Workshop

Shooting the fingerboard

Over a period of time the fingerboard can wear in a number of ways. Strings can make grooves, fingernails can wear dents or dislodge wood fibres and sometimes the fingerboard can just warp or bend under string tension. These defects can make the instrument difficult or even impossible to play properly and at this point the fingerboard should be “shot”.

“Shooting” is a woodworking term for shaping a piece of wood with a plane, and small planes are usually the tools used for reshaping the fingerboard. The fingerboard surface is a complex shape. It is curved, not only in profile but also along its length, with the treble side having a slightly shallower curve than the bass side.

The cost to shoot a fingerboard can vary from about $85.00 to $120.00 for a violin or viola, depending on the extent of the wear, and from $100.00 to $160.00 for a cello.