Anyone done a defret?

Kyon` · #1 05-08-2008, 10:50 PM

Lately I realized, I absolutely love playing a cheap fretless fender copy I got from my friend. I love the feel, the sound, and just how smooth it was. Now I'm considering just defretting my l2000. It has a maple board, but I use flats already. Curiously if anyone has done this job. The other thing is maybe getting a tribute and trying it out on that. So many options!

dBerriff · #2 05-09-2008, 09:20 AM

There is a reason for using ebony on most fretless basses. Unless you take the trouble to cover the board with epoxy finish, Jaco style, your strings are likely to gouge out grooves in the wood. A few fretless G&Ls have come up for sale recently at reasonable prices and you need to cost the option of getting a refret done professionally against this. This is isn't a job that I would even begin to contemplate doing myself.

saxofunk · #3 05-09-2008, 10:08 AM

There's a huuuge defret thread in the setup/repair forum. My personal experience is posted on a geocities site, there's a link through my userid; I defretted a rosewood board on my cheap Toby.

swamp2 · #4 05-18-2008, 06:32 PM

I defretted a USA built Peavey Forum, bought on ebay for about $80. It turned out real well, a very nice usable, good quality instrument. Also rewired to give series/parallel and phase switching while at it. It was a fun project. Think it's a rosewood board (not ebony) but I also use flatwounds on it both because I like flats, and they're easier on the board.

I wouldn't defret a "good" instrument like an L2000 - just buy or mod something cheap, and if you find it's your cup of tea, get a good fretless. Personally, I'm very happy with my cheapy for when I'm in the fretless mood...