bass- wenge fretless?

[ROSCOEdward]

does anyone have any experience with a wenge FRETBOARD set up fretless?
I know its grainy but in the wenge ive been around, it doesnt seem that significant.
if so, are there any finishing options that would fill it out without having too glossy of a look?

ive done searches, im just looking for specific answers and up-to-date opinions
thanks guys

(hoping maybe tubby.twins or line6man may have ran across some?)

 

[reinhold]

Please don't finish the wenge!!!  It feels amazing without a finish and does not require one.  I think a wenge fretless would feel fantastic and I would definitely go for it.  I have a wenge neck and it is the smoothest, fastest feeling neck I've ever played.

 

[AutoBat]

put the finish down and step away from the wenge!

 

[elfro89]

put the finish down and step away from the wenge!

+1

 

[line6man]

I would avoid Wenge as a fingerboard wood.

I don't like the concept of using any open-grained woods. A good fingerboard should be hard and tight grained, like Ebony, Pau Ferro or Bloodwood.

 

[tubby.twins]

I have one fretless Gecko neck with a Wenge fingerboard, and it sounds nice. I was initially worried that its open grain would make it weaker than some of the other, harder fingerboard woods out there - all of which have a nice, bright tone - but so far the Wenge seems to be holding up fairly well.

Tonally it is moderately bright with roundwounds, but the resonant peak (I.e. the "frequency" of the zing) seems to be lower than Ebony.  I would compare it with Bubinga but with a bit more in the upper midrange.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

put the finish down and step away from the wenge!

+1.

The fretless fingerboards just about have to have a finish to have a long life, even with flatwounds.  Many of the usual mfgs that wouldn't finish an exotic wood fretboard do when it's a fretless.  Don't just see Wenge and finish in the same sentence and have your training take over.

 

[line6man]

put the finish down and step away from the wenge!

+1.

The fretless fingerboards just about have to have a finish to have a long life, even with flatwounds.  Many of the usual mfgs that wouldn't finish an exotic wood fretboard do when it's a fretless.  Don't just see Wenge and finish in the same sentence and have your training take over.

No, I'd say a lot of people are happy with their raw Ebony boards, and if you can't get a good run out of an Ebony board with flats, you must have insanely aggressive technique.

There are different types of fretless fingerboard finishes. Some are for durability, but others are just for tone. For example, the boat epoxy Jaco used on his Bass of Doom (Petit's Polypoxy, IIRC) really did not protect the board from stringwear. He refinished his board frequently. Modern epoxies provide more durability. Michael Dolan told me his polyester fingerboard finish would be prone to stringwear, too.

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

I'd say a lot of people are happy with their raw Ebony boards, and if you can't get a good run out of an Ebony board with flats, you must have insanely aggressive technique.

+1

I worried about that a little when I built my fretless Carvin kit, and there was a while when I had tried stainless steel strings that summoned scratches (try saying that 3 times fast!), but it was only superficial.  If you slap on fretless (I tried for a while), there's a good chance that the end of your finger board will have grooves in it, regardless of the wood, but that won't affect anyone's technique.

Related: I've since come to favor nylon tapewounds, the least abrasive kind of strings (on fretboards and fingers) there are, almost entirely for their tone.  I did a fretless conversion on a cheap ovation-style ABG and used those strings, just for the sake of the rosewood fretboard.  I came to love 'em - being able to play for hours without shredding my fingers is pretty nice.  They're expensive to buy, but last years.

 

[Corey P.]

The selling point for Wenge so to speak is the open grain - the reduced drag is meant to contribute to a faster neck; that said, I don't know if that's the route I'd go for a fretless fingerboard (the neck, absolutely), as line6man said there are some other strong raw wood options and the inconsistencies in a Wenge board may wind up more of a distraction than an aid...

Martin Ketih recommends Pau Ferro for a raw fretless option: TalkBass Thread.

 

[ROSCOEdward]

I agree that ebony is a great board, and pau ferro is lovely; pau ferro visually doesnt work and i just dont want ebony. call me silly.

what im really trying to get at is HAS ANYONE USED WENGE as the fretboard. im getting lots of good info here, but i know about the standard-best in fretless boards already, and im taking an aesthetic goal here.

(i know i said something stupid above about finishing the grain out, but im really not interested in trashing the beautiful wood like that)

 

[line6man]

I agree that ebony is a great board, and pau ferro is lovely; pau ferro visually doesnt work and i just dont want ebony. call me silly.

what im really trying to get at is HAS ANYONE USED WENGE as the fretboard. im getting lots of good info here, but i know about the standard-best in fretless boards already, and im taking an aesthetic goal here.

(i know i said something stupid above about finishing the grain out, but im really not interested in trashing the beautiful wood like that)

Was your aesthetic preference for quartersawn or flatsawn Wenge?

 

[ROSCOEdward]

I agree that ebony is a great board, and pau ferro is lovely; pau ferro visually doesnt work and i just dont want ebony. call me silly.

what im really trying to get at is HAS ANYONE USED WENGE as the fretboard. im getting lots of good info here, but i know about the standard-best in fretless boards already, and im taking an aesthetic goal here.

(i know i said something stupid above about finishing the grain out, but im really not interested in trashing the beautiful wood like that)

Was your aesthetic preference for quartersawn or flatsawn Wenge?

quartersawn, though i have seen some flatsawn patterns that look pretty striking