Defretting A Bass?

[amphlett7]

WELL
before you saay
"do a search before you post"

i DID

and read MANY
upon HUNDREDS

of threads on this particular subject

and then said to myself
" i gotta post it myself"

Here is a list of things ive tried

1.Heating the fret with soldering iron and pulling
2.Pulling the frets on their own
3.pushing the frets out


NONE of these things have worked
im not quitting
i just dont know what to do
Its a one time thing and i dont want to buy some fret pullers for something im only doing once

so anyone got any tips?

ALSO
where could I get it defretted
In Perth,Western Australia

[tomvelsor]

you could always ship it to HG thor, they defrett/epoxy necks beautifully. but its pricey, but definately the best job youll ever see.

as for doing it yourself, ive used pliers, screwdrivers, and a soldering iron to heat it. its hard to really grip the fret with pliers, and using a screwdriver to wedge it out (i think thats what jaco did, with a butter knife. god bless that man.) will ding up the neck a bit.

ive done it twice and its kinda annoying to do. the first fret is always the hardest..then once you get the hang of it itll take like 20 minutes.

[Ezbass]

Take it to a bass guitar repair shop and then you can select how you want the slots filled. I got mine done with maple and the dots removed and replaced with rosewood.

If you really do want to do it yourself, I have been down this road too many years ago (I was more broke then). I just used pliers which did result in the odd chip, but not too bad, then filled the slots with plastic wood and sanded it to a smooth finish. I should've filed the nut slots down too, but I didn't have the confidence so left it as was. All in all it wasn't a bad job at all, but not nearly as nice as my current fretless squeeze.

[amphlett7]

Originally Posted by tomvelsor

you could always ship it to HG thor, they defrett/epoxy necks beautifully. but its pricey, but definately the best job youll ever see.

as for doing it yourself, ive used pliers, screwdrivers, and a soldering iron to heat it. its hard to really grip the fret with pliers, and using a screwdriver to wedge it out (i think thats what jaco did, with a butter knife. god bless that man.) will ding up the neck a bit.

ive done it twice and its kinda annoying to do. the first fret is always the hardest..then once you get the hang of it itll take like 20 minutes.

Welllllll....
ive checked on HG Thors site
2 year waiting list

so i guess im doing it myself
but ive tried the soldering iron
TWICE!!!
and it still hasnt worked
i just don't know what im going to do
i guess it'll have to be brute force
and pull the frets out
i'll try tomorrow

BTW what kind of (Non Specific) pliers are best to use

and by non specific
i mean ones from like stew mac
im talking generic ones

[Jazzlover]

Maybe look at this site:

http://largemouth.wordpress.com/cate...-instructions/

I also found a lot of other good info by searching Google for "how to defret a bass".

But, I have never done the procdure myself. Maybe one day I'll pick up a cheap project bass and try it.

[rllefebv]

Originally Posted by amphlett7

Welllllll....
ive checked on HG Thors site
2 year waiting list

so i guess im doing it myself
but ive tried the soldering iron
TWICE!!!
and it still hasnt worked
i just don't know what im going to do
i guess it'll have to be brute force
and pull the frets out
i'll try tomorrow

BTW what kind of (Non Specific) pliers are best to use

and by non specific
i mean ones from like stew mac
im talking generic ones

If you have access to a bench grinder and possess a fairly steady hand, it's fairly simple to grind the face away from a pair of end nippers and use these to pull frets... End nippers can be purchased at any decent hardware store... Works great!

-robert

[PilbaraBass]

get a pair of end nippers...grind the bottom surface flush to the jaw closing...use these to get under your frets to pull them out...

if you don't want to do this or don't know what I'm talking about...look at the defretting tool on stewmac.com

[Pilgrim]

You need a pair of end nippers - with cutting jaws on the outer edge of the face - and then you will definitely be able to grip the frets. The challenge is that many have the cutting surface recessed from the face. I think Pillarabass has the solution if you can't find a pair with the cutting setup the way you need.

BUT - when you pull the frets, even if you heat them with a stout soldering iron you will have rosewood chips coming out. Save them, and then use superglue to restore the chips to their places as well as you can. This took HOURS for me when I did mine, but it was the only way to do it right and have a smooth fretboard.

Frankly, if you own a bass for which fretless necks are available, it's more practical to buy one and finish it to match.

Good luck.

[amphlett7]

Alright
i have defretted it

and destroyed the neck in the process
BUT
ive sanded it down
and gotten rid of most of the bumps
so thanks for your help

[AllenBass7]

get a knife. that's what jaco did with his

[amphlett7]

WELLLLLLL....

i have sucsesfully pulled out the frets

so no
WOOD PUTTY

i am using wood putty
i have not the patience for pieces of wood

so what kind of putty
????

[mortar]

As has been mention you can turn a pair of end cutter into fret pullers by grinding the cutting end down some.

For anyone that's interested Channel Lock makes the pullers that Stew-Mac sells and can be had for a much cheaper price.

I would link directly to the Channel Lock page but their site is acting weird. Here's a tool place the sells them. End cutters.
They probably can be found at any well rounded tool supply shop. I've seen them in a few places locally once I've discovered them.

There's definitly a trick to working these. You want to heat the fret and SLOWLY rock the fret out. You have to take your time.

[amphlett7]

well the frets are now filled
waiting for them to dry
and then i wil do a sand
and check it its all level
if not
i will reputty
and reapeat most of it
i just hope the putty not stuck in the grain

[PilbaraBass]

Originally Posted by amphlett7

...

i have not the patience for pieces of wood

...

well, you've sort of stated your main problem right there...

there's no easy road to good results...

try developing your patience...if you do, your satisfaction level will also increase proportionally...

[JEDI BASS]

I did my first and only conversion nearly 20 years ago with very little damage. All I did was use some common sense and patience: I took the strings off, tightened the truss to give a back-bow (helps open the fret slots), got under the edges with a thin blade, and pulled them out with pliers. The neck was far from destroyed. Filled the slots with putty, and sanded the fretboard, then ground the nut slots down a bit. Also, just got a neck back from HG Thor less than a week ago....it's awesome!!! The wait was NOT 2 years. He got to me in 6-8 months. So, all-in-all it took less than a year to have my Thor neck done.

[amphlett7]

Originally Posted by JEDI BASS

I did my first and only conversion nearly 20 years ago with very little damage. All I did was use some common sense and patience: I took the strings off, tightened the truss to give a back-bow (helps open the fret slots), got under the edges with a thin blade, and pulled them out with pliers. The neck was far from destroyed. Filled the slots with putty, and sanded the fretboard, then ground the nut slots down a bit. Also, just got a neck back from HG Thor less than a week ago....it's awesome!!! The wait was NOT 2 years. He got to me in 6-8 months. So, all-in-all it took less than a year to have my Thor neck done.

im sorry
thats just whats said on his site

Originally Posted by HGTHOR

There is only one person here doing custom epoxy work- me! Due to the overwhelming response for this service, there is about a two year wait. Please give me your full contact info and I will happily add you to the list with no commitment on your part. Details may be discussed when contacting me to ensure your position on the list. Pricings are subject to change.
Thanks so much for your patience! -HG

[Pilgrim]

Originally Posted by amphlett7

well the frets are now filled
waiting for them to dry
and then i wil do a sand
and check it its all level
if not
i will reputty
and reapeat most of it
i just hope the putty not stuck in the grain

First mistake: yanking frets quickly and damaging neck. I hope you saved the rosewood chips that came out.

Second mistake: using wood putty as filler.

If you have no patience, don't tackle this kind of project. The results will look like hell and it won't be anything you can be proud of. More than that, sawing a series of slots across a piece of wood and then putting pressure on it is the way to bend wood - not ideal for a neck! You should have something in those slots at least as dense as rosewood to prevent bending - and putty is NOT such a substance.

My suggestion to do this right:

First, glue back in all the rosewood chips that came out. Next, buy a craft saw with a blade .022 wide, and carefully saw the putty OUT of the slots. This will leave clean slots that you can work with.

Next, buy styrene plastic .020 wide (should be in the same craft store), cut the pieces roughly to fit the slots but slightly oversize so that a bit or plastic sticks out on both sides and above the fretboard.

Glue in the styrene with super glue, then trim the strips down with a razor blade (easy to do).

Sand lightly to even out the strips, put a light layer of tung oil on the neck, and you'll have a fretboard that you can be proud of - and that won't bend forward under the load of the strings.

You can do all this in 2-3 hours and your result will be much superior.

[amphlett7]

Well
its almost done
just a neck finish now

(its shiny cause its clean, not finished)

[amphlett7]

[amphlett7]

DAMN
i just noticed those pics look great

do the neck justice