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Untreated WENGE for FRETLESS fingerboard?

akori

akori

Oct 18, 2007
355
36
Colorado
#1
Hello:
I've been dying to get another Warwick FNA Jazzman (Swamp Ash Body & Ovangkol Neck/ WENGE Fretboard), and have the frets removed, to make it a LINED FRETLESS bass.
BY THE WAY: I USE THOMASTIK FLATS...no more rounds!

I'm worried that despite it's hardness, Wenge might be too open-grained. Because if I can feel coarse grains under my fingernail, I fear this may constitute high and low spots that will catch oscillating strings (I use SUPER low string action).

On top of that, I'd imagine pulling frets and filling could be a bear dure to that open grain tearing and splintering.

I was thinking of sending it to Michael Pedulla to do his excellent work on the whole job, and coating it with his poly. I had a buzz bass before. Mine was really zingy, but it was afterall 100% neck through maple. I'd HOPE it wouldn't ruin the warmth of the Wenge.

Experience and ideas are much appreciated...this will cost me like two grand; hate for it to be a mess.
 
#2
Wenge is open-grained, but it's not THAT open. It will be fine untreated. The only thing I would worry about is the chipping when the frets are pulled. It's easy enough to prevent and fix, though.
 
#4
I sanded my wenge bass neck to about 1500 grit and polished up to 8000, and it definitely had a mirror-like, except where the pores were, of course.

If you're worried about the pores, you could fill them with a hard epoxy or ca glue, and then sand it back to bare wood (sand/polish up to a very high grit, else the filler may have a milky appearance). The glue filler will remain in the pores, but you'll have a bare wood feel....which, on wenge at least, is quite nice.
 
#8
Acetone will dissolve superglue. My guess is that the fingerboard will need resurfacing due to abrasion from the strings before the CA degrades.

Big_B is a lot more knowledgeable about CA coating than I am.

But either way, you can avoid that by just using a quality 2-part epoxy or a polyester (like a fiberglass resin, you can get it at home depot). I like using thick epoxies, because I find them to be more controllable.

You would:

1) Radius and sand the fingerboard smooth, like up to 400-800 grit. It doesn't have to shine like a mirror, but it does need to be smooth and dust-free.

2) CLEAN the fingerboard. Make sure you get all of the dust out of all of the pores. Dry tack cloth, small vacuum, alcohol, etc.

3)Mask the neck off so that you don't get epoxy over the rest of the neck or bass.

4)Mix enough epoxy for a single coat. You won't need much.

5)Spread the epoxy into the pores with a squeegee, first spreading along the direction of the grain, then against the grain.

6)Repeat step 5 until all visible pores are filled.

7)Allow the stuff to *fully* cure...usually at least a 24 hour wait.

8)Using a sanding block, sand the surface of the fingerboard until bare wood is exposed. The sandpaper shouldn't dig into the pores, leaving them filled and smoothed. Once you are satisfied with the quality of your pore filling efforts, sand to 800 grit and polish at your preference.

There may be faster/better/easier ways to do it. This is just how I have done it.

Also, I must stress that it really should not be necessary. Wenge looks as open-grained as your average food strainer, but it isn't. When properly sanded and polished, it really is extremely smooth stuff.
 
#9
Thanks hammer...um shark guy!
That was some useful info! I like the ingenuity of this application for CA glue.
Also nice to hear it from someone else that Wenge can cut it as a fretless fingerboard. God knows it sounds good under frets. I gotta' check out MTD instruments, as I've read here that Tobias Mr Tobias uses Wenge as a fretless board.
Also, if I wanted to spend the big bucks (about 750.00), Michael Pedulla would do the whole job in perfect form, I'd bet. He's such an awesome craftsman. I'd rather not have to coat it if I didn't have to, though. Thanks for the options.
 
#10
Just thought I'd chime in on this one with my $.02 of experience. I love wenge FB! with and with out frets. My personal fretless is unlined, was sanded to a polish and treated with nothing more than lemon oil. After 4 or 5 years now, it still feels like glass and looks as if it had just been polished. My current fretless build will be receiving a light CA coat just for kicks, to see if it gets a little more of that fretless "mahooo" sound. Although it's a splintery wood in its rough state, it sands to a high gloss finish like ebony and once polished you would never know it had all those pore dimples.

Wenge is by far my favorite FB wood. I know this is a bit of an echo but, add me to the list of it's a good fretless FB wood.
 
#11
^ As the Mr. says, it's great uncoated. I would definitely give it a try uncoated before I put anything on it. It feels fantastic under the hand.

The neck of my first build is wenge, untreated, and it feels great on my palm. (The board is ebony, which is polished like a piece of black glass....)
 
#12
MR ARose13:
Thanks so much. That is exactly the kind of experiential um...experience I'm seeking. I really think Wenge is incredible under frets. It's JANKA hardness rating suggests it ought to be pretty damned good as a fretless surface. Thanks for the very specific info.
Oh, but "Mahooo?" Dude, I think you're doing something wrong! ;)
 
#14
akori said:
MR ARose13:
Thanks so much. That is exactly the kind of experiential um...experience I'm seeking. I really think Wenge is incredible under frets. It's JANKA hardness rating suggests it ought to be pretty damned good as a fretless surface. Thanks for the very specific info.
Oh, but "Mahooo?" Dude, I think you're doing something wrong! ;)
Click to expand...

LOL. What can I say... I was trying to spell a sound, and for me being a horrible dyslexic bad speller that is quite a feat. There's no spell check for sounds .:p.

Glad my $.02 could be helpful (despite my spelling, LOL .:D.)
 

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