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Post subject: How to do it yourself Fretless?
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:57 pm
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Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2008 9:10 pm
Posts: 172
Location: Canada
I have this cheapo knock off bass, that somewhat resembles a short scale P bass with pointier horns. and i would like to convert it to fretless.

Would it be possible to do this with regular "non-specialty" tools that i would find in my house? if so what would i use and how abouts would i do it?
Im thinking its a little more complicated then just getting pliers and pulling em out, then filling the gaps with a filler of some sort.

I would prefer to do this myself without investing money. and it would seem like a fun "do it yourself" project.

All information, and if any stories about projects like this are appreciated.

Thanks,
Trukis,


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Dec 05, 2009 9:48 am
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Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:00 am
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Location: In the pocket north of Washington D.C.
Let me give you some advice:
Make sure that you really want a fretless before doing this because it is practically irreversible on a cheap bass. Its just not worth refretting this bass if it doesn't worrk out well.
Play a fretless bass in a music store to see how hard it is to play before doing this. Many players don't realize how hard it is to play in tune on a fretless bass. That being said: here goes with very abreviated instructions.
Research some online sources for better instructions on doing this:

You can use heat from a soldering gun to help soften any glue used in holding the frets in place.
You will need a fret puller made from a set of end snips ( A Plier like tool used for cutting off nails, etc.)

Pull out the entire fret, including the tang.
DO Not use a belt sander to sand off the tops of the frets and leave the tangs in place as markers. This is a bad idea!
After pulling out the frets, use a wood filler or strips of lighter colored wood to fill the slots. Sand the figerboard smooth and adjust the truss rod to make up for not having frets any longer.

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Post subject: Info on defretting
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 1:58 am
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Joined: Tue Jun 19, 2007 12:34 am
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Location: Hørsholm, Denmark
Hi,

here is a link to an instruction video on YouTube in 10 parts. I think it's very thorough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=115gvPzH ... re=related

If the link doesn't work you can search for "fretless bass conversion(PART 1)".

I think advice and instruction can be found in the TalkBass forum too.

Good luck :-)

Kasper


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Post subject:
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2009 3:54 pm
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Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2009 1:32 pm
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Honestly squier makes a decent fretless bass that you should highly consider before taking so much time and risking possible failure due to the quality of your bass (no offense) so you don't lose your original bass unless you don't really care...

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