Wonderful instrument, use it mostly in fretless mode with Roli’s Equator.
There seems to be some sort of paint over the rubber fretboard that’s flaking off. I don’t like the inconsistency in feel between the bare rubber and the “painted”.
The advice I saw somewhere in this forum is to use mineral oil, but I don’t like the fretboard to be oily. Any other substances? Talcum powder, new layer of spray paint? Plasti Dip Spray? What’s the material anyway, urethane rubber?
Probably not what you’re after, but when I’m playing fretless I like a small dab of coconut oil on the fingers – not the fretboard – to counteract the friction of the rubber (which is an advantage when playing fretted, but the opposite when fretless). I haven’t had that flaking effect, but the strings have eroded a bit after years of abusive exposure to my sweaty gropings, and now have a fine irregularity of surface that doesn’t impede playability but does increase the friction further on slides.
Hi Bart
This issue has come up many times, and it’s probably the first thing that I noticed about the instrument one… Who needs friction? So after a an exhaustive search for a way to solve this problem(Coconut oil doesn’t cut it for me for a variety of reasons) I settled on… Wait for it – Scotch Tape! Three strips of scotch tape (not the glossy kind, the one with a satin finish) can be easily and quickly applied Lengthwise with very little overlap. The difference is night and day!!! It can be easily(but be careful) removed and replaced quicker than a set of guitar strings. Does it leave a residue? Yes – and although I’m sure that could be removed carefully,
Once you feel the difference, you’ll never wanna go back! It’s easy just to try it on a small section of the lowest “string” To know whether it works for you or not. I wrestled with whether or not this would void the warranty yada yada yada but the fact is despite my love hate Relationship with the Instrument one I’m unlikely to sell or return it, And the benefits (expression!) far outweigh any chances I might be taking.
I would love to know if you try this (you too Nick)! and how it works out for you.(It actually doesn’t look bad either…)
Nothing to lose, Happy sliding
Terry
Here is an image of what that might look like, actually that’s exactly what it looks like…I can still see the frets from the playing position but I don’t feel them nearly as much!
Silky smooth transitions from string to string as well.
Terry