4 String Fretless Design

[screwdelulu]

After building my first instrument, An electric solid body guitar, I decided on building a 4 string fretless bass.

I have a lot of questions which i hope you guys can answer:

1.I wanna make fret lines, how do you fill the fret slots? With veneer of some kind?

2.Is there any difference when building a fretless bass, compared to a fretted one? (except to the fact that it is fret LESS ).

3.I wanna put 1 pickup on it, where should I position it?

4.Is it necessary to put finish on the fingerboard? I saw that epoxy is being used… Is it essential on a very hard wood such as ebony?

5.What is the standard string height in fretless bass?

6.What is the standard radius of fretless bass fingerboards?

7.What should be the distance between the outer strings and the edge of the fingerboard?

8.What is the standard string spread on fretless bass nut?

9.Do I need any special tools for slotting the nut on a 4 string bass?

If you know where i can find measurement of fretless bass it will help a lot.

Thanks in advance,

Itai

[Phil Mailloux]

1.I wanna make fret lines, how do you fill the fret slots? With veneer of some kind?

Exactly

2.Is there any difference when building a fretless bass, compared to a fretted one? (except to the fact that it is fret LESS  ).

Besides the height of the nut slots, no.

3.I wanna put 1 pickup on it, where should I position it?

Your choice, depends on which pickup you use.

4.Is it necessary to put finish on the fingerboard? I saw that epoxy is being used… Is it essential on a very hard wood such as ebony?

You don't HAVE to use epoxy, if you use flatwound strings you'll be fine. If you use roundwound strings, it might take a while but eventually it'll start eating your fretboard

6.What is the standard radius of fretless bass fingerboards?

Same as a regular bass, in other words, that's your own personal choice of whats more comfy to you.

7.What should be the distance between the outer strings and the edge of the fingerboard?

I don't know whats the norm but I leave 3mm on my instruments.

8.What is the standard string spread on fretless bass nut?

Your choice, what do you like best? J-style spread? P-style spread?

9.Do I need any special tools for slotting the nut on a 4 string bass?

I don't know. I personally buy prefabricated/preslotted nuts and fit my neck to them.

Good luck