Sanding divot/notch - Fix?

[slowlearner]

Hi all,

I'm building a bass with a friend at the moment. He's done a bunch of stuff to it. Last week he spent some time doing the final shaping on the neck. I did some work on it today and discovered he's sanded a divot or notch into the neck surface just below the 14th fret on the bass side... You can just make it out in this pic...



The timber is gone. What I'm wondering is if there is a possible fix that isn't too dramatic?

Could I glue in some layers of veneer and try and build it up some how?

Other ideas/thoughts?

[charangohabsburg]

Hi Pete,
I know nothing about bass playing, but if the strings on the bass side don't get played often up at the 14th fret, the least perceptible easy "fix" may be to just leave it as it is. Or put on a new fretboard, of course. Or thinning everything down if this doesn't hurt too much set-up geometry. I think that adding a patch of wood would look horrible on this light colored fretboard.

[Allen]

If it's not too dramatic then when you level the frets, those one or two frets will just have a bit more meat to them than the others.

[Nick]

Hard to see from the photo, I originally thought you were talking about the back of the neck, it appears to 'dip' just before the transition into the heel. If that is the case unfortunately being Maple any "patch" you put in will show. If it's for the guy that sanded it then he may be able to live with it as is? Otherwise you could consider patching it with maple veneer and then somehow incorporating a dark burst to cover up the patch which originates from both the heel and headstock. The only other 'fix' I could think of would be remaking the neck (which would be my choice).
If the dip is on the fretboard as Markus commented, then I would cut out that whole section of fretboard (between the two fret slots) to half the depth of the fret slots and make a new section from the fingerboard's offcut trying to get grain matching as close as possible. A nice flat surface (on both) and a bit of tight clamping you should be able to get an almost invisible glue joint at the edges.

[charangohabsburg]

I originally thought you were talking about the back of the neck,

Ha! Now that you say it I can see it!

In this case, I halfways with Nick: it it really bothers him, a new neck. If it only bothers him a bit, leave it as it is. Maybe that's just me, but I don't like anything I have done "patchwork" on (except repairs on ebony parts).

[slowlearner]

Hmm, that's pretty much what I thought....

I think he'll be keeping it. Coz it's taken us a year to get this far with one thing and another.

[kiwigeo]

I probably wouldnt worry about it too much but if I was I'd consider binding the fretboard.....

[Allen]

Ahh......now I see it. Make a new neck or live with it.