise shaping with machines and power tools. None with hand planes. The bass in question seems to be of very low value, so presumably it has a non-ebony board which is probably even less valuable. If the OP is handy with tools and woodworking, or at least patient, then I'm with James. He doesn't have so much to lose by trying. First though I would follow advice from other posts on cleaning the board and getting the instrument to a proper bass luthier for an opinion before embarking on any potentially destructive or unnecessary actions. Most bass repairers I've met will spend ten or fifteen minutes with you and the bass and give you their professional assessment free of charge.
 
#36
Ed Fuqua said:
Sure I'd be more likley to dive under the hood of a Yugo rather than a Ferrari to try and fix something, but if that Yugo was my only source of vital and necessary transportation AND since I am personally not mechanically inclined nor experienced in automotive repair, I'm gonna call someone who knows what they're doing.
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...and this little allegory is probably generalizable to at least 95% of bass players out there but definitely not all of them. There are such creatures, believe it or not, who are experienced DIY'ers. That seems like an oxymoron, and it is to an extent, but once you've been through the experience you get much, much better at judging what's do-able and what isn't. Part of that calculation is knowing what kinds of skills you have, knowing what you don't know and whether it's learnable, and knowing what the cost of failure is.

The only thing I find generalizable about this type of situation is this: some people are planners and methodologists and holders of very high standards; others jump in. It takes all kinds to make a world. I think Bird was a jumper-in. At first it earned him a cymbal tossed at his head, but that didn't last forever. I'm with James here -- I have a lot of sympathy for those that go for it. They usually don't need to be told they might wreck something -- they know that already.

Personally, I read (some days ago now, it's true -- my memory might be off) the OP's original post as "how do I get some sticky gunk off my board?" My answer: use some three-ought steel wool and a little alcohol -- methyl, ethyl, denatured, I don't care which (and if you don't know the difference, maybe you should learn the difference before you smear it on your bass and skin and breathe the fumes), just take reasonable care of yourself and the finish on your bass. You definitely don't need a hazmat suit or an engineering degree or anything like that. The whole thing takes about a minute and you're done.
 
#37
Damon Rondeau said:
...and this little allegory is probably generalizable to at least 95% of bass players out there but definitely not all of them. There are such creatures, believe it or not, who are experienced DIY'ers. That seems like an oxymoron, and it is to an extent, but once you've been through the experience you get much, much better at judging what's do-able and what isn't. Part of that calculation is knowing what kinds of skills you have, knowing what you don't know and whether it's learnable, and knowing what the cost of failure is.

The only thing I find generalizable about this type of situation is this: some people are planners and methodologists and holders of very high standards; others jump in. It takes all kinds to make a world. I think Bird was a jumper-in. At first it earned him a cymbal tossed at his head, but that didn't last forever. I'm with James here -- I have a lot of sympathy for those that go for it. They usually don't need to be told they might wreck something -- they know that already.
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Thank you! Being aware of your own skills + the cost of screwing up is the key.

I get easily tired of overcaution. We all know (or should know) that you can mess up a piece of wood by removing too much of it. We also know we can lose digits while operating the table saw. That is why I take precautions with both endeavors.

Avoiding overcaution was my reason for building my double bass before posting here.

George
 
#38
There have been some good points made. I am often surprised at what people don't know or have the ability to figure out by disecting and researching. On a gig last weekend I had to do some basic electrical work and it was pointed out to me that the guitarist was sincere when he said, "Man, that looks complicated. I'd have to take it to somebody"

Toward the end of the last post I was thinking, "Maybe I should go back and re-read the whole thread. How did I get into defense mode from a simple 'how do I get the gunk off by board?' question?"

~Get the tissues, I've got issues! :eek:
 
#39
Just an extra bit of advice: If the job takes a few hours, leave the weekend free to do it. Its easy to rush, but well worth the time if you dont.

Much of the premium price associated with a professional is their ability to perform a quality job in a much shorter time due to their skills and tools.

As a point of reference, even with my modest woodworking skills I have planed the FB on all my basses (also to increase the curvature to allow low strings with arco ability), and carved and installed a FB extension. Every step of the way I was worried about permanently screwing something up, though in the end everything was a success.
 
#40
I've said it many times around here: Owning an old double bass is a lot like owning an old Volkswagon bus. They are a lot of fun, incredibly cool, and generally always in a state of disrepair. For both, your best bet is to learn a few skills to keep them running as daily drivers, or find a lower maintenance hobby....

j.
 

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