WAK Guitars Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Yeah so I was wondering if anybody has used some really out-there fretboard materials. For my next build I really want to find a way to spice it up, so I was thinking of maybe an ebonite or steel fretboard (If I could get my hands on some ebonite, or find a steel fretboard). That got me thinking if there would be some other cool materials for fretboards. Any ideas? Also if anyone knows of a place I could find either ebonite or a steel fretboard, that would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howfar Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 I saw a photo of an old relic with a pearloid fretboard. Looked pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Aluminium have been used, Parker uses some "man made" material, Hagström used perloid in the early days, there is a finnish company (cant remember the name right now) that makes the complete guitar, including fb, out of some syntetic material... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 (edited) there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. Edited June 8, 2008 by killemall8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 vigier use something called delta-metal on fretless models Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted June 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 (edited) there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. OH yeah I know it would be impossible to fret a steel fb. I remember though, there was a thread a while back with someone sho had a link to some ebay auction where they had a metal strat neck. All metal. So theres gotta be a way. It may have been aluminum though. EDIT: found the thread. Edited June 8, 2008 by WAK Guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donut Man Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Maybe you could just mill the frets into the steel of the board, rather than slotting it and then putting frets in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted June 8, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Maybe you could just mill the frets into the steel of the board, rather than slotting it and then putting frets in. Yeah that would probably be good. The only problem would be, once your frets have had it, your board has had it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. No way in this life...? Doesn't really strike me as impossible in any way. Fretwire without barbs and slots cut the right size seems like a good way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. Fretwire without barbs and slots cut the right size seems like a good way to do it. So how would the frets be secured? The barbs are what holds them into the wood. Maybe some type of glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. Fretwire without barbs and slots cut the right size seems like a good way to do it. So how would the frets be secured? The barbs are what holds them into the wood. Maybe some type of glue? With the correct tolerances you can press it in and it will hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. OH yeah I know it would be impossible to fret a steel fb. I remember though, there was a thread a while back with someone sho had a link to some ebay auction where they had a metal strat neck. All metal. So theres gotta be a way. It may have been aluminum though. EDIT: found the thread. i started that thread. it was an aluminum neck, not metal. aluminum is a completley different story, its a hundred times softer. this guy used a clear plexi board http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZl8sYqJZgg...feature=related Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. OH yeah I know it would be impossible to fret a steel fb. I remember though, there was a thread a while back with someone sho had a link to some ebay auction where they had a metal strat neck. All metal. So theres gotta be a way. It may have been aluminum though. EDIT: found the thread. i started that thread. it was an aluminum neck, not metal. aluminum is a completley different story, its a hundred times softer. this guy used a clear plexi board http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZl8sYqJZgg...feature=related Yeah aluminium is a softer material, doesn't make putting frets on a steel board impossible. It's all about the tools and know-how. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 One of my customers uses a type of acrylic which gets some kind of hard coating in an oven under high pressure. When done the fingerboard has the toughness of glass, is dark gray color, and very nice to the feel. I think the coating is something related to ceramic. He's a PHD chemical engineer so I am not sure exactly what it is for sure he puts on. The problem with them is bonding it to wood. Though only one side gets the coating, getting it to stick to the neck presents a challenge for him. I know he used a wood veneer on the bottom of the fingerboard which he bonded to the acrylic using another process. He gave me a long scientific explanation at the molecular level why the acrylic won't bond to wood directly. His process worked and he made 1/2 dozen LP Jr style prototypes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestorationAD Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 How about a laminate board? maybe a flame maple board with carbon fiber lams... Or you could salvage some Bakelite or Ebonite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim37 Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. No way in this life...? Doesn't really strike me as impossible in any way. Fretwire without barbs and slots cut the right size seems like a good way to do it. glue them in http://www.3m.com/US/auto_marine_aero/au0222b.html im sure there is somethign that would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAK Guitars Posted June 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 (edited) That plexiglass board was cool, not quite my cuppa, but some cool ideas in there. Too bad he had to screw on the board, I guess it makes sense if you dont want some ugly glue visible under your board. How about a laminate board? maybe a flame maple board with carbon fiber lams... Or you could salvage some Bakelite or Ebonite I actually emailed this company called Holbourne Industries that makes hard rubber and asked about ebonite in sheets. They emailed me back and they offer a sheet thats 12" x 12" approx x 1/2" thick which wouldnt be big enough for a board. It costs about 35 pounds, so not cheap. I havent heard of Bakelite though, I'll have to check it out. there is now way in this life you would be able to fret a steel fretboard. it just wouldnt work. but i do see synthetic ebony for fretboards on ebay a lot. No way in this life...? Doesn't really strike me as impossible in any way. Fretwire without barbs and slots cut the right size seems like a good way to do it. glue them in http://www.3m.com/US/auto_marine_aero/au0222b.html im sure there is somethign that would work. Yeah that might work. Edited June 10, 2008 by WAK Guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chonker Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Parker fly's have glued on frets I thought, composite fingerboards too. Beautiful guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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