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I have an older SRF706 manufactured before they switched to Panga Panga. I believe that all the Portamentos from 2017 and before had rosewood fingerboards. In my opinion, rosewood is a better choice for fretless than Panga Panga. I guess the CITES rules make it much more difficult to use rosewood now.
Sure. Just ran the output of the Audere to the same connection on the main PCB where the output from the prior passive volume controls connected. Removed one, replaced it with the other. Easy-peasey.
To each their own. Rosewood is WAY softer. If you use rounds they are much more likely to chew into the board than any of the more typical woods used for fretless.
Don't know which kind of Rosewood this is but here are the Janka numbers:
Brazillian Rosewood 2790
East Indian Rosewood 2440
Panga Panga 1640
According to the Janka chart, Rosewood is harder than Panga Panga
When I first heard they switched to Panga Panga, I thought that was a very poor choice for a fretless fingerboard being that it is on the softer side for hardwood on the Janka Scale. But it is still harder than Hard Maple which is used on a lot of fretless basses.
Hard Maple 1450
I would prefer harder woods for a fretboard like these.
Gaboon Ebony 3080
African Blackwood 3670
Snakewood 3800
Quebracho 4570
I met John Clarity through Facebook. John has mastered the art of defretting necks and I paid his very modest fee to learn how he does it. I asked him about panga and he too agreed that it was a poor choice for a fretless board. Makes you wonder what goes through the minds of the people who made that decision.
I have ordered new strings (LaBella Super Steps) to replace the factory-supplied flats. When I remove the flats, I will see what I can do to use John's method to smooth out the board.
Meantime, since I am new to the party, is anyone in charge of giving out Membership Numbers? If so, I would certainly like one.
I paid for the Clarity method, but haven't worked though it. I have a custom Warmoth neck for a build that I haven't had time time to do.
I should do it on my Portamento too.
How did the method work out for you?
@tellheryousawme is the keeper of numbers here, but hasn't posted to the thread in a while.
It worked great! I had been defretting basses for over a decade before encountering John. At first I thought it was a scam, but it clearly wasn't. I specialize in defrettting and upgrading Sterling Ray4s and 5s and occasionally Ray34s and 35s. At the price I resell them, I cannot afford to spend as much time and effort on the necks as he does, but it definitely improved my results. Absolutely worth what I paid him. He's also a really nice guy. I've asked him quite a few questions after I completed his instruction and he always answers me and usually quickly.I paid for the Clarity method, but haven't worked though it. I have a custom Warmoth neck for a build that I haven't had time time to do.
I should do it on my Portamento too.
How did the method work out for you?
@tellheryousawme is the keeper of numbers here, but hasn't posted to the thread in a while.
I've got a Steve DiGiorgio SIgnature and it's GLORIOUS.
Attachments
Ibanez also put a stainless steel fingerboard on a BTB for Linus Klausenitzer. But it's a one-off and not something available to the public as far as I can tell.
Sweet. Wonder what it would cost to get a fretboard conversion for one of my basses? I did a little research on wood vs. Aluminum for a fretboard a while back in post https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-fretless-club-part-iv.910686/page-178#post-23705192
Here is the excerpt...
Looked up the Brinell hardness for Stainless.
Brinell hardness of stainless steel – type 304 is approximately 201 MPa.
Brinell hardness of ferritic stainless steel – Grade 430 is approximately 180 MPa.
Brinell hardness of martensitic stainless steel – Grade 440C is approximately 270 MPa.
Brinell hardness of duplex stainless steels – SAF 2205 is approximately 217 MPa.
Lots harder than aluminum. So, AW-6060 aluminum is 6 times harder than Buloke and Stainless would be 2.4-3.6 harder than AW-6060
Unless you can do your own machining, I would guess that a one-off metal fingerboard would cost way more than the bass itself.
Other than the issue of being more porous and potentially uneven, what makes you want to replace the neck? Seems like some judicious sanding with the proper radiused sanding block should smooth things out. If you were still unhappy, you could always coat it with CA or epoxy.
Other than the issue of being more porous and potentially uneven, what makes you want to replace the neck? Seems like some judicious sanding with the proper radiused sanding block should smooth things out. If you were still unhappy, you could always coat it with CA or epoxy.
Yeah, I bet it would be cool. I messaged John Clarity regarding panga. He agreed that it's not a good wood for fingerboards, so it makes you wonder what Ibanez was thinking. For a bass of that caliber, it wouldn't add all that much to the price if they had chosen ebanol or even ebony itself.
As soon as my new strings arrive, I am going to take all the flats off and then see what I can do to make the board a bit more playable. I have to admit, it's not that bad now, so hopefully it won't take me too long to smooth it out. The strings should be here The strings will arrive the day after tomorrow. Stay tuned...
Agreed. Even Ibanez's new SRD900 basses seem to be a bit of a successor to the SRF700 (though I prefer the SRF), yet they still decided to go with panga panga again. SRD900F | SR | ELECTRIC BASSES | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars
Well, the LaBella Super Steps arrived yesterday, which gave the excuse to remove the original flats (anyone know who made those?) and see if I could get the fingerboard in better shape. Mine wasn't bad to begin with, but I have sandpaper and I know how to use it! lol.
Anyway, I started with 600 grit and worked up to 1000. After 1000, I wiped the neck off with a damp rag, then a dry rage, and worked it up to 10K grit. After that, I used Tried n True (beeswax and linseed oil combo) and let it sit overnight. The picture doesn't do it justice. The fingerboard actually gleams a little bit and is smooth as proverbial glass, not uneven anywhere.
Not satisfied, and with more sandpaper in hand, I turned the bass over and ran my hand over the back of the neck. With the bass in playing position, the neck stripe nearest the bottom (nearest the C string) was rough in several places. Have sandpaper, will sand. The back of the neck is now WAY smoother than it was.
I had given the neck overnight for the treatment to dry, and finished it off with a light burnish with 0000 steel wool. Now both sides of the neck are way smoother than they were, which makes for an easier bass to play (on a bass that was pretty darned easy to play to begin with).
Now it's time to install the new set of strings....
Anyway, I started with 600 grit and worked up to 1000. After 1000, I wiped the neck off with a damp rag, then a dry rage, and worked it up to 10K grit. After that, I used Tried n True (beeswax and linseed oil combo) and let it sit overnight. The picture doesn't do it justice. The fingerboard actually gleams a little bit and is smooth as proverbial glass, not uneven anywhere.
Not satisfied, and with more sandpaper in hand, I turned the bass over and ran my hand over the back of the neck. With the bass in playing position, the neck stripe nearest the bottom (nearest the C string) was rough in several places. Have sandpaper, will sand. The back of the neck is now WAY smoother than it was.
I had given the neck overnight for the treatment to dry, and finished it off with a light burnish with 0000 steel wool. Now both sides of the neck are way smoother than they were, which makes for an easier bass to play (on a bass that was pretty darned easy to play to begin with).
Now it's time to install the new set of strings....
Curious to find out how you like results. I've never had any issues with my fingerboard or neck. The only thing I'd change on mine is some of the electronics, but I pretty much love it it the way it is.
The results, in terms of improving how it looks and how it plays, are great, but like I said, it was already pretty good in those areas before I did anything to it. I absolutely agree that some of the electronics - that is, the pickups and passive circuitry, had to go. The preamp and pickups made a HUGE difference in sound quality. This is one great bass.
