I just defreted one of my basses and I want to make it a lined fretless. I can't find anything to put in place of the frets. So I'm just going to fill it with wood putty, paint it white(or silver), then coat in Epoxy. I don't know what epoxy to use or what wood putty. Thanks


Brandon :bassist:

I used Mirror Coat epoxy on my fretless J. I've got a defretted MIM P neck sitting in my lap (just came in the mail today) that I plan on filling in the lines and epoxying with the Mirror Coat as well. Mirror Coat is fairly easy to work with. You'll need a foam brush for each coat. After one use the brush is pretty much shot. It took me 4 coats for my J, but I wish I had done a couple extra. I probably will this time around. I am planning on using wooden shims to fill the fret lines. Using spackle'like filler doesn't give very neat lines.

When i defretted one of my basses i just filled the spaces with i think elmers wood putty, sanded it down and put a few coats of finish on it and it sounds pretty good. Its a rosewood fretboard and the wood putty i used was maple so it worked out nice to make good lines.

the general thing people do is either wood putty or veneer lines which you can glue in with superglue. then depending on the board (ebony you can leave be, Maple or Rose will need a finish!) you can slap some sort of finish on it, Epoxy is most commonly used.

make veneer lines. more consistent than putty. sometimes putty will pit when sanding also its softer than the surrounding wood. i always use veneer UNLESS the fretlines are very small in width and consistent in cut...i mean no chips.

good luck

I played an Unlined Fretless at my local music store today and realized I don't need lines so I'm just going to go with wood putty. I'm 100% sure what epoxy I should use.

I played an Unlined Fretless at my local music store today and realized I don't need lines so I'm just going to go with wood putty. I'm 100% sure what epoxy I should use.

When I did mine a few months ago I used Walnut veneer and on my Rosewood fingerboard it's just enough to look clean from a distance and help me if I get off track a bit. I tried Epoxy, but on a Rosewood board it did not stick well and began to peel off. I tried CA glue and it is still perfect today. There is a tutorial on Bass Player mag site that walks you through the process.

Advice: Take your time!