Protruding lines in finger board.

[bassfan41]

Is it normal for fret lines to start standing out and give a slight fretted characteristic on a fretless bass? I notice it when I slide up or down the board slowly. Could I epoxy and sand the board down to fix this? Does it get worse, or is a little of this normal? It's a Squier J bass.

Edited November 6, 2015 by bassfan41

[alyctes]

How old is it? How much use does it get? Flats, or rounds, or what?

[bassfan41]

It's about 8 months old. I've had rounds, tapes, and half-rounds all on it just experimenting, but over half of the playing I've done has been with rounds. I play about every other day for 1-3 hours, so it gets a bit of use. This seems to me if it gets worse, it may cause some "fret" buzz. I could see this being an issue simply from being a lower end and lower priced bass, but mostly wondering if some of this is normal. If not, wanna find a fix early on.

Edited November 6, 2015 by bassfan41

[Lo-E]

That shouldn't be happening. What's probably going on is that your fingerboard may have dried out some and shrunk, but the fret lines (often a plastic veneer) didn't shrink with it.

You could try oiling your board with some pure lemon oil and see if it expands a bit, but it's more likely you'll need to sand the lines down so they're flush with the board. You shouldn't need to epoxy anything unless you want to. It will change the sound of the bass, but some people like the results.

[JamesBass]

[quote name='bassfan41' timestamp='1446782062' post='2902326']
It's about 8 months old. I've had rounds, tapes, and half-rounds all on it just experimenting, but over half of the playing I've done has been with rounds. I play about every other day for 1-3 hours, so it gets a bit of use. This seems to me if it gets worse, it may cause some "fret" buzz. I could see this being an issue simply from being a lower end and lower priced bass, but mostly wondering if some of this is normal. If not, wanna find a fix early on.
[/quote]
Return to shop with the issue, you should still be in warranty! It's worth at least speaking to the shop and an independent luthier.

[colgraff]

[quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1446789927' post='2902331']
Return to shop with the issue, you should still be in warranty! It's worth at least speaking to the shop and an independent luthier.
[/quote]
James is right but it doesn't need to be within warranty, it is not of merchantable quality or fit for purpose and is covered by the Sale of Goods Act.

[Geek99]

Take it back and discuss it with them, I would advise

[ikay]

The Squier fretless has an ebonol fingerboard with plastic/mylar fret markers that are just cut in to the surface. I had one some time ago which had the same problem. Very slight undulation in the board where the markers were, just enough to be annoying. I didn't notice it when I bought it but tried a few others afterwards and they all had it to some degree. It's a basic design flaw of using plastic fret markers.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1446798199' post='2902365']
Take it back
[/quote]

... and get a proper fretless i.e. one without fret markers

Edited November 6, 2015 by bassman7755

[fretmeister]

Get it sanded.

It can happen irrespective of price of the bass. Wood changes over time it can shrink as it dries but excessively dried wood can expand in a home environment too.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1446803758' post='2902425']
Get it sanded.

It can happen irrespective of price of the bass. Wood changes over time it can shrink as it dries but excessively dried wood can expand in a home environment too.
[/quote]

If it's the Squier VMJ fretless the fingerboard is ebanol and the lines are plastic inserts. The bass is still under warranty. Take it back to the shop and get them to fix it properly, or replace it with one that doesn't have this problem.

Edited November 6, 2015 by BigRedX

[bassfan41]

Thanks for the responses guys. All good information. I will take the advice of trying and oiling it up first and see if this helps. If not, I will take it back to the store. This is when I'm happy I don't buy over the interweb. I hear you on the lineless, bassman7755, that's in the future budget.

Edited November 6, 2015 by bassfan41

[SteveK]

I would advise against DIY remedies (unless you are confident of the results). It could give the shop a justifiable reason not to honour the warranty.

[HowieBass]

[quote name='bassfan41' timestamp='1446844086' post='2902944']
Thanks for the responses guys. All good information. I will take the advice of trying and oiling it up first and see if this helps. If not, I will take it back to the store. This is when I'm happy I don't buy over the interweb. I hear you on the lineless, bassman7755, that's in the future budget.
[/quote]

If it's the Squier VM fretless then oiling won't help, the fingerboard isn't wood, it's a phenolic resin type material, ebonol, as others have already mentioned. This problem with raised fretlines has been noted by some owners of the Squier VM fretless though I don't know how common it is nor if it was just a particular batch affected by the issue. I'd be inclined to take it back to the shop and show them what's happened.

[bassfan41]

I'm with you on that one Steve, I also just discovered that ebonol isn't much of a conductor for oil (as I saw Howie also said) , so looks like it's back to the shop.

Edited November 6, 2015 by bassfan41

[Geek99]

[quote name='bassfan41' timestamp='1446844086' post='2902944']
Thanks for the responses guys. All good information. I will take the advice of trying and oiling it up first and see if this helps. If not, I will take it back to the store. This is when I'm happy I don't buy over the interweb. I hear you on the lineless, bassman7755, that's in the future budget.
[/quote]
It's ebanol,so oil won't help.
Take it back to the shop