Lfalex v1.1

QED used to do a cheap one (known as the Digit?) Back in the day... Have a look on eBay.. Or an Audio Alchemy DDE v1.0 I've got a 20 year old one still doing the business. They don't really break- no moving parts...

Do bear in mind that many luthiers use templates,for necks and even for their non-standard body shapes. Takes out a lot of the guesswork, especially with fretting fingerboards, positioning bridges etc. I reckon I could probably make a body or wings, but a neck/fretboard? No way José! Again, I bet the pros have a template for guiding a router when cutting a channel for a truss rod...

[quote name='vsmith1' timestamp='1374743184' post='2152574'] But good on you for being so flexible, adaptable and clearly resilient. [/quote] Absolutely. I've found those attributes to be relatively common amongst bassists, but sometimes lacking in other band members...

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1374660709' post='2151363'] Sounds like you need to fix it up as cheap as possible and move it on.... [/quote] Hence a thread about DIY phenolic fretboard repairs on a popular UK bass-related website.. I get the impression that I'll lose about £6/700 on it, though.

Time and lack of phone credit. Edit- And the fact that I have a distinct sinking feeling that I'll be told that there's nothing to be done for it that won't cost ££££. It cost enough in the first place, but once I got over the honeymoon period it's really failed to impress me. It's too light, feels and sounds like a toy. I struggle to take it seriously any more, TBH. Compounded by the fretboard problem That, and the fact I forget I own the bleeding thing as it's permanently in a cupboard. Total waste of time, effort and money. Only the Status restoration thread reminded me..

But was yours six years old (or whatever mine is)? Not that it's seen much mileage...

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1374589128' post='2150555'] This. I've never heard of or seen this happen to a phenolic fingerboard & I used them for years on my Zons. Sounds like it could well be a manufacturing fault. Don't do anything to it until you speak to Status about it. [/quote] Nor I. My 1996 Vigier has a phenolic fingerboard, and that's still perfect, as is the phenolic board on my Yamaha. It's beginning to sour my "relationship" (for want of a better term) with the bass. I'm struggling to be bothered with it at all, and I won't have the time to get it to Status until probably the second or third week in September at best.

[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1374578989' post='2150331'] do the strings actually touch the fretboard? I don't think they do on my basses, even the SEI, which has small frets.... Do you have long fingernails on your left hand? My guitarist does and it really eats up his boards, rose and maple. I don't like him borrowing my guitars! [/quote] I think my strings hit the fretboard of all my basses when played... No other instrument had ever done this in the last 18 years. My fingernails aren't causing it. That's for sure. The board isn't going grey/dull. It has a parchment-coloured stain from about the 9th fret to the 24th. I reckon superglue to fill the pit/s, a quick rub down with either fine wire wool or 1000 grit. A quick rub down with white spirit and dry to remove any grease/dust/contaminants and mask frets/board edges. Then paint with [i]very[/i] thin coats of black epoxy. I'm inclined to practice first. I've an old fretless neck laying around that'll be ideal...

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1372864323' post='2130884'] Don't you know? [/quote] Isn't that the guy from Depeche Mode?

Signed vinyl copy of "Leprosy" by Death (RIP Chuck) A frankly bizarre Russian Import Black Sabbath LP, which is half "Black Sabbath" and half "Paranoid" on the heftiest piece of vinyl known to man (180g?) Sounds amazing, too.

They're >30 miles away from me, so I pop over. Can't comment on the online/postal service, but they're good to deal with in person, too. "Here's the warehouse bit... Have a rummage around and see what you might like..." (It's actually really well laid out)

I cheated. Kef 3005.1 satellites/sub, a very nifty Pioneer amp, Sony Blu-ray and Samsung telly. In the lounge. Works OK. The audio components cost less than £900. Virtually no cable visible. In the back room lurks the proper stereo... Warts and all! Edit - and in both rooms, the speakers went in first, then the ancillaries, then the other furniture. So it all "works" correctly, and people sit where they ought to!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1374427725' post='2148610'] Agreed that the Bongo EQ is perfect. [/quote] Certainly is.

The bass is all carbon/graphite. The neck/body/hardware are all fine. It's just the phenolic fretboard that's rotting. It's fretted, and I'd attribute the pitting to delamination of the fretboard due to wear from the strings. Thanks for the suggestions so far. That Milliput looks like it might do the trick. Some sort of black epoxy that I can paint on in thin layers would be ideal. The harder and the shinier, the better!

I was hoping for a DIY fix. I have a feeling that I'll just get clobbered for the cost of a new fretboard. Which will no doubt be astronomical... And be just as prone to failure as the previous one. I have two other phenolic boarded instruments, a Vigier and a Yamaha, and neither have had this problem.

My Status Streamline's fretboard has become damaged by sweat ingress (God knows how!) It has stained the board in a way that can't be polished out. A small pit has started to wear into the board, too. It is no longer shiny and black, It's just dull and stained. The frets are fine, but does anyone have any ideas for repairing/restoring the fretboard? Thanks in advance, Alex.

Nice work. Did you have to do anything to the fretboards to repair/clean them up? My Streamline has a seriously manky fretboard already. My sweat seems to have penetrated some of the resin, and it doesn't look nice. It almost needs a thin coat of black Epoxy resin to make it black/glossy/shiny again...

Thomastik Infelds Round-cored DRs such as Fatbeams. Whilst they have the same tension per unit length, they feel softer as they are more [i] compliant[/i]. Edit- the TIs come in weird gauges, though, slightly less than 40-100. I think the DRs come in both 45,65,80,100 / 40,60,80,100 Re-edited for- Neither are cheap. Expect to pay 2 or 3 times what Rotos cost. That said, I look at Rotos wrong and they go dull. DRs last me up to 9 months if kept clean. Never tried TIs.

"This video is private" :/

[quote name='Clarky72' timestamp='1373914782' post='2143120'] I'm not seeing that to be completely honest... [/quote] Two points. 1. The Spector is slightly saved by the fact that it has a black headstock and black controls. How wrong would it be with a white headstock and gold controls? Very. 2. I was referring to a white bathroom suite with gold taps, plug holes etc...

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1372174612' post='2122472'] Is fretless bass addictive once you pass a certain point? Have others experienced this phenomenon? [/quote] No. Whilst I am tempted by one of the GWB Ibanez models, I've never really got on with fretless. It's not the playing of the thing, just the tonality. I've never found one that "sings". They all seem to have this nasal squawk to the sound. So I sold my SR5 fretless, bought a different fretted 5er, and saved up and bought an NS designs CR5 upright. That [i]is[/i] addictive. From the first time you do a huge slow downward glissando that sounds like Obi Wan Kenobi shutting down the Death Star's force field onwards...

White basses with gold hardware look like a really nasty bathroom suite.

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1373659064' post='2140395'] play an electric into a mixer + headphones [/quote] This. I live in a mid-terrace house, and have been known to play on into the wee small hours using either an electric or my EUB and headphones.

[quote name='KingBollock' timestamp='1373470224' post='2138005'] Possibly. Argh! Too many variables! [/quote] Including manufacturing tolerances. It's only a few percent...

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1373444191' post='2137552'] If it were a change that were forced upon me, (through accident for example) then I'd probably start by taking a huge amount of psychological support from the likes of Rick Allen and the awesome Bill Clements who are just two who have rebuilt their playing and career after a loss of a limb. An incredible inspiration to all musicians. [/quote] Interesting point about Rick Allen: He must be the only drummer to lose an arm to a car with not one, but two bass related names- Corvette Stingray. It was a C4 IIRC. It crashed and the seatbelt came undone. It was the buckle that did the damage, supposedly. Nasty. Good on him for showing the determination to start again from the ground up. And good on Def Leppard for supporting him.