Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on September 30, 2011 at 2:56pm

See my post

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/secretsofthecbgunderground/foru...

-WY

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Permalink Reply by Nathan King on October 1, 2011 at 11:23am

You could try cutting the slots wider than typical fret tangs would be (with a wood saw) and inlay contrasting wood slices in there.  It's a bit of a pain, but looks pretty cool.

 

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on October 1, 2011 at 1:06pm

I used a granadillo fretboard (similar to rosewood) with maple veneer glued into the fret slots on the Little Purple Travel Bass http://skeesixcbgs.com/blog-2/page/2/ (about halfway down the page).

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Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on October 2, 2011 at 3:32am

Thanks folks, for all your ideas. It's food for thought.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on October 2, 2011 at 7:42am

Vinny,

Fishing line. Just glue it in. Comes in colors, even.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Tinker on October 2, 2011 at 8:15am

I saw the fret lines and drill the markers and then use wood wax over it to fill the holes in, it then hardens, works nicely.,

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Permalink Reply by Richard G Caudill on October 2, 2011 at 8:47am

Nathan ,, sure like that idea about the fret inlay  !!!   I gonna have to try that  !

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Permalink Reply by Mozart1075 on October 2, 2011 at 10:37am

If you want to use some kind of paint. Try looking in an art supply store for fine tipped paint markers. They come in all sorts of colors including silver and gold.

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Permalink Reply by Order99 on October 4, 2011 at 6:45pm

I've only 'Fretted' two Fretless guitars so far-I took the lazy way out and drew my guides in pencil, then used a woodburning pen for a more permanent solution. Not fancy but quick and Rustic...

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Permalink Reply by Order99 on October 4, 2011 at 6:54pm

Come to think of it though, you did say you were using mahogany-it might be too dark for a pen, I use light Poplar...if that's the case maybe a fine copper craft wire in shallow grooves would make a nice contrast, but then you're nearly Fretting again...

And for some reason the Edit functions aren't working for me tonight, hence the second Comment.

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Permalink Reply by Seaman Jay on October 4, 2011 at 9:14pm

With a 3 string guitar you don't really need the whole fret marker (actually I saw few professional, multi-K$, 4-and-more strings basses with this kind of marking)

Sometimes it is enough to mark the fret positions on the upper edge of the fingerboard. Just drill shallow hole at every fret's position (double for harmonics) and fill it with white... paint, plastic, bone powder mixed with a glue, choose your favourite.

Being extremely lazy (with a slight touch of "I can play fretless" elitism ;-) ) I marked only the natural harmonics' positions (fret 5, 7 and 12). It seems to be enough - after a while. And markers are a big improvement, playing got much easier after I added them...

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Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on October 4, 2011 at 10:46pm

Thanks folks for your input. There's just so many different options isn't there.

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