cloudburst Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I've a question. I was going to buy a s/h fretless StingRay. However, it looks like the action at the nut is very low. The strings are making sizeable grooves on the headstock side. And on the fretboard side, some if not all strings touch the fretboard at the nut groove exit. Question - is this normal? The seller had mentioned about the fretboard being levelled in the last few years, so right now I'm thinking a new instrument would be a better way to go for peace of mind. Thanks, CB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 The string height at the nut of a fretless should be 0. It is perfectly ok for the strings to 'take off' the fretboard itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 If the fingerboard has had some previous work done to it, how much of it is left? This to me would be a factor as to whether or not to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelk27 Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Knowing how much life is left in the touchboard is a good idea, as levelling is cheaper than reboarding, but at the right price/for the right instrument that the board has been previously levelled shouldn't be a deal-breaker. Not that I do the work myself, but I've acquired a few old double bass touchboards to be converted for reboarding purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 [sub]This is common on Fretless Rays. I've had 4 (3 Ray4s and a Ray5) and all have been zero at the nut with a dig into the board behind the nut. The Ray5 needed a board level, I had this done by John Shuker and he commented on the rutting behind the nut as a bit of a design error on the Ray. He also commented that the nut was glued in which made removal (to facilitate the levelling) without chipping the pau ferro board near impossible. I'm being careful with the board on my current Ray4 F'less for this very reason.[/sub] [sub]Regarding the levelling affecting you decision tho - I wouldn't worry too much, it's a fair slab of wood and should take a good number of levels before a replacement. Stick to flats and you might never need it.[/sub] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drTStingray Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Interestingly, my fretless Ray has a bone nut fitted by a luthier for the previous owner - it never had gouges the headstock side of the nuts until I fitted a set of Rotosound Solo bass strings - I replaced these with Ernie Ball Grp 3 flats (which incidentally sound phenominal on this bass) - but they appear to break differently across the nut and don't dig in to the fingerboard the headstock side. Maybe it's just the way I fitted the strings. The bass has no playing or intonation issues at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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