"defretting and pup changin" a cheapo?

machine gewehr · #1 12-26-2006, 09:31 AM

I have a Washburn xb-120 that I'm not playing since I got my 44-01. It has 2 soapbar pups.And worn out frets.Pups sound like **** after the Lakland.

I'm thinking of defretting+epoxy the board and changing the bridge pup with a jazz pup. Would it give me some nice mwah and some "burp/growl" with the jazz pup,Jaco like?
Also as sustain really sucks,a new bridge maybe?

I really want a fretless lately but would it be waste of money or would it satisfy me,any experience?

Swift713 · #2 12-26-2006, 02:17 PM

My first bass was a cheapo that I eventually got defretted, new pups, and a badass bridge. I had a luthier do the work and he had thought at the time it was kind of a waste of time but I was very happy with it. If there are no major issues with your neck etc I say go for it. I paid $200 to have mine done but you can diy for less. Of course now that I think about it, that guy couldn't have charged me very much for labor. He did a very nice job.

Rwm8088 · #3 12-26-2006, 02:25 PM

Why not defret it? Cheaper than refretting. My first pawnshop special was a plywood j-bass copy. THe frets were worn but it served the purpose. After a few years, i found a capacitor in the electronics that knocked off the high end, not just th etone control cap, and removed it. After that it had plenty of highs, so I defretted it, and stained the neck. THe neck is warped, but it did sound good until the neck got too bad to play.
I put 3 new pickups in the plywood body (after spending some quality time with a router), a real J-bass neck, and a custom pickguard to accompany the new switches and contols. i still use it.

moLowNote · #4 12-26-2006, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swift713

My first bass was a cheapo that I eventually got defretted, new pups, and a badass bridge. I had a luthier do the work and he had thought at the time it was kind of a waste of time but I was very happy with it. If there are no major issues with your neck etc I say go for it. I paid $200 to have mine done but you can diy for less. Of course now that I think about it, that guy couldn't have charged me very much for labor. He did a very nice job.

You PAID for someone to take the frets out???

Heck... when I was in college I tool the neck out of my cheap plywood Washburn and took my clothes iron to it. If you heat it up, the frets expand and then they come out pretty easy. Use a little filler and some dark stain and you have a fretless...

Actually, It worked pretty well because the stain and filler were dark enough that you couldn't see the lines off stage, but I could see them when I was playing. 13 years later, I still have the bass, but took off the plywood body and am putting together a new one but keeping the old neck.

AmazingGracePlayer · #5 12-26-2006, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by machine gewehr

I'm thinking of defretting+epoxy the board and changing the bridge pup with a jazz pup. Would it give me some nice mwah and some "burp/growl" with the jazz pup,Jaco like?
Also as sustain really sucks,a new bridge maybe?

I think you'll get a tone as horrible as Jaco's, so I'd say go for it.

garth elson · #6 12-26-2006, 05:36 PM

back in eighth grade, i had woodshop. I made a bass out of solid oak for the body, and a (fretted) neck from stewmac. Now it's a fretless, and is actually real fun to play because the oak makes it so nice an heavy and is pretty much the PERFECT shape.

But I digress. Go for a new bridge if you're going to take the frets off, and make sure it goes lower than the old one; because once those frets are off, it's a lot farther down to the fretboard.

To take the frets out, I'd recommend using fingernail or toenail clippers. They're just as prescision as any tool sold to do the same job, and a lot cheaper too!

Assuming your neck is flat, you can use anything you want to to fill in the fret slots (that is, if you're going to epoxy the whole neck). I'd advise some nice maple colored wood-filler.

IMPORTANT!!!

If you're doing the epoxy yourself, GET THE RIGHT KIND!

I had to re-epoxy mine a few times because I sprang for that "5-minute" stuff instead of going with something more robust. get the strongest epoxy you can! Jaco used boat epoxy, btw.

saxofunk · #7 12-26-2006, 05:44 PM

+1. Do it. I have done the same things to my Toby Deluxe - defret, bridge, p'ups. Check out the my home page link and you'll find my step-by-step defret page. It's good experience, worse you could do is screw up a $200 bass.

Margus Alviste · #8 12-27-2006, 12:12 AM

I have an experience with stripping off the finish of two cheap basses. They usually use cheap and fat finishing materials which don't let the wood vibrate. In one case I changed the finish to very thin nitro and in the other situation I finished the neck and body in Danish Oil. The difference in sound was quite huge. You should also change the nut (use bone for the fretless), bridge and pickups and you can get the sound which normally costs you at least double of the price.

thumbin · #9 12-27-2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by machine gewehr

I have a Washburn xb-120 that I'm not playing since I got my 44-01. It has 2 soapbar pups.And worn out frets.Pups sound like **** after the Lakland.

I'm thinking of defretting+epoxy the board and changing the bridge pup with a jazz pup. Would it give me some nice mwah and some "burp/growl" with the jazz pup,Jaco like?
Also as sustain really sucks,a new bridge maybe?

I really want a fretless lately but would it be waste of money or would it satisfy me,any experience?

I actually did the exact same thing to my old washburn xb-125. I pulled the frets out with a knife, used wood epoxy to fill in the fret slots, taped off the fretboard and poured polyurethane on it and made set everything was level. it took about a week or so and a few coats of polyurethane for the fretboard to dry but it was totally worth it. I also switched out the soapbars for some 60's jazz bass pickups (i converted it to a 4 string and added a fender bridge) stripped the paint off the body and neck and used linseed oil to protect the wood. and it turned out awesome. instant jaco tone, i used dr highbeams on it. I have pictured of it in my yahoo photos. http://photos.yahoo.com/hack_this_box

sadly this bass is no longer around...

thumbin · #10 12-27-2006, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by machine gewehr

I have a Washburn xb-120 that I'm not playing since I got my 44-01. It has 2 soapbar pups.And worn out frets.Pups sound like **** after the Lakland.

I'm thinking of defretting+epoxy the board and changing the bridge pup with a jazz pup. Would it give me some nice mwah and some "burp/growl" with the jazz pup,Jaco like?
Also as sustain really sucks,a new bridge maybe?

I really want a fretless lately but would it be waste of money or would it satisfy me,any experience?

oh, and if you want any tips on doing this give me an email at casey.tinsley@gmail.com ill explain how i did it all

machine gewehr · #11 12-28-2006, 11:28 AM

Thanks everybody,you could have just said its no good to do it and save me money and time,but all the positive comments?...Now I have to do this!

Just kiddin',thanks for the help people,I'm starting the project ASAP!

Can you recommend a good jazz pup for the bridge for a Jaco-like sound?Not too expensive if possible.

Thanks again for the help!