bassjamm Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Hi people, Thinking of getting my fretless bass fretted in an effort to cure my bass related issues...leaving me without a fretless, but i'm not gigging mine much at the moment, and i can pick up a cheapish one. Has anyone else had a fretless bass fretted, if so what were your results? Thanks Jamie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 [quote name='bassjamm' post='243532' date='Jul 19 2008, 11:07 PM']Hi people, Thinking of getting my fretless bass fretted in an effort to cure my bass related issues...leaving me without a fretless, but i'm not gigging mine much at the moment, and i can pick up a cheapish one. Has anyone else had a fretless bass fretted, if so what were your results? Thanks Jamie[/quote] My 1st Sei sixer used to be a fretless, I didn't know until Martin happened to mention once after he'd set it up for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YouMa Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Dont try and do it on your own you need a special clamp thing,i tried and failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 If its lined then its reasonably straightforward as they normally start out as fretted necks but get a luthier to do it. If its unlined then in gods name why? If you want frets sell it and buy one. Or persevere with the fretless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnt Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 I had the dubious pleasure of de-fretting a bass that I had bought as a fretted, then found out was originally a fretless that someone had fretted, badly. It wasn't expensive, and it got me in to fretless, but it would have been better had it remained fretless all along. I think it would cost you more to have done, properly, than for you to buy an inexpensive fretted such as a SX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassjamm Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 It's my Marleaux Constat 5 string...so we're talking about a serious piece of kit here. And of course i wouldn't do it myself, it'd be down to the Gallery for this...even with their experience i'm nervous about the thought of it, but it is the cheapest solution for my quandry! It's lined... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I'm sure this is a capital offence......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umph Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 [quote name='bassjamm' post='243597' date='Jul 20 2008, 01:36 AM']It's my Marleaux Constat 5 string...so we're talking about a serious piece of kit here. And of course i wouldn't do it myself, it'd be down to the Gallery for this...even with their experience i'm nervous about the thought of it, but it is the cheapest solution for my quandry! It's lined...[/quote] get a fretted neck made for it? would only cost a bit more and would mean you could swap them around whenever you felt like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 It would be way more to buy a fretted neck. I just had a quick look on the Gallery website, and Martin charges about £130 for a refret. Cutting slots for the frets wouldn't take much longer than removing old ones, so I wouldn't have thought it would cost much more than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassjamm Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 Yeah, i thought the process of fretting it would be simple enough. I originally thought about getting a new neck made, but i'd be looking at a lot of money to get that done, and i'm no tech so swapping the necks would not be done!!! Plus it won't add any value to it...simply having the neck fretted would hardly detract from it's value. Hmmmm...it's all a bit confusing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosebass Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 [quote name='bassjamm' post='243739' date='Jul 20 2008, 12:37 PM']Yeah, i thought the process of fretting it would be simple enough. I originally thought about getting a new neck made, but i'd be looking at a lot of money to get that done, and i'm no tech so swapping the necks would not be done!!! Plus it won't add any value to it...simply having the neck fretted would hardly detract from it's value. Hmmmm...it's all a bit confusing![/quote] Don't do it ........ Good basses are usually designed from the inception as either fretted or fretless and some can be ruined by changing them. Its a very specialist job and needs a proper fret jig plus what if you don't like it or regret it in the future ? Other things like the nut, action and intonation will also be affected . I would leave it fretless and buy an inexpensive fretted bass, if you are not gigging. Its not the same as de-fretting a fretted bass as these can always be returned to fretted quite easily. pm'd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassjamm Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 I'm [b]not[/b] going to do this myself, nor have i suggested that. This would be done by the guys at the Gallery whom i have great faith in. I also know that they'll do a great job of the set up and what not. The purpose of this quest would be to have a gigging instrument, not to have a cheap knock about bass for some fun. Thanks for the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedontcarebear Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 I see no reason why there would be a problem fretting the neck on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 (edited) I wonder sometimes, I know people have the best of intentions, bit it does appear that they don't read all of the thread. Honestly, changing it to fretted won't have any detremental effects on the bass, Martin would do it so you wouldn't know it had ever been fretless, he'd probably have to change the nut I suppose. And it would be a simple enough job if you ever wanted to defret it, why shouldn't it be ?. As I said earlier, my 1st 6 string had been a fretless originally, but you wouldn't have known, obvioulsy a different story if I'd done it myself. Edited July 20, 2008 by 6stringbassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassjamm Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 [quote name='6stringbassist' post='243762' date='Jul 20 2008, 01:31 PM']I wonder sometimes, I know people have the best of intentions, bit it does appear that they don't read all of the thread. Honestly, changing it to fretted won't have any detremental effects on the bass, Martin would do it so you wouldn't know it had ever been fretless, he'd probably have to change the nut I suppose. And it would be a simple enough job if you ever wanted to defret it, why shouldn't it be ?. As I said earlier, my 1st 6 string had been a fretless originally, but you wouldn't have known, obvioulsy a different story if I'd done it myself. [/quote] Thanks Kevin...that makes perfect sense!!! I'll give it some consideration...maybe i'll just sell it, hmmmmmm!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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