sblueplanet

Pretty sure any decent luthier will offer this service. Some good instrument shops have workshops. Phone around for quotes. Someone may know a specialist in the London area.

Have you considered trying to do the job yourself? May be something on youtube about how to do it. On leftybassist.com the member called Matt R, based in the USA did this to two jazz bass necks with great results. You might be able to get good advice/ direction from him about this.

I have gone for long periods of time without playing and gear has either sat in the cupboard or been sold off. Getting a hold of equipment is a lot easier with the internet. It's just a matter of whether you are sentimental about your stuff.

Try playing seated for a while to take the strain from your back and arm. If problem persists it might need a break from the bass till you recover like any injury. Good luck getting back to playing fitness!

Interesting comments by BassBod and Beer of the Bass about amplification being a factor. Hadn't considered that.

I remember my older brothers listening to records in the early 70's that featured fretless playing and I used to ask what instrument was making that 'mwah' sound. Certainly wasn't Jaco.

So no one thinks it strange that a fretless model was never available from the beginning for existing upright players to switch to? This was my main point of discussion, not the concept of putting frets on as frets had been around for hundreds of years. The instrument may have evolved differently had fretless been available as an option from the start and I wonder if many people ripped the frets out even in the early days?

When Leo Fender introduced his electric bass in 1951it must have been obvious that a large potential market for his instrument were the many double bass players out there and the opportunity to downsize and be heard. So why did it take until 1970 for Fender to produce a fretless model? Surely many more existing upright players would have been attracted to the electric bass had fretless versions been available from the outset? Given that the fingerboard starts its life without frets in the factory, it would have been cheaper to promote the P bass as fretless with fretted as an option. So was it because Leo had the mindset of a guitarist or just had poor marketing advisors? For instance, when Jaco Pastorius made playing fretless bass popular around 1975 using a de-fretted Fender Jazz bass, Fender still didn't seize the opportunity and offer a similar model fretless till the mid-80's. I'm not knocking the introduction of the fretted electric bass but had it started as a portable fretless alternative to upright, maybe the evolution of bass-playing would have taken a different journey.

In the case of Fender, there has been a call for a lefty Mustang bass for years now but to no avail. Even Squier has been a major let down in not producing a lefty Mustang model in their range as well as lefty versions of their Classic Vibe series, although they make lefty guitars in this range.

Just read a review in Bass Guitar mag on the new USA made Gibson EB and yes, they do a leftie! Gets the big thumbs up and at around £750 may be a contender for anyone considering the current SG bass.

Well done with all that effort. After I stuck some light Fender flats on I left it a few weeks. Bass prob plays slighter better but not much. I'm not going to tacklr saddle or bridge adjustment even though its something Im confident doing on electrics.

Well I did go for an Eden rig with the 12" cab. I've found it has enough bottom end but with a band I need it up off the floor to really hear myself at times if not also going through the P.A. When I do, everyone comments on the nice tone I'm getting. I have no such problems when using my Ampeg 210AV but given I have to carry the cab up and down 6 flights of stairs it is acceptable until I can go higher end.

A cat just make a bass look ten times as cool :-) Maybe have a look on here for some cheap hot replacement P+J pups.

I take it a step further by having the strings in reverse order to the norm.

I moved on to fretless early on and played it exclusively for about 8 years then the fretless lived under the bed for a couple of years before I decided to sell it. I've never really gone back to it as my playing style and influences changed. Love the feel of flats on my fretted jazz though.

With so many sources for hearing and learning techniques it makes learning bass a lot easier but in terms of creating a new sound or style, pretty impossible as all the trail-blazing on the instrument has probably been done.