bad idea? (de-fretting related)

[varunkapahi]

i have a squier jazz bass (4string) which i love now a guy in my city is selling another squier jazz bass at a very good price. its not cheap for me but i think its is a little affordable. so i need to ask you guys should i get it and de-fret it into a fretless??

i have been wanting a fretless since long now.
my earlier plan was to upgrade to a better fretted bass maybe a fiver and de-fret the squier. but that plan is out of the window now because there is no other bass i am really liking which is affordable at all (i dont have a lot of money)

another problem is i couldnt find raidus-ed blocks, for sanding the neck after pulling out the frets, here in India. is there an alternative to the blocks???

now that bass if affordable and am not looking to gig with the fretless i need it just to play/learn at home. and i am completely fine with gigging with the fretted squier which i already have. suggestions?

[Bob the bassist]

Go for it! Do some research, perhaps de-fret an old junker acoustic or something for some trial-and-error practise. . .

[varunkapahi]

yeah i have been reading all the de-fretting material here and everywhere. am pretty sure i can do it besides the radiu-ed sanding
any suggestions regarding that? i cant find a raidus-ed block?

[Bob the bassist]

I de-fretted a jumbo acoustic and converted it to a bass years ago, and just used my hand to shape the sandpaper to the neck radius. It worked well, but I was using rather fine sandpaper just to remove the excess filler from the fret lines, so I wasn't really removing any wood from the fngerboard itself. If I was to do it again, I'd do it pretty much the same, but maybe use a piece of padding (rubber, carpet, etc.) in my hand to distribute the hand pressure as smoothly as possible. Hope this helps.

[varunkapahi]

hey thanks for writing in again. what did you use as the filler?

[ErebusBass]

I'm planning on starting my first defret in the next couple days here. That said, I don't know that I would buy a bass for the specific purpose of defretting it, for not too much more you could probably get a fretless (maybe not, I don't know how much this stuff costs in India). The only reason I'm defretting one of mine is because I brought it back to life. Four days ago, it was just a piece of wood sitting in the corner so unloved that it didn't even have any strings on it. Now it's a mediocre instrument, which I have virtually no use for, and soon it will be a mediocre fretless instrument, which should be useful as a learning tool.

[jgroh]

I was all set to defret my old Guild bass when the wife surprised me with a Squier VM fretless and looking back, Im glad I didnt do it. Im not saying you shouldnt, but, see if you cant pick up a VM fretless, they are cheap (well at least here in the US) but a great bass, before trying to defret.

[jefkritz]

Regarding sanding: You do not need a radiused block to sand. Do NOT sand using just your hand to support the paper - you will get uneven spots and dips etc. You can use a rectangular block behind the paper, following the grain with your sanding stroke. make sure the radius feels smooth all along the fingerboard, and you'll be golden. (this is how I defretted my squier, so I know it works - though there may be better methods).

I would say hold out for a better bass and defret your current squier when the time comes - but that's your decision

best of luck

[69nites]

you can get radius blocks from stewmac

[varunkapahi]

hey thanks everyone! btw if you check my location stwemac aint for me

[fryBASS]

Or you could defret it and do nothing else to it :P

That's what I did to mine and it works great, the frets were really easy to remove and left the fretboard (now fingerboard :P) with really no need to sand it. Slapped some flats on it (cause the roundwounds were starting to leave marks in it lol) and it's all good

[jondelpho]

Hey, my experience was that my first attempt at frettless was a dismal failure. I LOVED my Yamaha BB1000S. I switched to 5 string and had the Yamaha laying around so, I thought, why not.

I couldn't play it and ultimately had to get rid of it. Bummer!!

Since then I've played and played and played and recently felt comfortable trying it again. I bought an SX frettless from Rondomusic.com and LOVE it!!! plus it was super cheap.

I know you're in India but maybe try them. If you like the Squire Jazz what SX has is fairly comparable. Then, without too much expense or time wasted you can find out whether or not it was worth it.

Good Luck!!!

[69nites]

Originally Posted by jondelpho

Hey, my experience was that my first attempt at frettless was a dismal failure. I LOVED my Yamaha BB1000S. I switched to 5 string and had the Yamaha laying around so, I thought, why not.

I couldn't play it and ultimately had to get rid of it. Bummer!!

Since then I've played and played and played and recently felt comfortable trying it again. I bought an SX frettless from Rondomusic.com and LOVE it!!! plus it was super cheap.

I know you're in India but maybe try them. If you like the Squire Jazz what SX has is fairly comparable. Then, without too much expense or time wasted you can find out whether or not it was worth it.

Good Luck!!!

you could have refretted it instead of getting rid of it

If you know a carpenter you can get a radius block from him.

[varunkapahi]

SX basses are too not available here. buying the squier used would cost me nearly an equivalent of US $125 which is kinda a good price considering how much over priced and hard to find basses are here. anyway i think i would do it if i am able to raise the money needed before he it off to some one else because he is also giving away a hardcase which would be very useful ya know

[Bob the bassist]

Originally Posted by varunkapahi

hey thanks for writing in again. what did you use as the filler?

I used plastic wood; I think the brand was LePage's, which probably isn't available in India, but any decent wood filler or putty should work. At worst, you can make your own by mixing sanding dust (sawdust is too coarse) with glue or shellac.

[jondelpho]

Originally Posted by 69nites

you could have refretted it instead of getting rid of it

It cost around 100 to 150 at the time and unfortunately I didn't have the money to re-invest in getting the frets back .

If you're gonna do it yourself on a cheap beater, all the materials are reasonably priced AND you're getting a Hard Shell case to boot. Go For It!!

Again, good luck.

[varunkapahi]

i called the chap and told him to hold on the bass for a week's time for me. he was cool with it