Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Charlotte Henry on March 24, 2012 at 3:45am

This was going to be a discarded fretboard and I had already cut the slots for fretwire, but when I decided to do a fretless I knew that the flaws in this board would not matter i used it rather than throw it away.  The whole guitar turned out to be better than I had expected and is my favorite instrument to date.

The fretboard is completely flat and smooth.  The lines are visible but you can't feel them on top or edge.  The board is not bound.  The fingerboard started out wider than the neck and when I trimmed it down to mate with the neck I left the wood unstained and just finished clear laquer on it.

Permalink Reply by Charlotte Henry on March 24, 2012 at 3:39am

for the side dots I used black epoxy putty here but it isn't worth the effort since the side dot material from StewMac is $1.15 for a 6 inch piece which should easily do 4 guitars.

Permalink Reply by MadGomer on March 24, 2012 at 2:57am

Charlotte, that's really sharp! May have to steal that idea for my next one. Whatdid you use for your edge markers?

Permalink Reply by Randy S. Bretz on March 24, 2012 at 3:09am

Bone edge fret markers

Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on March 24, 2012 at 4:39am

If you are really frugal you can always do what I have done on my first build, (a Cookie Tin body, the next one will be a wood Cigar Box). It's fretless, but I wanted fret marks so I can figure out how to find the notes as I have never played before, so I marked the fret lines and dots using a sharpie before finishing the wood. Serves the purpose and doesn't look too bad from 10 feet away. :)>

Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on March 24, 2012 at 4:47am

Replied and hit the magic "disappear key" so I'll try this again. If you are frugal like me you can always take the cheap way out like I did on my first build, (a Cookie Tin...my next one is going to be a wood Cigar Box). It's fretless and as I have never played before I wanted the markings so I could find the notes. Did the fret lines and dots with a sharpie marker before I put the finish on the wood. Looks OK from ten feet and serves the purpose for my "learner".

DUH!! Excuse the double post. The first one went where it was supposed to, I just couldn't find it. Another "senior moment".

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Permalink Reply by Wiley Rutledge on March 24, 2012 at 5:01am

Nice build! That's more of what I usually see in fret less builds, hence my question. I DO love the effect of Charlotte's "fretted look alike" fretless build tho.

Permalink Reply by Jan Westphal on March 24, 2012 at 6:35pm

Unfortunately it is hard to find a small plug cutter over here...

But I discovered something that might do the trick: knitting needles. There is a shop selling wooden ones in all kinds of wood - ebony, rosewood, maple, boxwood ... relatively cheap and they come in many different diameters. So I can cut small pieces and glue them in just like the side dot material.

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