agoulding Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 Ive been wanting a fretless for a long time now, Id like to buy one but I love the sound of one of my basses and i see the potential it has to be a good fretless. Id really love to mod it, but don't have the nerve to do it myself. Could someone give me some decent guidlines in order to do it properly, or is the whole idea, a bad idea? I could search for some local luthiers to see if they could do it, but there really isnt any in the area...that i know of anyway. Would appreciate anyones help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 What's the bass in question? If you love the tone - and hopefully it is a bolt on neck, hopefully the chances of you being able to buy a fretless copy/clone/replacement neck are high - and - should you ever decide you wish you hadn't modded it.. just bolt the old neck back on! [/fender] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 its not that epic, quite a lot of people on here have done it. i'd have a look through the different forums (mainly build diaries but search the others as well), see who's done it, read their threads about it and if you have any specific questions you can't find the answer either PM one of the people that has done it, i'm sure no one will mind giving you advice, and if they don't know they can probably tell you the name of someone who helped thm out when they were defretting for the first time, or ask here! if i remember right my dad managed to do it ok ages ago, and he's not exactly handy with the tools although i probably shouldn't say that cos he'll almost definatly read this thread! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoulding Posted September 5, 2009 Author Share Posted September 5, 2009 [quote name='dood' post='590986' date='Sep 5 2009, 08:48 PM']What's the bass in question? If you love the tone - and hopefully it is a bolt on neck, hopefully the chances of you being able to buy a fretless copy/clone/replacement neck are high - and - should you ever decide you wish you hadn't modded it.. just bolt the old neck back on! [/fender][/quote] Its an Aria SB101 i think, I recieved it off MB1 as a part exchange deal. It has a wonderful tone which i think would be perfect for fretless. It is a bold on, im not sure hor hard the necks are to get hold of. Ill have a browse. What are the chances i could get a non aria neck and fit that instead as long as its the right dimensions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 You do realise, that if you defret it, that in itself will change the tone? G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 [quote name='geoffbyrne' post='591038' date='Sep 5 2009, 10:21 PM']You do realise, that if you defret it, that in itself will change the tone? G.[/quote] +1, thats what i was thinking when agoulding said he loved the tone. why do you want it to be fretless? if its just for the novelty of owning a fretless that wears off fast, you find you end up using it less and less and going more to the fretted bass. the only time i ever use a fretless is when i'm specifically after a fretless tone and a fretted bass can't do it, but if you like the tone so much, why bother? using a fretless when you could use fretted seems illogical to me because you risk sounding out of tune if you don't hit it just right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoulding Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 I want it to be fretless because of the sound. The aria is a single pick up, im sure it won't effect that as much. Its the single pup that i love about the bass and sound! I do indeed know it will effect the tone, but i see its potential as a fretless. It is very twangy and a sound ive been wanting for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Just gonna pop this over to technical/repairs Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agoulding Posted September 6, 2009 Author Share Posted September 6, 2009 I eventually found some great instructional websites, showing mny different ttechniques. Has anyone done this themselves and posted in the build diaries? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Millward Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Man, I've got an old Aria Pro 2 that's been de-fretted. It's sounds sick, it's piss to do just pop out your frets with a knife and fill the fret holes with milli-put or some epoxy resin. Then lightly sand and refinish your fret board. Job done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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