sbrag Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Hi. Ive just got my first fretless which is a nice sunburst mim jazz. Only thing is the action is a little high for my taste especially higher up the neck. Im ok at tweaking action and intonation but just wondered if there is anything extra to be careful about with a fretless or is it easier as you dont have to worry about fret buzz? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsebass Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Im in the process of converting a fretted to a fretless, and ive found help in the guide below. There is a bit about setting up a bass later on in the document, so if it helps, brill - if not, im sure ill be posting the same question in about a week! [url="http://www.bassdefret.com/book/bd_ebook_001/bass_defret_ebook.pdf"]http://www.bassdefret.com/book/bd_ebook_001/bass_defret_ebook.pdf[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panamonte Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 My advice would be to check how much relief you've got in your neck. I adjusted the truss rod on my fretless so that the neck is pretty much straight - plays beautifully and sounds great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Setting the intonation on a fretless can be interesting, some people say the saddles are usually moved back a little further (increasing the string length) than on a fretted. After a while I gave up trying to set my intonation scientifically and instead adjusted it until the higher notes were in tune where I expected to find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretlessguy Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Like Panamonte, I adjust the neck to be as straight as possible. I adjust the string height to be low as well and play with a light touch (most folks cannot play my fretteds the action is so low). I intonate the bass at the octave bar, although I have in the past set it at the 5th fret since a lot of playing tends to be there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiOgon Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 (edited) Check the nut slots are deep enough so the strings are 'not far off' touching the fingerboard at that point, then you can work on the truss rod & saddle height, (+ intonation), to get a really low action. A 24" steel rule or even a proper straight edge is very useful for showing up high spots & the correct relief . Is it a original fretless neck or a de-fret? The latter is likely to have the nut too high Edited April 8, 2013 by KiOgon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrag Posted April 8, 2013 Author Share Posted April 8, 2013 Hi. Thanks for all the advice. Its an original fretless Mexican jazz not a defret but it is lined so hoping this will make doing the intonation a bit easier. I'll have a look at the neck relief but always feel more nervous tweaking a trust rod! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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