fretless conversion

[jubjub721]

yhis is an interesting site on the subject

what do you think
http://www.mikelull.com/fretless conversion/conversion1.htm

 

[cgworkman]

WOW

that was pretty interesting...

I've seen it done by amatuers - but it never looked that good when they were finished

 

[jubjub721]

yeah
iv seen sites that fill the fret slots with glue
then they used a golod paint pen to color the lines in

blehhhhhhh

 

[Disquieter]

yeah
iv seen sites that fill the fret slots with glue
then they used a golod paint pen to color the lines in

blehhhhhhh

it's to the same effect,


I'm not a big fan of the fretless conversion.

unless you just can't get a certain bass in fretless.


oh well
joel D.

 

[oddjob]

when I had my Aria ZZBII converted to fretless, ebony saw dust was put into the epoxy to fill the lines and then smoothed out. Looked very professional and played great

 

[nismaniac]

One of my first basses was an Ibanez soundgear 6 string. I didn't play the bass anymore and I wouldn't have been able to sell it for enough money to make it worth the trouble so a couple of years ago I had a local luthier defret the bass. The fingerboard was rosewood so he filled the gaps with a black wood putty or whatever they use. I can see the black lines just good enough to play in tune but the audience or anyone else looking can't see the lines. I put a Basslines 3 band pre-amp in the bass and it plays and sounds pretty good. For just a very part time fretless player, it more than gets the job done. I think a fretless conversion can turn out well if the person doing the work is a qualified professional.

 

[jubjub721]

pleeeease change your signiture
its a tad annoying

 

[bassmonkeee]

pleeeease change your signiture
its a tad annoying

Doesn't bother me.

 

[spectorbassguy]

pleeeease change your signiture
its a tad annoying

Who you talkin' 'bout Willis?
Nothing annoying here that I spy.

 

[cgworkman]

Nothing annoying here that I spy.

Me neither. What's he talking about?

 

[johans]

whoaa ....
super nice

 

[johans]

btw
anyone converted your fretted StingRay to a fretless? what does it cost actually?

are rosewood an 'ok' wood for a fretless by the way?

 

[Aussie Mark]

are rosewood an 'ok' wood for a fretless by the way?

My '76 Stingray fretless has a rosewood board. With flats, there is little concern about fingerboard wear.

 

[midopa]

I wonder how a fretless conv. would sound on a maple board...

 

[Disquieter]

I wonder how a fretless conv. would sound on a maple board...

i've played some maple fretlesses, I don't like the snappy sound it gives it for some reason.


the only bass I've been involved with that got converted was a customers tacoma chief acoustic 4 string, it sound sabsolutely awesome once converted and it ran about 2 bills.

joel D.

 

[bassmonkeee]

I wonder how a fretless conv. would sound on a maple board...

I had a maple fretless PBass (sold it to fund the fretless Bongo), and it was a great sounding bass. But, a converted maple neck presents a bunch of issues that aren't there with unfinished fretboards. Most maple fretboards are finished, so the level of difficulty increases a great deal when removing the frets, and you are pretty much guaranteed having to refinish the fretboard once the job is done. At that point, you're probably better off, cost wise, buying a replacement neck, if one is available.

 

[jubjub721]

you said you wondered what it would sound like on a rosewood fretboard

well considering most fretless are.....