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Maple board fretless


Beedster
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I have a maple board fretless Precision incoming :huh: . Any of you guys play fretless on maple? If so, what strings do you recommend? How do rounds and flats respectively sound on maple compared to on rosewood or ebony? Have any of you had a finish applied to maple to protect it and if so what difference did it make to the sound?
I know it's a bit daft to ask as no doubt I'll be finding out for myself in a few days, but I'm keen to hear what people think really :)
Chris

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I have a maple board fretless. I haven't had the nerve to try anything but flats on it and after a few horrible sets which reminded me just how much I hate flat- and half- wound strings I discovered TI Jazz flats which I love. However the bass is a Lightwave so I don't know how useful this info would be to you...

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I'll be the first to admit I've no idea how sound this theory is...but...if you do go with rounds you could try the Elixir coated strings. Whilst you'd still be putting the same pressure per square inch through the smaller contact surface, the slippery coating might help reduce the grinding into the fretboard produced by small movements of the string as you fret and release. Just seems to me that raw steel would grind in more than a coated string.

I'm probably talking out of my @rse, and the difference, if any, would be minute. Good strings though, and the slipperiness is great for fretless slides!

Steve.

Edited by stevebasshead
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[quote name='Beedster' post='106531' date='Dec 19 2007, 03:42 PM']I have a maple board fretless Precision incoming :huh: . Any of you guys play fretless on maple? If so, what strings do you recommend? How do rounds and flats respectively sound on maple compared to on rosewood or ebony? Have any of you had a finish applied to maple to protect it and if so what difference did it make to the sound?
I know it's a bit daft to ask as no doubt I'll be finding out for myself in a few days, but I'm keen to hear what people think really :)
Chris[/quote]

Maple, like ebony is a hard dense wood, so you get a more bright mwwwaaarrrr sound! softer woods like rose wood are warmer and don't sound so growly.

ALL strings will Knaw the fingerboard in time, You have to be prepared to shell out for the board to be levelled every few years, then eventually a new board.
One tip is to coat the FB with super glue.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm just about to have my rosewood board epoxied to protect it. I could let it wear, which might take years, but it's a lovely slab of wood and I'd rather keep it if possible. In the meantime, I'm using half-wounds which don't wear as much.

The problem with maple is that, unlike rosewood, it discolours and looks ugly if it wears. I still want one, though.

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Well, I played my new '79 maple fretless last night...
Very interesting, and not what I expected at all (having said this, I haven't A-B'd it on another bass yet so some of my observations might be specific to the bass as opposed to the neck). There is certainly a whole lot of mwah, but there's also a whole lot of bass, even with what appear to be fairly light and newish roundwounds. I was getting the sort of sound on the E and A strings that I associate with my old rosewood P strung with La Bella Deep Talkers, an almost subsonic thump, even at low volume. I'm going to put the maple-boarded neck onto my other fretless P tonight and run a direct comparison of the two necks on the same bass. I want to put a set of Tru Bass on one of them, and had assumed it would be the rosewood. I'm starting to think it might just be on the maple :)
Chris

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[quote name='wateroftyne' post='112742' date='Jan 3 2008, 10:16 AM']Bass? What bass?

It don't exist until there's pics! :huh:[/quote]

I wil of course provide evidence at the weekend :)
Beautiful maple board though mate, you'll be very jealous!
Chris

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[quote name='Beedster' post='112734' date='Jan 3 2008, 09:58 AM']Well, I played my new '79 maple fretless last night...
Very interesting, and not what I expected at all (having said this, I haven't A-B'd it on another bass yet so some of my observations might be specific to the bass as opposed to the neck). There is certainly a whole lot of mwah, but there's also a whole lot of bass, even with what appear to be fairly light and newish roundwounds. I was getting the sort of sound on the E and A strings that I associate with my old rosewood P strung with La Bella Deep Talkers, an almost subsonic thump, even at low volume. I'm going to put the maple-boarded neck onto my other fretless P tonight and run a direct comparison of the two necks on the same bass. I want to put a set of Tru Bass on one of them, and had assumed it would be the rosewood. I'm starting to think it might just be on the maple :)
Chris[/quote]

oh yeah, I didn't mention it: it has the deepest, heaviest, roundest bottom E I've ever played :-)

in other words, if it was a bit newer it'd have a teen age low botttom E

(gets coat)

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