Fretless Bass Neck Repair Question!

[slor]

Doing my first job on a fretless neck, and need some backup please!

It's a late '70s Fender maple P-bass neck. Essentially, the neck takes a VERY slight dive near the nut, so that there's some string buzz in first position, not too much by my standards.

The truss rod is at full looseness, and the string tension isn't pulling the kink out of the neck. Seems like the thing to do is to sand the kink out.

I'm thinking that all I need is a correct radius block, appropriate sandpaper (I think a planer would be overkill), straightedges and some elbow grease. My goal is to get as close to no relief as possible, given it's a fretless neck.

I feel pretty confident about the work involved, including the refinish afterwords, but I want to doublecheck I'm on the right track here. Any thoughts or advice would be MOST appreciated!

[Jon]

If it were me, I would measure the fingerboard all over with a straight and try and locate any odd spots. But then sanding it out will be the tricky part, because I'm not sure if this is a maple or rosewood fingerboard neck. If it's a maple fingerboard, you'll have to level the entire fingerboard and shoot new poly on it.

[slor]

If it were me, I would measure the fingerboard all over with a straight and try and locate any odd spots. But then sanding it out will be the tricky part, because I'm not sure if this is a maple or rosewood fingerboard neck. If it's a maple fingerboard, you'll have to level the entire fingerboard and shoot new poly on it.

Yes, I was planning on taking measurements with the bass strung and unstrung, and see if there was anything else fishy going on. As far as I can tell on a quick first inspection, the area near the nut is the only problem spot. I was hoping I could sand the first 8 inches or so of the neck into something resembling levelness, but you think I'll have to go further, even if there are no other problem areas?

And yes, it's a maple neck. Given it's '70s vintage, I was going to do some area repair with tinted nitro lacquer and call it good.

[Jon]

I guarantee you wouldn't be able to match the finish. But all you would have to do is level the correct area then consistently sand the rest of the fingerboard until you take off the rest of the finish while being as careful as possible not to nick any other part of the neck. Also, it would be a great challenge to mask off just a small area to blend in with the rest of the fingerboard.

Start with 100 grit and measure frequently, there is no need to take off more than a very small amount of wood.

[slor]

I guarantee you wouldn't be able to match the finish. But all you would have to do is level the correct area then consistently sand the rest of the fingerboard until you take off the rest of the finish while being as careful as possible not to nick any other part of the neck. Also, it would be a great challenge to mask off just a small area to blend in with the rest of the fingerboard.

Start with 100 grit and measure frequently, there is no need to take off more than a very small amount of wood.

I believe you! In general, I actually prefer that there be some indication that a repair has been made (like a finish variation). In this case, well, the owner will just have to live with it. Thanks again for the support!