Among my more than a hundred basses I've never had it before, but now it has happened: On my 2011 Novoselic RD, the fretboard near the saddle has come off. I first wondered about the new extreme "dead spots" on the D and G strings when fretted as D# and G#, I had never noticed them before and the notes died extremely quickly and rang hollow. Since I didn't know how a loose fretboard sounds (now I do, really weird!), it took me a week to actually locate the issue. :mrgreen: Realisation only dawned when I noticed that exerting extreme pressure while fretting improved the sound somewhat (as then there is more contact between fretboard and neck).
Not a big thing, I could probably repair it with superglue and a syringe needle, but will take it to the luthier for a proper repair. As there was no outside influence much less force - the bass was in its stand for a long time -, I wonder whether the new fretboard materials Gibson resorted to when they had their, uhum, wood import issues might have something to do with it. There is small hairline fissure where fretboard meets neck. To be fair, the bass was very close to the very strong airconditioning in my office, but so are dozens of other Gibbies who have never encountered a similar issue.
Hmm, not good.
Isn't this something Gibson should fix for you under warranty?
Definitely a warranty issue. If it were a major expense, then make Gibson do the work, but since it's a relatively easy fix, I'll bet Uwe has more confidence in his luthier.
What kind of fretboard wood was used on these?
i think you expect too much, bass wise, from anything named novoselic.
His playing ain't bad.... or were you commenting on signature instruments?
What warranty? This bass was bought via Mark from Sweetwater or some other online retailer - whatever warranty there is (if not already expired) sure won't apply to me as a German resident and shipping it back to Mark to have him return it is a hassle not worth it. If I had bought it in Germany, I'd attempt a warranty return just for the experience of it (and report about it here). But in essence it's a minor repair/quick fix.
I'm philosophical about it, a question of statistics. It's not like my "rubberneck" 8-string Ric which has been a source of constantly renewed grief from the first day I had it. :)
The material on the Novoselic is dark-stained obeche,
http://www.wood-database.com/lumber-identification/hardwoods/obeche/
the name itself already raises suspicions ... :rolleyes: I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with it, but I'm not knocking Gibson because of it, they had to go for alternative woods at the time and you only learn from experience.
"i think you expect too much, bass wise, from anything named novoselic"
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Nofi, wiser words (albeit post-acquisition) have never been spoken. Don't get me started on Nirvana. The bass is probably their revenge for me being so oblivious to their lasting influence. Darn bar-chord-shovers without the most basic inderstanding of the European rules of harmony. Should have gone to summer school with Wishbone Ash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNiZSppBMus
Sorry, didn't think about the warranty issue since this was bought in the US.
Sure doesn't sound like obeche would be a good fingerboard wood -- soft and lightweight, with large pores -- but if your link's info is accurate, at least it doesn't have gluing problems like some oily exotics. Probably an error in workmanship.
Also look here (http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/obeche/obeche%20fact%20sheet.htm), especially under Properties/Workability and Uses: "Very soft, weak wood" , "used extensively used where durability and strength are unimportant", etc. Henry must have gotten it cheap b/c it seems to be totally unsuitable as a fingerboard wood.
Lol, very trustworthy/reliable material then! Smells like cheap spirit on the part of Henry J. But the lightness ties in nicely with the signature characteristic - it doesn't indent your head as badly ... K(l)urt(z) Novoselic would know.
Since it is a 2011 build.....maybe the fingerboard wood was salvaged after that major flooding in Nashville in 2010 ?
Likely not but if Gibson salvaged some of the flooded stock and let it dry out to use later....
I recall thinking that bass was pretty cool, it has lovely paint (Remember it's a Gibson!), liked the shape and the weightiness, I like a bit more clank, but hey.
Did I miss something when it was new, or did this happen since Uwe?
Quote from: uwe on August 21, 2014, 09:59:52 AM
the name itself already raises suspicions ... :rolleyes: I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with it, but I'm not knocking Gibson because of it, they had to go for alternative woods at the time and you only learn from experience.
"i think you expect too much, bass wise, from anything named novoselic"
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Nofi, wiser words (albeit post-acquisition) have never been spoken. Don't get me started on Nirvana. The bass is probably their revenge for me being so oblivious to their lasting influence. Darn bar-chord-shovers without the most basic inderstanding of the European rules of harmony. Should have gone to summer school with Wishbone Ash.
It didn't withold him from ending up in this top 10 list... :P
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/08/the-10-richest-bassists-in-music/
Quote from: TBird1958 on August 21, 2014, 06:00:23 PM
I recall thinking that bass was pretty cool, it has lovely paint (Remember it's a Gibson!), liked the shape and the weightiness, I like a bit more clank, but hey.
Did I miss something when it was new, or did this happen since Uwe?
Happened since ... it was fine for years. And you would have definitely noticed it, D# and G# fretted on the D and G string 1st fret now make ghoulish, unearthly sounds. Who knows, I might ask my luthier to equip it with one his "secret private stock" Rio rosewoods.
Quote from: Basvarken on August 22, 2014, 02:44:55 AM
It didn't withold him from ending up in this top 10 list... :P
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/08/the-10-richest-bassists-in-music/
It's obviously all his band ever aspired to be. Very counter-culture.
(http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/poptheology/files/2014/04/nirvana_nevermind_cover.jpg)
Quote from: uwe on August 22, 2014, 05:49:15 AM
Happened since ... it was fine for years. And you would have definitely noticed it, D# and G# fretted on the D and G string 1st fret now make ghoulish, unearthly sounds. Who knows, I might ask my luthier to equip it with one his "secret private stock" Rio rosewoods.
Good idea. Even if not from his secret stock, replacing the obeche with a decently hard wood ought to be a long term improvement.
I've inspected the fretboard on mine and no signs of any lifting. Does your fretboard leave your fingers dirty after you play it Uwe? Mine leaves dark traces on my fingers when playing it. Not overly noticeable, but there. When I first got it I thought it was dirty strings but it didn't go away after installing a new set. Not sure if I've even posted a picture of mine after replacing the Jazz pickups on it.
(http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab239/Nokturnalbass/P1010130_zps35d5e6b5.jpg) (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/Nokturnalbass/media/P1010130_zps35d5e6b5.jpg.html)
Quote from: Nokturnal on August 22, 2014, 10:39:17 PM
I've inspected the fretboard on mine and no signs of any lifting. Does your fretboard leave your fingers dirty after you play it Uwe? Mine leaves dark traces on my fingers when playing it. Not overly noticeable, but there. When I first got it I thought it was dirty strings but it didn't go away after installing a new set. Not sure if I've even posted a picture of mine after replacing the Jazz pickups on it.
...
Obeche is light in color, it was dyed dark by Gibson. I'm guessing that's dye on your fingers.
Quote from: uwe on August 21, 2014, 01:50:47 PM
... Smells Like cheap Mean Spirit on the part of Henry J...
Scrap the board and go fretless...
Quote from: Nokturnal on August 22, 2014, 10:39:17 PM
I've inspected the fretboard on mine and no signs of any lifting. Does your fretboard leave your fingers dirty after you play it Uwe? Mine leaves dark traces on my fingers when playing it. Not overly noticeable, but there. When I first got it I thought it was dirty strings but it didn't go away after installing a new set. Not sure if I've even posted a picture of mine after replacing the Jazz pickups on it.
(http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab239/Nokturnalbass/P1010130_zps35d5e6b5.jpg) (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/Nokturnalbass/media/P1010130_zps35d5e6b5.jpg.html)
I've had no noticeable staining, but then I don't play it for hours on end and my hands don't sweat either (an age thing, I used to have real sweaty hands and my son still does, his sweat is so aggressive it ruins any fin pronto, all his instruments look vintage aged within a couple of months, the wood even rots away). Obeche is a light color wood so that board must be stained like hell. And if you - a a young man at the height of his physical prowess - have a bit more agressive sweat than I, then I can very well envisage it coming off.
I like the look of yours with the new pups, bridge and all, but did you change the pups for sound reasons or because you disliked the Jazz Bass look?
I am old and less sweaty than I used to be too. I don't play this for more than 30 minutes at a time but it always leaves traces of the fretboard dye. Not like I dipped my hands in paint or anything, just enough that I notice it. I was told in the past that my sweat was highly alkaline so maybe that is why? Or that could be a bunch of crap that I was being fed, but my plucking arm leaves a nice smudge on most of my basses.
I bought this initially because I wanted an RD to modify, but the prices were going up and I didn't want to pay top dollar for a nice vintage one and gut it. I had seen a couple of the Standards on Ebay with Rio Grande Pitbulls and thought I wanted to try the same with two different pickups to give more tonal options. This was a good price so I bought it and started gathering parts. There is a Dimarzio X2NB in the neck and a Bill Lawrence EB50 in the bridge. Both have push-pull volume pots for coil splitting. The Dimarzio is very aggressive and more bassy than I expected, but I really like it. The Lawrence has a much brighter sound and really is a great sounding pickup. I like to use the split coil on the neck and run the bridge full on for a raunchy rock attack. I said I wanted this to be a "Junkyard Dog" bass that sounded mean and nasty, and it does. You can make it sound nice and smooth, but why would I? haha
I also had a new guard made, a kill switch replaced the input, and the jack was moved to the end like a Tbird, and added the Hipshot. This thing is a beast for sure.
Quote from: Nokturnal on August 25, 2014, 07:59:21 PM
I am old and less sweaty than I used to be too. I don't play this for more than 30 minutes at a time but it always leaves traces of the fretboard dye. Not like I dipped my hands in paint or anything, just enough that I notice it.
...
That just shouldn't happen. I've played dyed ebony boards and never had dye come off on my hands. Shouldn't happen with any other wood. I don't know whether Gibson needed to put a sealer on it or use a different dye. Whatever, it wouldn't be acceptable to me.
While doing some spray gun research this summer, I read a couple of quite interesting discussions at a luthiers forum.
A guy there had been employed by gibson as a chemist, trying to set up new spray equippment or something. It seemed that
for a number of years (recently) they had much trouble changing various paint recipes to fit new automated equippment.
Not sure if that has got anything to do with dye, but at least it seemed to be very difficult to get the machines to operate properly.
He had to come back to the factory many times, to tune the equippment - and between tunings whole series of guitars had been shipped with faulty finish.
Quote from: Nokturnal on August 25, 2014, 07:59:21 PMThere is a Dimarzio X2NB in the neck and a Bill Lawrence EB50 in the bridge. Both have push-pull volume pots for coil splitting. The Dimarzio is very aggressive and more bassy than I expected, but I really like it. The Lawrence has a much brighter sound and really is a great sounding pickup. I like to use the split coil on the neck and run the bridge full on for a raunchy rock attack. I said I wanted this to be a "Junkyard Dog" bass that sounded mean and nasty, and it does. You can make it sound nice and smooth, but why would I? haha
I also had a new guard made, a kill switch replaced the input, and the jack was moved to the end like a Tbird, and added the Hipshot. This thing is a beast for sure.
I like it. Nice mods!
Thanks Tom!
I had considered asking my luthier about sealing the fretboard with something. Would that do anything to strengthen the fretboard? Why the Hell would you a soft wood for a fretboard?
Quote from: Nokturnal on August 26, 2014, 09:29:42 PM
Thanks Tom!
I had considered asking my luthier about sealing the fretboard with something. Would that do anything to strengthen the fretboard? Why the Hell would you a soft wood for a fretboard?
There might be a coating that would help wear resistance a little, but it won't do anything to increase stiffness or hardness.
Janka hardness tables (http://ejmas.com/tin/2009tin/tinart_goldstein_0904.html)
Note that obeche's hardness is only 408. That's much less than common American hardwoods and even less than many American softwoods. I can't figure out any legitimate reason for Gibson to use that.
"There might be a coating that would help wear resistance a little, but it won't do anything to increase stiffness or hardness."
Darn. That is not good news for a middle-ager like me. No wonder ointment then. :rolleyes:
Quote from: uwe on August 27, 2014, 07:17:59 AM
"There might be a coating that would help wear resistance a little, but it won't do anything to increase stiffness or hardness."
Darn. That is not good news for a middle-ager like me. No wonder ointment then. :rolleyes:
We will have to wait for Epiphone to release a real 'professional' stiffness increaser!
I already see a whole realm of potential misuse for it!