Re: Fretless

[SoundFNR@aol.com]

> taking the frets all the way down to fingerboard will not work well 
>unless 
> your going to put a bed of epoxy or something over it, the metal frets 
>and 
> the wood will not sand at the same rate and you can't get a smooth even 
> surface
> 
Hi Steve
  
the final smoothing is done with a sharpening stone (a flat one)
leaving you a very smooth neck (I used to get the stone out about
once every 6 months when I was gigging bass),
it worked fine then, (it works fine now)
So you can get away without the epoxy.(but if I'd known
that's what J Pastorius used I'd have done it)
I found the worst problem was with the pearl inlay.

Even if you refill the fret gaps you still potentially change the 
tension in the fingerboard.

>the fret slots do need to be filled w/ something solid to 
>maintain the continuity of  the neck, it also effects the tone
yes,I reset the intonation of the bass to get the sharper sound from
playing over the tang, (meant anyone who tried my bass played flat)
 
In the eighties there was a popular practice of lightly
sanding by hand to let the frets stand slightly proud, giving
a brighter sound with an attractive buzz on vibrato. Some people
even had brass tangs put in to get this effect.



..andy butler