Flatter - make your fretted bass a fretless, and back again

[phagor]

Just saw this clever doohickey. It's a plastic board that slips over your bass's fingerboard and nut to turn your fretted bass into a fretless.

 

Almost instant - you have to take the strings off or at least detune them til they're floppy. Could be done between sets if not between songs.

 

I wonder what it does to the intonation though - might be a problem, especially on a fretless where you are using the frets as markers.

 

 

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

But... tonewood... maple... rosewood... ebony... does not compute .... fizzz ,, <no carrier>

[Woodinblack]

59 minutes ago, phagor said:

I wonder what it does to the intonation though - might be a problem, especially on a fretless where you are using the frets as markers.

 

Clever idea, although it would have to be very thin over the frets to actually work on a well set up bass. Certainly would give it a try if I came across one.

 

Not sure why there would be an intonation problem though, unless you had terrible action.

[phagor]

11 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

But... tonewood... maple... rosewood... ebony... does not compute .... fizzz ,, <no carrier>

 

I hear you. But Jaco's boat varnish is kinda like plastic, right?

[phagor]

2 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Not sure why there would be an intonation problem though, unless you had terrible action.

 

Dunno but any time I raise or lower the action on a bass, I find I have to tweak the intonation by moving the saddles. Fitting this must be like lowering the string height?

 

Also I imagine you would need higher than normal action for this to fit.

[Woodinblack]

Oh I see it goes over the nut too.

Only problem I see is that there is just one bass size, and no indications of what bass it is for? Oh read the FAQ, it is just for a jazz bass

[Woodinblack]

Just now, phagor said:

Also I imagine you would need higher than normal action for this to fit.

 

Not really the nut is built in to the plastic, so it raises the whole lot, so probably not much to do.

[Stub Mandrel]

5 hours ago, phagor said:

 

Dunno but any time I raise or lower the action on a bass, I find I have to tweak the intonation by moving the saddles. Fitting this must be like lowering the string height?

 

Also I imagine you would need higher than normal action for this to fit.

 

It's fretless... you'd soon compensate for any small changes in intonation without thinking about it.

[TheGreek]

Sacrilege!! 

 

This would mean we would not have a need for a fretless bass...what am I supposed to do with the space and money???

 

Oh, OK...I could buy another bass I suppose..

 

 

[Gwilym]

5 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Sacrilege!! 

 

This would mean we would not have a need for a fretless bass...what am I supposed to do with the space and money???

 

Oh, OK...I could buy another bass I suppose..

 

 

Yes another fretted bass that you can fit this device to it 

[Maude]

I wonder if they do a fretted version for fretless basses. 🤔

[Gwilym]

Depending on the cost, it might be useful if you'd like to try fretless on the cheap. In practice I suspect it's not something to whip on/off for short term noodling, because it's likely you'd need to the bass up differently every time you install/remove. 

Also, I imagine it will sound different to a "proper" fretless, although you will probably sound equally out of tune on both.

 

[MartinB]

Well that's a cool idea! Approx £55 with shipping, but I couldn't see where it's shipped from, so there could be import duties etc.

[Baloney Balderdash]

Notice how it pulled the low E string up the tuner post, and how hazardous the string break angle is at the headstock for the two higher strings going under the string retainer. 

 

Also how will that plastic hold up with the metal strings being pressed and rubbed against it when you first start playing?

 

And finally I'd like to be able to play above 12th fret.

 

All in all this seems like a novelty item, only really maybe useful for people who perhaps would like to try out fretless bass before committing to having to buy one, but not much more.

 

It would have to be cheap for it to be worthwhile for sure.

 

Also I don't even own a jazz bass, and getting one just for the sake of being able to use this kind of defeats the whole point with this thing in the first place.

 

I do really like the idea/concept though, I'd even go as far as to say it is pretty genius, but I just don't feel that it really work properly in this form, and that someone would need to find the solution to some of the obvious issues this version of the concept got before it would really be a viable worthwhile finished product.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Baloney Balderdash

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Baloney Balderdash said:

And finally I'd like to be able to play above 12th fret.

 

All in all this seems like a novelty for people who maybe like t try out fretless bass before committing  to having to buy one.

 

It would have to be cheap for it to be worthwhile for sure.

 

Also I don't even own a jazz bass, and getting one just for the sake of being able to use this kind of defeats the whole point with it in the first place.

 

Its £50 and just made for a jazz bass, so if you have a jazz bass, its not hugely off a set of strings to give it a try and see how it goes. Yes, there are flaws in the concepts, and I haven't got a jazz bass so I can't try it, but for what it is, if I did have a jazz bass, I would probably give it a try.