Best way to fill in old position marker holes

[edspyhill01]

The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
positions. I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
new ones in the correct position. The fingerboard is maple.

I looked for small maple dowels but not too succesful so far. Can I
use a premium wood filler product to fill the old holes? The old
holes are about 1/8" or smaller.

BTW, I also need to replace the string nut first The adjustable nut
leaves a space between the end of the fingerboard and the nut so
intonation is off.

Ed S.

[Pt]

On Jul 28, 9:31*am, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> positions. *I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> new ones in the correct position. *The fingerboard is maple.
>
> I looked for small maple dowels but not too succesful so far. *Can I
> use a premium wood filler product to fill the old holes? *The old
> holes are about 1/8" or smaller.
>
> BTW, I also need to replace the string nut first The adjustable nut
> leaves a space between the end of the fingerboard and the nut so
> intonation is off.
>
> Ed S.

Are you trying to put side markers on where the fret should be?
Does the bass have lines where the frets would be?
Intonating a fretless without lines might be difficult.

Pt

[edspyhill01]

On Jul 28, 10:51*am, Pt <pea...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jul 28, 9:31*am, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> > positions. *I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> > new ones in the correct position. *The fingerboard is maple.
>
> > I looked for small maple dowels but not too succesful so far. *Can I
> > use a premium wood filler product to fill the old holes? *The old
> > holes are about 1/8" or smaller.
>
> > BTW, I also need to replace the string nut first The adjustable nut
> > leaves a space between the end of the fingerboard and the nut so
> > intonation is off.
>
> > Ed S.
>
> Are you trying to put side markers on where the fret should be?
> Does the bass have lines where the frets would be?
> Intonating a fretless without lines might be difficult.
>
> Pt

No lines. I might not put new permanent position markers on it after
all. I'm finding that I'm adjusting to the fretless much faster than
I thought I would.

But the existing postition dots are distracting and I want to fill
them. Have you ever tried doing this?

[Pt]

On Jul 28, 9:58*am, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 28, 10:51*am, Pt <pea...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jul 28, 9:31*am, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> > > positions. *I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> > > new ones in the correct position. *The fingerboard is maple.
>
> > > I looked for small maple dowels but not too succesful so far. *Can I
> > > use a premium wood filler product to fill the old holes? *The old
> > > holes are about 1/8" or smaller.
>
> > > BTW, I also need to replace the string nut first The adjustable nut
> > > leaves a space between the end of the fingerboard and the nut so
> > > intonation is off.
>
> > > Ed S.
>
> > Are you trying to put side markers on where the fret should be?
> > Does the bass have lines where the frets would be?
> > Intonating a fretless without lines might be difficult.
>
> > Pt
>
> No lines. *I might not put new permanent position markers on it after
> all. *I'm finding that I'm adjusting to the fretless much faster than
> I thought I would.
>
> But the existing postition dots are distracting and I want to fill
> them. *Have you ever tried doing this?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I removed the frets from a bass and filled in the spaces with strips
of maple then sanded them flust with the rosewood.
My biggest problem was that the maple was a harder wood than rosewood.
If you do this be sure to use soft wood so it can be sanded flush.

Pt

[edspyhill01]

On Jul 28, 11:06*am, Pt <pea...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jul 28, 9:58*am, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Jul 28, 10:51*am, Pt <pea...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > On Jul 28, 9:31*am, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> > > > positions. *I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> > > > new ones in the correct position. *The fingerboard is maple.
>
> > > > I looked for small maple dowels but not too succesful so far. *Can I
> > > > use a premium wood filler product to fill the old holes? *The old
> > > > holes are about 1/8" or smaller.
>
> > > > BTW, I also need to replace the string nut first The adjustable nut
> > > > leaves a space between the end of the fingerboard and the nut so
> > > > intonation is off.
>
> > > > Ed S.
>
> > > Are you trying to put side markers on where the fret should be?
> > > Does the bass have lines where the frets would be?
> > > Intonating a fretless without lines might be difficult.
>
> > > Pt
>
> > No lines. *I might not put new permanent position markers on it after
> > all. *I'm finding that I'm adjusting to the fretless much faster than
> > I thought I would.
>
> > But the existing postition dots are distracting and I want to fill
> > them. *Have you ever tried doing this?- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I removed the frets from a bass and filled in the spaces with strips
> of maple then sanded them flust with the rosewood.
> My biggest problem was that the maple was a harder wood than rosewood.
> If you do this be sure to use soft wood so it can be sanded flush.
>
> Pt- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Duh, my bad. I left off the bit about the position markers in
question are the side postition dots, not the fingerboard serface
postition markers. I removed two of the old side dot plastic
material. The smallest wood dowel I can find is 1/8".

[Derek Tearne]

edspyhill01 <edspyhill01@gmail.com> wrote:

> The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> positions. I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> new ones in the correct position. The fingerboard is maple.

Tooth picks or matches are probably the correct size. An exact match
might be hard to achieve but you should get close.

You can also buy tinted woodfiller - sometimes called tone putty (so you
know you need some of that on your bass) - you will be able to get a
really close match with that - it also doesn't require as much sanding
down as a tooth pick would.

I'm not sure why you need to replace the nut though, that makes no sense
to me. Looking at the adjustable nut on the net it looks like the gap
is very small and that should not affect the intonation in any way.

Once you've taken the dots out the intonation (of an individual string)
can't be 'off' the notes are where they lay. You do need to set the
intonation for each string by moving the bridge saddles (or entire
bridge if floating) - but that's a separate issue.

Cutting a nut properly requires some very specialised and expensive tiny
files as well as experience. I just did some major work to a bass
converting it to an eight string. Including levelling and crowning the
frets (it seems I had a terrible case of rising tongue. I did cut a nut
for the bass, but at the moment it's with Mr Glyn the luthier having a
proper one made. Everything else is within my capabilities (once
stretched slightly) except that.

You may want to adjust the nut slots slightly lower - if the
manufacturers didn't know to put the dots in the right place they may
also not know the nut slots need to be every so slightly lower for a
fretless bass.

--- Derek


--
Derek Tearne - derek@url.co.nz
Vitamin S - improvisation from Aotearoa/New Zealand
http://www.vitamin-s.co.nz/

[edspyhill01]

On Jul 28, 6:26*pm, de...@url.co.nz (Derek Tearne) wrote:
> edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> > positions. *I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> > new ones in the correct position. *The fingerboard is maple.
>
> Tooth picks or matches are probably the correct size. *An exact match
> might be hard to achieve but you should get close.
>
> You can also buy tinted woodfiller - sometimes called tone putty (so you
> know you need some of that on your bass) - you will be able to get a
> really close match with that - it also doesn't require as much sanding
> down as a tooth pick would.
>
> I'm not sure why you need to replace the nut though, that makes no sense
> to me. *Looking at the adjustable nut on the net it looks like the gap
> is very small and that should not affect the intonation in any way.
>
> Once you've taken the dots out the intonation (of an individual string)
> can't be 'off' the notes are where they lay. *You do need to set the
> intonation for each string by moving the bridge saddles (or entire
> bridge if floating) - but that's a separate issue.
>
> Cutting a nut properly requires some very specialised and expensive tiny
> files as well as experience. *I just did some major work to a bass
> converting it to an eight string. *Including levelling and crowning the
> frets (it seems I had a terrible case of rising tongue. *I did cut a nut
> for the bass, but at the moment it's with Mr Glyn the luthier having a
> proper one made. *Everything else is within my capabilities (once
> stretched slightly) except that.
>
> You may want to adjust the nut slots slightly lower - if the
> manufacturers didn't know to put the dots in the right place they may
> also not know the nut slots need to be every so slightly lower for a
> fretless bass.
>
> --- Derek
>
> --
> Derek Tearne - de...@url.co.nz
> Vitamin S - improvisation from Aotearoa/New Zealandhttp://www.vitamin-s.co.nz/

Thanks. I would have never thought to try toothpicks. Since I have a
couple of nut replacement projects I bought a set of bass nut files
from Warmoth today. I'm using some of the mad money from oncall pay.
Starting Nov. 01 I can't spend a dime extra. The local hobby shop has
1/8" wood dowels and tomorrow I'll get one or two units.

There's no resale on these Ministar basses. I have a fretted and
fretless of the same model. So I'm going to take the time to do a new
nut for both basses.

I won't be attempting the Tusq graphite nuts until next weekend.

[Derek Tearne]

edspyhill01 <edspyhill01@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks. I would have never thought to try toothpicks. Since I have a
> couple of nut replacement projects I bought a set of bass nut files
> from Warmoth today.

Well, if you've got the files...

I've just got the bass back from Mr Glyn, it's got a lovely bone nut
that's much much better than I could have cut. It now also has a proper
set of 8 string bass strings with matched tension and tone it sounds
absolutely amazing.

I might have to make an audio file of it this weekend.

--- Derek



--
Derek Tearne - derek@url.co.nz
Vitamin S - improvisation from Aotearoa/New Zealand
http://www.vitamin-s.co.nz/

[edspyhill01]

On Jul 28, 10:51*pm, edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Jul 28, 6:26*pm, de...@url.co.nz (Derek Tearne) wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > edspyhill01 <edspyhil...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > The position markers on my Basstar fretless are in the wrong
> > > positions. *I want to remove the existing plastic material and install
> > > new ones in the correct position. *The fingerboard is maple.
>
> > Tooth picks or matches are probably the correct size. *An exact match
> > might be hard to achieve but you should get close.
>
> > You can also buy tinted woodfiller - sometimes called tone putty (so you
> > know you need some of that on your bass) - you will be able to get a
> > really close match with that - it also doesn't require as much sanding
> > down as a tooth pick would.
>
> > I'm not sure why you need to replace the nut though, that makes no sense
> > to me. *Looking at the adjustable nut on the net it looks like the gap
> > is very small and that should not affect the intonation in any way.
>
> > Once you've taken the dots out the intonation (of an individual string)
> > can't be 'off' the notes are where they lay. *You do need to set the
> > intonation for each string by moving the bridge saddles (or entire
> > bridge if floating) - but that's a separate issue.
>
> > Cutting a nut properly requires some very specialised and expensive tiny
> > files as well as experience. *I just did some major work to a bass
> > converting it to an eight string. *Including levelling and crowning the
> > frets (it seems I had a terrible case of rising tongue. *I did cut a nut
> > for the bass, but at the moment it's with Mr Glyn the luthier having a
> > proper one made. *Everything else is within my capabilities (once
> > stretched slightly) except that.
>
> > You may want to adjust the nut slots slightly lower - if the
> > manufacturers didn't know to put the dots in the right place they may
> > also not know the nut slots need to be every so slightly lower for a
> > fretless bass.
>
> > --- Derek
>
> > --
> > Derek Tearne - de...@url.co.nz
> > Vitamin S - improvisation from Aotearoa/New Zealandhttp://www.vitamin-s..co.nz/
>
> Thanks. *I would have never thought to try toothpicks. *Since I have a
> couple of nut replacement projects I bought a set of bass nut files
> from Warmoth today. *I'm using some of the mad money from oncall pay.
> Starting Nov. 01 I can't spend a dime extra. *The local hobby shop has
> 1/8" wood dowels and tomorrow I'll get one or two units.
>
> There's no resale on these Ministar basses. *I have a fretted and
> fretless of the same model. *So I'm going to take the time to do a new
> nut for both basses.
>
> I won't be attempting the Tusq graphite nuts until next weekend.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

FYI: The wood filler works much better than toothpicks. The wood
filler almost matches the maple fingerboard. The toothpicks are
darker, also harder to sand down without removing the finish from the
edge of the fingerboard.