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Squier Fretless bass fretboard help!

thatjazzbassguy

thatjazzbassguy

Oct 23, 2021
54
35
London
#1
Hi there,

I have recently bought a second hand squier Fretless bass and the previous seller had roundwounds on it and it seemed to have marked the entire fretboard. I bought it cheap (£145) so I didn't really mind it and it doesn't seem to be impacting the playing at all.

First thing I did is changed the strings to flatwounds but my question is. Is it worth taking it to a Luthier to try to treat this? Is there even a way of improving this or for the price should I just keep it until I decide whether fretless is for me or not? :)

The bass could do with a set up anyway as I can see some issues in string placement in the nut as well as action adjustment but the main thing is the fretboard from an aesthetic perspective.

I've attached some photos and any help would be highly appreciated 16452675223481401288195502180906.jpg 16452675485325572899226913492252.jpg 164526756999356429177784209556.jpg 16452675846621152237708655170912.jpg 16452675223481401288195502180906.jpg 16452675485325572899226913492252.jpg 164526756999356429177784209556.jpg 16452675846621152237708655170912.jpg 16452675223481401288195502180906.jpg 16452675485325572899226913492252.jpg 164526756999356429177784209556.jpg 16452675846621152237708655170912.jpg .
 
#3
after treated with fine sandpaper, you can protect it with some heavy duty painting. There are several types. For my fretless Skyline 55-02 I used a linoleum water based painting. Very easy to apply, by brush. Final product is durable; and not expensive at all anyway. I covered that board several years ago and it is still ok.
 
#4
That is an ebonal board. Not easy stuff to work with. Do the lines effect playing? If not I would leave it. If you want to esthetically minimize the lines, you might try polishing the board with a little toothpaste. That should get rid of the white without taking off any more surface. We used toothpaste to take scratches out of the Dan Armstrong clear basses.
 
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#5
Bodeeni said:
That is an ebonal board. Not easy stuff to work with. Do the lines effect playing? If not I would leave it. If you want to esthetically minimize the lines, you might try polishing the board with a little toothpaste. That should get rid of the white without taking off any more surface. We used toothpaste to take scratches out of the Dan Armstrong clear basses.
Click to expand...

First of all thanks for all the answers but to your point specifically you are right, it is an ebonal board. The lines don't impact playing at all and it's mostly aesthetic but I was wondering if I could reduce them a bit so maybe I'll try the toothpast approach first as I'm not very good or brave enough to venture into DYI sanding of my instruments so eventually if it was the case I'd probably would have to take it to a Luthier but don't want to put too much money towards this bass.

Do you just use toothpaste and a cloth? Thanks!
 
#6
thatjazzbassguy said:
First of all thanks for all the answers but to your point specifically you are right, it is an ebonal board. The lines don't impact playing at all and it's mostly aesthetic but I was wondering if I could reduce them a bit so maybe I'll try the toothpast approach first as I'm not very good or brave enough to venture into DYI sanding of my instruments so eventually if it was the case I'd probably would have to take it to a Luthier but don't want to put too much money towards this bass.

Do you just use toothpaste and a cloth? Thanks!
Click to expand...
rub it on with your finger. Work it in a bit. Your are using it as a rubbing compound. Wipe it off with a sponge. You are not going to hurt anything. Just trying to turn the white marks back to black. then go play. I had an ebonal board leveled by a specialist. It was $600, ten years ago.
 
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#9
I'd just leave it. Trying to DIY-fix things like this, even at a cosmetic level, without the right tools is a disaster waiting to happen. A fingerboard looks deceptively simple to "clean up", but it absolutely is not simple to do. Trust me, you do not want to go down that road, even just rubbing something in with your finger tip. That's the tip of a really nasty iceberg. :)

This is normal marking on an FL played with rounds, so it ain't broke to begin with....

L
 
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#13
Exactly what makes it such a disaster waiting to happen... the task looks so innocent and easy to do. Just rub a little off here and a little off there and....
Click to expand...

I might be wrong, but it seems to me that you don't have any idea of what you're talking about. But certainly I am not going to be engaged in a discussion with someone that most probably never cleaned a fretless board. I did it several times, without a problem.
 
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#14
Hey all, sorry about radio silence but looks like I won't be having to clean it after all...as I just sold it haha. Someone came to pick a bass amp I was selling and whilst trying the bass said if I wasn't interested in selling so I did. Thanks for all your advice anyway and hope it didn't spark any disagreements
 

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