Roundwounds on a fretless (pau ferro)

[Duarte]

Hi guys. Just wondering if any of you have experienced round wound strings on a fretless bass with a pau ferro fingerboard? I had rounds on a rosewood board once and they chewed it straight up. I heard pau ferro is harder than rosewood.

From what I understand, rounds are fine on ebony, what about pau ferro?

I don't wanna wreck my new ray.

Cheers.

 

[MrMusashi]

i use rounds on my 30th sr4 and i cant see any marks yet..

actually i prefer the roundwound sound on the fretless.. dunno why

if youre unsure you could have a luthier coat it in epoxy (aka do a jaco )

MrM

 

[MingusBASS]

If by "wreck my new ray" you mean make it sound bad ass, then yes it will! I wouldn't worry about it, you'll eventually see marks, but it won't effect the sound or playability for several years even if you play it daily. The same thing happens to Ebony over time.

 

[rhythmCity944]

worse case scenario you'll need to plain the neck one day but pau ferro is hard enough that it'll stay good for a long time with average play...ask yourself, will your fretless be your main bass? Will you play it an hour a day? Twice a week? Or a closest queen? I'm sure you'll get many happy happy years with the bass before any problem with the neck arises...

 

[bassmonkeee]

Fretboards are like tires. I could keep my tires from wearing down by not driving it, too.

If the sound you want comes from rounds, use rounds. If the sound you want comes from flats, use flats.

Music is about sound--make it sound the way you want, and worry about the fretboard when it needs to be worried about.

 

[carpedebass]

Fretboards are like tires. I could keep my tires from wearing down by not driving it, too.

If the sound you want comes from rounds, use rounds. If the sound you want comes from flats, use flats.

Music is about sound--make it sound the way you want, and worry about the fretboard when it needs to be worried about.

Oh that's why I keep having to replace my tires.

 

[Brim]

Rounds. I used DR low rider nickels on my fretless Sterling a few years back. Yeah, some marks in the board....but it sounded nice and felt good to my fingers. Could never get used to flats - they way they feel.

 

[RobertB]

The other "tip" I've heard & seen multiple times about sparing the board on a fretless - especially when using rounds - is to just train yourself to use only "horizontal" vibrato, meaning, in the direction parallel to the string. It makes sense that the vast majority of board damage would occur as a result of "vertical" vibrato technique. It may be tricky to incorporate that after playing fretted x number of years without having to think about it, but it may be well worth the initial effort/mindfulness, in terms of sparing the board.

 

[Figjam]

I do it. Definitely try to incorporate the whole parallel vibrato deal.

 

[soniq]

Yes rounds do cut into pao ferro eventually. Think the longer ones are from vibrato technique as Robert states, but it doesn't harm sound/tone.

 

[Dr Stankface]

I've got wear on my pau ferro fingerboard from using rounds. It's a 2005 buttercream LE.

It sounds too good to care.

 

[Duarte]

Thanks guys, judging from that pic it doesn't look half as bad as my old rosewood board.

And I think rounds of fretless do sound badass, any of you know the bassist Mick Karn? (solo bassist and bassist for 'Japan')

I'll experiment with different strings too. I've also tried to find a luthier to do the epoxy thing, but no-one in the UK offers that service. I love the look of that shiny fingerboard...

 

[oli@bass]

train yourself to use only "horizontal" vibrato, meaning, in the direction parallel to the string.

Very good point. That's mainly the reason I put flats on the fretless, which will stay on until I stop trying to do the fretted style vibrato... the good thing with flats is also that they don't react very good to the vertical vibrato motion and therefore stop me automatically from doing it.

 

[sballow]

I am trying to resurrect this discussion because I am curious if any progress on this idea has been made in 3 years. I have a bongo 6 that came from the factory with round wounds and i ordered flatwounds because i didnt want to damage the board. I don't like the flatwounds but i was wondering if anyone else had some input.

 

[Golem]

`

Pau Ferro is essentially a harder version of Rosewood, so it has a
different sound and does hold up better but it's not immune to RW
strings. Wear depends a lot on your playing style. Most "modern"
styles are quite energetic, thus increase the wear.

Many many players feel caught in this dilemma of RW wear vs
tone of flats cuz they wish to avoid both .... and these same
many many players seem to gag at the thought of half rounds.
I guess they like to go to extremes ... no middle ground wimps,
these honchos. OK, then, but you gotta pay the cost to be
the boss .... pay the luthier, that means.

 

[adouglas]

Priority check....

Your bass is a tool for making music, not a holy relic.

Do what sounds best. Deal with the consequences of use through proper periodic maintenance. If planing or even replacing a fretboard once every many-many years is part of the price for mmmmwwwwwaaaaahhhhhh, then so be it.

Everything wears. Frets wear, require dressing and eventual replacement. How is this any different?

 

[drTStingray]

This is correct but the fact is that strings eat fretless boards in a way I've never experienced with frets.

I have attached a picture of the board of my fretless Ray after 2 years of gigging - and there is a step in the board beneath the G string from about 12th to 15th fret. Prior to this the previous owner of the bass hadn't used it much at all but there is swirling from the roundwounds that were on it. The bass still plays OK BTW.

I too didn't like flatwounds - in fact I had a set on my SR5 which for me made the bass almost unplayable - they were not EBMM ones.

I have put EBMM Group 3 flatwound on my fretless Ray and absolutely love it - the difference is they have very similar tension to roundwounds - not only does it mwah like crazy it also has all the thump I could want and sounds perfect in the smooth jazz quartet I use it with.

So for me, the right flatwounds sound great and will avoid me incurring expensive fretboard work as often in the future. I was frankly astonished when I took the non EBMM half ground strings off to change them. The bass has a gorgeous figured neck and nice grain on the fretboard - I guess it's striking a balance but I don't want to have the board re-shot or a new fretboard too often. I might be tempted to put rounds on for a one off event like a recording if I wanted a specific sound, but the Group 3s are great for everyday use - they also have plenty of zing if you want it, with a bit of help from the bass's EQ.

 

[Elad_E]

I've put rounds on my fretless Stingray.
with flats it sounded pretty much like any bass with flats - lacking any upper mid range which is where "Mwhaaa" lives

I've put .100-.040 nickel plated rounds and while there are some swirl marks I don't sweat it.
I admit I don't play it half as much as my fretted basses but fear of wear is not one of the reasons for that, if it was my main axe I would still be using rounds (though I do find flats nicer for glissandos).