Converting to fretless.....

[howdoesitgoagain]

I have a cheapo Biscayne 4 string that is not getting used due to a much better bass taking it's place, it has some issues with neck straightness and playability so is probably a good candidate for experimentation.. and could mean a bass is back in use again instead of gathering dust..

Any advice welcome and may be acted on

Cheers, Steve

[Happy Jack]

You might be better off posting this in [i][b]Repairs & Technical.
[/b][/i]

In general terms, this is probably a good vehicle for experimentation, but a bass with neck straightness and playability issues is no more likely to be a good fretless than it was a good fretted.

[howdoesitgoagain]

Cheers Happy, the neck isn't so bad it is unplayable, just some frets are wayward and there are various buzzes up and down the neck, I would play a gig with it if I had to, it is just a tad annoying

The other issue I have with it is that is is not that natural to play with your eyes shut...... I do a lot of this so I can listen to the artistry [ or otherwise ] of the rest of the band.... my Yamahahaha is one that feels pretty natural in this respect.

I will repost this in the section you suggest, cheers, Steve.

[ezbass]

When I did mine many years ago I did get a real sense of accomplishment. It's a great thing to do yourself if you have a bass you want to experiment on. Enjoy the journey and take your time.

[GarethFlatlands]

There's videos on youtube of de-fretting a neck, you should use veneers in place of the frets which is where it gets difficult. Or it does if you're rubbish at woodwork like I am.

I emailed Jon Shuker about getting the frets taken off my old Vintage 5 string and he quoted around £70 which seemed reasonable. Might be worth checking out with your local bass tech unless you're good at DIY, otherwise you may end up with not bass.

[mcnach]

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='962128' date='Sep 20 2010, 01:23 PM']There's videos on youtube of de-fretting a neck, you should use veneers in place of the frets which is where it gets difficult. Or it does if you're rubbish at woodwork like I am.

I emailed Jon Shuker about getting the frets taken off my old Vintage 5 string and he quoted around £70 which seemed reasonable. Might be worth checking out with your local bass tech unless you're good at DIY, otherwise you may end up with not bass.[/quote]

£70... just to remove the frets? or any additional work?

[BIG.J]

Loads of DIY vids on Youtube.... Pretty straight forward if you use the right materials / tools.

J.

[danny-79]

A fretless conversion is really not that big of a job, just a few things that you will need to take into consideration before you rip the frets out.
The fact that there will be fret markers on the now "finger board" that are going to look out of place, if you can live with that (i can an did/do), the lines that are left behind are a bonus if its your first dive into fretless.
Remove the frets and then you will need to fill in the gaps ware the fret wire used to be, i used a two part epoxy resin on mine (something like aroldite is fine) mix the paste an push it into the gaps, (trying not to get it all over the board but not a problem if you do as it will need to be flatted anyway) an leave overnight to harden. then using a file GENTLY! remove the excess, remember that you are removing the excess glue and not the wood! lastly finishing off with sandpaper (start 80 - 180 - 240, 320 should finish the job sanding wise) finishing off with a medium wire wool then some lemon oil so when finished it should look something like this :



Next job it to re cut the nut, the nut will need to be cut down deeper to allow for the high action that you now have, to start with, before you start filing the nut blind, refit the neck an string it up to see ware you are with it, it might not need much taking off it, just take it off a small amount at at a time, just cause theres now no frets doesn't mean that you can set the action as low as, it will still buzz!

Good luck with project !

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='mcnach' post='962174' date='Sep 20 2010, 02:07 PM']£70... just to remove the frets? or any additional work?[/quote]

Filling the slots with veneers and a setup too I think. I deleted the email as my MOT is coming up and the bass needs some more remedial work before I can use it again anyway.

[mcnach]

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='963381' date='Sep 21 2010, 03:04 PM']Filling the slots with veneers and a setup too I think. I deleted the email as my MOT is coming up and the bass needs some more remedial work before I can use it again anyway.[/quote]


that's not bad. I'd happily pay that to not deal with the hassle and ensure it looks good in the end.

[howdoesitgoagain]

Cheers Danny, looks pretty straightforward , my woodworking skills are up to this I think.
Cheers, Steve.