Fretless Neck that can handle Rounds

[ZonGuy]

For what its worth,

I like the Jaco approach - epoxy + Rotosound rounds for a traditional 4 -

but I use a synthetic neck (ZON) and am scared to epoxy it so I use a mix os strings instead: nickel DR rounds for A,D, G strings where wear really isnt an issue and Thomastik flats for the B and E where the neck usually gets chewed up and the mwahh isnt as strongly affected by round vs flats. The tone blend is closer to an upright, imho.

 

[gre107]

All fretboards can handle rounds. You have to play an incredible amount to really effect the neck. If you refrain from "bending" notes and slide instead you really will not have much of a problem.

Using nickel strings is more common on any fretless with or without epoxy. If you have epoxy on your fretboard you should definately not use steels.

With average playing you will have to refinish/sand your neck maybe every 5+ years.

So really it's not that big of a deal.

Besides, flats just sound and feel terrible on a bass guitar.

Peace

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

I have a fretless P-Bass and a Warmoth J-style fretless; both fingerboards have been sprayed with a material called Fuller-Plast. It's high gloss and it looks similar to the material that Pedulla uses on their Buzz bass fingerboards. It made the tone a bit brighter, but both still have that great "mwah" quality. I played my fretless P-Bass with rounds for two years exclusively and it hardly shows any wear.

 

[spade2you]

Using nickel strings is more common on any fretless with or without epoxy. If you have epoxy on your fretboard you should definately not use steels.

Besides, flats just sound and feel terrible on a bass guitar.

I've heard stainless steel on epoxy. I thought it sounded very interesting.

In the right context, flats sound amazing. It offers such a rich, deep, fundamental tone.

 

[Tuned]

I play hard enough that I've gone through a rosewood fingerboard using rounds. I had to have the fingerboard dressed every 6-9 months otherwise I'd get spots with uneven response. Now the inlaid dots on the side of the fingerboard are showing on top.

I solved the problem by applying an epoxy finish, and it's the best thing I've ever done for it. It's added not only nice midrange tones but fuller bottom end and longer sustain. Now I've got a nice thin neck and great tone! And I was ready to throw the thing out...

 

[cosmicevan]

the ebony board on my fretless got eaten up right away by the rounds i have on it...but when i looked closer at it, it really is just scratches. it shows that it has been played, but it isn't really eating away at the wood on the board.