Converting a P-Bass to fretless

[Rickenhofner45]

Alrighty. A friend of mine has a Squier P-Bass that he would like converted to a fretless configuration. What is the best way to go around doing it? I think I understand about heating the frets up and carefully knocking them out with a punch and hammer, but how would I go about filling everything in, and smoothing+leveling it all out? I'm looking for a decently easy way to do this.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks guys!

[wideload]

Buy a fretless P neck ($99 at Musicians Friend). Better finish, less hassle, and you can always return to the fretted neck when your friend decides fretless is too much work!

[Rickenhofner45]

I'll let him know. Would still like to know how to convert a fretted neck to fretless, just for later reference, or if he doesn't want to buy a new neck.

[Phendyr_Loon]

Visit stewmac.com, buy a fret puller, a radiused sanding block and a assortment of sandpaper from 120 grit to 600 grit.
Don't skimp on spending the money on the right tools, you'll want to fill the slots where the frets were. I've heard of some folks using strips of wood, though you'll want to do more poking around for a solution to that.

[kenfxj]

Several years ago I went nuts on an Epi T-Bird neck.

I tapped out the frets with a small screwdriver and a hammer. I then bought wood filler and pressed it into the fret slots, smearing it in with my finger. After it dried I sanded the whole thing smooth and then lemon oiled it. I also had to file down the nut slots a tiny bit.

The whole procedure took two evenings while watching TV. The cost was a tube of Elmer's wood filler (I already had lemon oil).

The fret lines didn't look perfect but it worked and played just fine. With the neck pickup soloed and the tone rolled all the way off it had a real upright-y sound.