bassatnight Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Folks, I have been offered my dream bass, a lovely custom Wal from a decent chap on here. I am really after a fretless Wal and due to their rarity and vastly inflated prices as new (£5k!) I was wondering about getting a decent pro Luthier to de-fret the neck and turn it into a lined fretless possibly even getting Electric wood to do it. Am I mad? should I just keep waiting for a fretless? am I stealing a decent fretted from the world? Thoughts? Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bass Doc Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Check with a luthier that it can be done in a way that's reversible if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritchaser Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 [quote name='bassatnight' post='715625' date='Jan 17 2010, 01:54 PM']Folks, I have been offered my dream bass, a lovely custom Wal from a decent chap on here. I am really after a fretless Wal and due to their rarity and vastly inflated prices as new (£5k!) I was wondering about getting a decent pro Luthier to de-fret the neck and turn it into a lined fretless possibly even getting Electric wood to do it. Am I mad? should I just keep waiting for a fretless? am I stealing a decent fretted from the world? Thoughts? Steve.[/quote] Steve, I had my green WAL MK II 5 turned into a lined fretless and since I've never looked back - it smokes! However, I also own another MK II 5 fretted, so, no loss here soundwise. Just do it. tc Oliver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 The issue really is fingerboard - fretted Wals are usually rosewood, fretless (from Customs onwards) are usually ebony. If the ebony whine is your goal then a rosewood board probably won't get you there. Having said that - the Pro basses were generally all rosewood or a variant ("parrot-sh*t" was one!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6stringbassist Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 [url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/workshop.cfm"]http://www.thebassgallery.com/workshop.cfm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassatnight Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Kev, your not helping! ;-) lol [quote name='6stringbassist' post='715665' date='Jan 17 2010, 01:53 PM'][url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/workshop.cfm"]http://www.thebassgallery.com/workshop.cfm[/url] [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry norton Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I can't see it would be a problem, other than slightly higher wear and slightly less bright sound from the rosewood board. I would imagine it would cost a fair bit more to re fret it though so you'd better be sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 IIRC correctly Sercet on here had a fretless Wal neck for sale a while back, and I don't remember it selling. Might be worth you dropping him a PM. He's a great guy to deal with (I bought my Wal fretless from him) Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 Found it! [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45596&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=45596&hl=[/url] Good luck Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 PS, FWIW, if that neck's gone or not to your liking, I'd get a neck made rather than defret the original. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 I was just going to say that, seeing as Wal are starting up again, you may be able to pick up a fretless neck, then you have the chance to revert if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supabock Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 [quote name='bassatnight' post='715625' date='Jan 17 2010, 12:54 PM']Folks, I have been offered my dream bass, a lovely custom Wal from a decent chap on here. I am really after a fretless Wal and due to their rarity and vastly inflated prices as new (£5k!) I was wondering about getting a decent pro Luthier to de-fret the neck and turn it into a lined fretless possibly even getting Electric wood to do it. Am I mad? should I just keep waiting for a fretless? am I stealing a decent fretted from the world? Thoughts? Steve.[/quote] Speak to Paul (at Wal) about this as the woods are an important feature to the fretless sound. He's your best starting point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassatnight Posted January 17, 2010 Author Share Posted January 17, 2010 Cheers Chris, what a great community this is. I have mailed Wal for a quote as ideally I would like a lined neck. Thanks everyone! Steve.[quote name='Beedster' post='715759' date='Jan 17 2010, 04:19 PM']PS, FWIW, if that neck's gone or not to your liking, I'd get a neck made rather than defret the original. Chris[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 [quote name='bassatnight' post='715839' date='Jan 17 2010, 06:02 PM']Cheers Chris, what a great community this is. I have mailed Wal for a quote as ideally I would like a lined neck. Thanks everyone! Steve.[/quote] Steve, I know just how busy Paul Herman at Wal is and you're probably better off calling than emailing. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 17, 2010 Share Posted January 17, 2010 [quote name='bassatnight' post='715625' date='Jan 17 2010, 12:54 PM']....Am I mad?....[/quote] Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Depending on the model you might be getting (a MK1 I think), Paul may have some old necks in the workshop so it's definitely worth calling him.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 [quote name='silverfoxnik' post='716217' date='Jan 18 2010, 12:00 AM']Depending on the model you might be getting (a MK1 I think), Paul may have some old necks in the workshop so it's definitely worth calling him..[/quote] Having spent some time at the workshop in question, that's a bloody good idea Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassatnight Posted January 18, 2010 Author Share Posted January 18, 2010 Its an 88/89 Custom, consider paul rung! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoombung Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 [quote name='Beedster' post='715759' date='Jan 17 2010, 04:19 PM']PS, FWIW, if that neck's gone or not to your liking, I'd get a neck made rather than defret the original. Chris[/quote] Yeah, I agree. If it's rosewood, roundwound strings will chew it very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfoxnik Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 [quote name='Beedster' post='716224' date='Jan 18 2010, 12:06 AM']Having spent some time at the workshop in question, that's a bloody good idea Chris[/quote] Cheers Chris; that's my one good idea for 2010 used up then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrcrow Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 [quote name='bassatnight' post='715625' date='Jan 17 2010, 12:54 PM']Folks, I have been offered my dream bass, a lovely custom Wal from a decent chap on here. I am really after a fretless Wal and due to their rarity and vastly inflated prices as new (£5k!) I was wondering about getting a decent pro Luthier to de-fret the neck and turn it into a lined fretless possibly even getting Electric wood to do it. Am I mad? should I just keep waiting for a fretless? am I stealing a decent fretted from the world? Thoughts? Steve.[/quote] you are putting too much emphasis on labels and badging if you get it done correctly by joe bloggs...who's to know it wasnt electric wood... got to be real, here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vibrating G String Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 (edited) Maybe you could find someone with a fretless one who wants to swap necks for your fretted? Less cost and history and resale value are preserved. Edited January 19, 2010 by Vibrating G String Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleal Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 I had electric wood swap the neck on my wal custom as mine was fretted & i wanted a plain fretless, they did an exchange as pete said my original neck was good & could be refurbished, the cost was £250 exchanged or £450 just to buy the fretless neck but that was in 1994 i think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 Yeah why not get a price for a fretless neck build from the new Wal? Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubbybloke68 Posted January 19, 2010 Share Posted January 19, 2010 hi all,i phoned paul regarding him making me a lined fretless neck for my wal 5,seems a very nice fella.i mailed him some pics of the bass and he said he'd get back to us with a more accurate price and a rough date as to when he could fit me in.guess the guy must be very busy cos i never got a reply.must have been a good 6 weeks ago now.anat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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