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fretless epoxy job?

D

drden

Nov 11, 2008
216
1
Troy, NY
#1
Gonna try and keep this post short and sweet.

I put an ebony fretless neck on my jazz bass, played with a set of (dead) rounds (probably shouldn't have done that..:rollno:). The rounds hardly messed up the board at all, but when one of them broke I replaced the set with a set of roto flats, which I don't really like...If I kept rounds on too long they would mess the board up though...

So the main questions are ...
Would a finish on the fingerboard be worth it to keep rounds on the bass?
Would a finish change the feel alot?
Is it not worth it and should I just get some flats I like?

thanks!
 
#2
This gets discussed a fair amount, so a search will give you a ton of info to sift through. Meanwhile, my 2 cents:
1. I like the sound of rounds & have a coated fingerboard on my fretless. I've not played rounds on an uncoated board for any length of time, so I can't comment beyond this.
2. I don't imagine the feel would change much(if at all)but the tone tone(IMO)will.
3. I'd do what I have to in order to get the sound I was after, to a point(is it worth the extra wear* & expense? IME, probably).

*This is a HUUUGE point of contention for some- some say rounds will destroy a fingerboard in an afternoon of hard playing, some claim to have played for years w/no visible wear. I tend to lean toward *wears a bit but not terribly*
 
#3
drden said:
Gonna try and keep this post short and sweet.

I put an ebony fretless neck on my jazz bass, played with a set of (dead) rounds (probably shouldn't have done that..:rollno:). The rounds hardly messed up the board at all, but when one of them broke I replaced the set with a set of roto flats, which I don't really like...If I kept rounds on too long they would mess the board up though...

So the main questions are ...
Would a finish on the fingerboard be worth it to keep rounds on the bass?
Would a finish change the feel alot?
Is it not worth it and should I just get some flats I like?

thanks!
Click to expand...

Rounds will generally eventually tear up the finish too, tho it may be easier to simply refinish the board rather than replace wood once it gets to that point.

The tone will change a bunch, generally in the direction of more muaaah.

I put an epoxy finish on my tobias 6 string, but that was mostly because the inserts were popping up. The tone change was almost to the point of objectionably more muuaaah and whine to the notes.

My general feeling at this point is it doesn't really gain you much. Especially if you have an ebony board, I wouldn't really mess with it. Ebony will stand up to rounds for quite a while but flats will make it last pretty much indefinitely.

I run flats half to not tear up the board and half to deaden up the tone. Rounds have really good sustain but it takes them forever to die like I like.

LS
 
#5
unclejane said:
1. Ebony will stand up to rounds for quite a while but flats will make it last pretty much indefinitely.

2. Rounds have really good sustain but it takes them forever to die like I like.

LS
Click to expand...

1. It's macassar ebony. I'm not too sure if that's softer or what but there's some definite grooves in it.

2. off-topic but using things like vaseline, chapstick, butter and just other greasy stuff on your strings makes them dead very very quickly. just put it on and let it sit for a day.

thanks for all the help guys I think I'll just finish it..
 
#7
I disagree with the fact that rounds tear up a fretless fingerboard. With proper technique and a fairly light touch, I managed to play a fretless bass with a rosewood board for over a year with rounds, and caused no noticeable damage.

Depending on your technique, however, a finish might be beneficial, but it also changes the tone somewhat.

I'd recommend checking out some D'Addario Chromes. They're bright flatwounds, and sound great on fretless.
 
#9
Bassman316 said:
I've been thinking about doing the epoxy thing on my SX fretless for a while now. Feel free to laugh at this, but what brand/type of epoxy should I pick up to pull this off? I know NOTHING off this kind of thing.
Click to expand...

Get the slowest-cure stuff you can find. The longer it stays in liquid form, the longer time it has to soak into the wood and bond with it. I'd recommend 60 min or 2 hour cure if you can find it.

Be forewarned that slow-cure epoxy can take as long as a week to completely cure, so let it harden up for at least a couple days before you try to start sanding it down. If you're doing multiple coats, this can run into a couple weeks time overall.....

LS
 
#12
Bassman316 said:
I've been thinking about doing the epoxy thing on my SX fretless for a while now. Feel free to laugh at this, but what brand/type of epoxy should I pick up to pull this off? I know NOTHING of this kind of thing.
Click to expand...

I used a superglue that I just got at Home Depot. It was Gorilla brand. Nothing special. It worked great, except for the wicked fumes.

Here are pics before I hit it with a buffer. It is much shinier now.

DSCN0101.jpg


DSCN0104.jpg
 

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