ARTICLE GUIDE, Defret your bass guitar

[dkelley]

update: I HAVE defretted my own bass now... was much easier than I expected, but pretty much what I hoped for.

fun, easy, worth every second. but I need to lower the nut slots now... with bass strings being so thick, are there standard guage round files I could buy for the task or do I need to buy special overpriced files as I would if I were working on the nut of teeny tiny guitar strings?

[Pilgrim]

Wrap emery cloth around a drill bit and use that...no files needed. Got the idea here on TB! Make sure to measure the total diameter of drill bit PLUS emery cloth to assure it's the right size.

And I still get the cold shivers from seeing a screwdriver used to remove frets. 9 out of 10 people will DESTROY their fretboard if they attempt that.

[dkelley]

never mind nut slots, low priority. I shimmed the neck a bit to lower my action, working really well. truss is well setup but top 5 or so "frets" are buzzing a lot so will do a bit of sanding there. Probably means I sanded more down where it was easier to do so. I also go lazy filling frets up in the last few high ones so will have to add a bit more to the top before i sand it there again.

This is seriously one sexy instrument which was basically free.

those sejung guys can really build a nice bass for cheap eh?

and defretting it gives me a nice fretless when my old ibanez musician professionally done fretless conversino is long gone now due to fingerboard wear after a couple of decades with roundwounds.

[FretlessAddict]

De-fretted my Dean Playmate acoustic by this guide, it worked great. Thanks!

[novenpeter]

thanks for the guide

[anarkink]

Yeah I followed this guide, thanks for it.

One thing that seemed to work best for me was to heat the fret, run a razor under each side of the fret (carefully), and then yank.

I had perfect technique for the last 4 frets, lol.

[Peanut Vendor]

How many layers of epoxy and what kind should I use? I have a rosewood fingerboard, Squier P-Bass if that makes a difference.

[galanti]

what's the point of the lacquer?