Wademeister Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 Ok maybe the lignum vitae was a bad choice for a fingerboard. It's really nice and hard with tight closed grain so should be great for a fretless bass. But NNNNNOoooooo!!! It's also very waxy/oily and the epoxy apparantly didn't stick too well since the nut end of my fingerboard lifted from the neck. It was a mixed blessing I guess, since I was able to use a putty knife and remove the board cleanly. I also had a bit of rattle in the truss rod that I can take care of now. But still, what a pain in the rear!! At least it didn't wait until after it was finished to do that. What fingerboard material has worked well for you fretless bass builders? I'd like the thing to last a long time, which is why I went for the lignum vitae. That stuff would be ok even with roundwounds. It will last forever sitting in a drawer I suppose... Now what to do?? Maybe dymondwood? What will help bring out the mwah? What's a good way to fix that rattling truss rod now that I can get it out again? I had installed setscrews through the back of the neck and covered them with wood plugs, but I'll fix it right since I have the chance to do it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 3, 2004 Report Share Posted December 3, 2004 i do not play bass,but i have seen many fretless ebony boards,and i hear a good thick coat of epoxy is the way to go,because when you wear the epoxy down(it wears slowly),you just relevel the epoxy and recoat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 One way or two way truss rod? Set screws were a bit of overkill, weren't they? Maybe not. If the rod is one way you can set the rod with silicone sealant at 4 inch intervals making sure it is off the bottom and sides until dry. If your channel is huge, use o-rings at 6 inch intervals. O-rings work on 2 ways but usually there isn't enough room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american_jesus Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 definately use an ebony board... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Thanks Doc, the silicone sounds like just the thing. You mean put some small dabs of silicone in the channel, let them dry completely and then use the rod to compress them when it's installed right? I had put set screws in from the back of the neck because I had an unlined fretless board and really needed to go through the back. The setscrews worked great since I was able to drill the right size hole and screw them down just until the rod wouldn't rattle. When I was happy with it all I made some tiny plugs from the neck wood and covered the setscrew holes. One would probably have been enough if it were in just the right place, but the first one didn't get the job done. I think I put the first screw in at about the 10th fret location. Second one at around the fifth fret. The channel isn't really huge, I have to force the rod to go in it. But the part of the rod that turns is a bit smaller than the part that ties the two ends together. It also has some shrink wrap tubing on the screw shaft so I figured it was all set to drop in and go. Oops, not so. Looks like at least on the LMII double action rods the channel needs to be cut for the round part of the rod, then opened up on the top and ends to allow the flat part in. Live and learn eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 How did you prep the wood ( the gluing surface and neck surface) before gluing ? I think we have some "kitchen cabinet maker" builder types here who think planer or router smooth is the way to go. But I say consider sanding it a little rougher than that, so glue can seep into the fuzzy wood more, or do it by dampening the wood to raise the grain. From stew-mac: "After having the headstocks of several maple necks blow off on a router because of glue line failure (it's frightening), we ran some tests that showed as much as 60% glue line failure! Following the Franklin glue company's advice on surface preparation—and our own experiments—brought few improvements. Then an employee, Linda Breton, came up with the idea of raising the grain with water prior to gluing. Using this technique, our tests on maple showed less than 2% failure at the glue line. We raise the grain just as you might before finishing, but we don't sand it. We let it dry, then glue up the pieces. The opened pores accept more glue and the joint is far superior." http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/operat...36dingwall.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 "After having the headstocks of several maple necks blow off on a router because of glue line failure (it's frightening), we ran some tests that showed as much as 60% glue line failure! Following the Franklin glue company's advice on surface preparation—and our own experiments—brought few improvements. Then an employee, Linda Breton, came up with the idea of raising the grain with water prior to gluing. Using this technique, our tests on maple showed less than 2% failure at the glue line. We raise the grain just as you might before finishing, but we don't sand it. We let it dry, then glue up the pieces. The opened pores accept more glue and the joint is far superior." interesting thought.i prefer the sound of that over the scuff sanding.i will have to try that i always hit mine with 150 grit,but only to get rid of the burnish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 (edited) By " scuff sand" , do you mean using sandpaper backed by your hand or fingertips ? That's not what I mean. I mean a nice flat sanding block, with, if I remember correctly, something like 120 grit. Maybe 100 grit. I think 80 grit might be too rough. Edited December 5, 2004 by soapbarstrat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 That's cool soapbarstrat, The flat surface of the neck was sanded to 180 grit, which I though was just fine, but raising the grain with water sounds like a good idea. The fingerboard is so waxy water beads on it. The grain will never raise on this stuff. I never took any care to finish the back of the board, just milled it flat on the router and then used a surform file to make some gouges to help the glue hold on. I should have washed the back of the board with acetone but figured I had the texture grippy enough so went on with it. Maybe if I get everything flat and clean again I can do a more thorough prep job and give my finished board another shot. I'll also want to use a different glue. The two hour curing epoxy I used seemed just too viscous to penetrate into the surface of the wood at all. The stuff got good and hard but some came off with the board and some stayed on the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 If you have some scraps of that wood, it would help to experiment with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 By " scuff sand" , do you mean using sandpaper backed by your hand or fingertips ? That's not what I mean. I mean a nice flat sanding block, with, if I remember correctly, something like 120 grit. Maybe 100 grit. I think 80 grit might be too rough. no,i use a block...but only enough to get rid of the burnish i use 150 grit aluminum oxide Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 If you have some scraps of that wood, it would help to experiment with it. THANK YOU CAPTAIN OBVIOUS!! ahem...actually you know, I never thought about that. Would be a wise thing to do. I think I do have a couple scraps left too... Thanks again soapbarstrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 (edited) Wade, I'm interested in hearing how this turns out. Lignum Vitae is an interesting wood to say the least. I know that there is some kind of chemical you can put on it to remove the oil and stuff right on the outside of the wood. This might be enough to give the glue a chance to set, before the oil comes back (maybe it was some kind of wood bleach?). One concern here, Lignum Vitae is extremely oily stuff, what will this do to the tone of your strings? Please, keep us updated with your findings. Edited December 5, 2004 by javacody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedoctor Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 CRC non-flammable BrakKleen is a wonderful, deep cleaning solvent for removing oil. It just loves to eat laquer, acrylics, varnish and anything else it touches. Dries in about a minute but you shouldn't let it. Keep wiping to soak up the solvent/oil mix and get it the freak out a dere. DO NOT weld or use any flames around this stuff! Non-flammable but creates a nerve toxin when exposed to UV and heat. Do you think one of those truss rods with a flat top bar would reduce the pressure on your fingerboard? I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.