Fretless conversion - Warmoth neck

[twizell]

I have a US Jazz that I really like but I want to return to playing fretless.

From reading this forum it looks like a nice alternative might be just to buy a new neck from Warmoth.

Tonally I'd like that 'mwah' sound. I'll be sticking with roundwound strings.

Visually an all maple neck would probably look the best, but I'm thinking that to get the sound I want I'd be better with an Ebony fingerboard on a Maple neck.

Any other thoughts about choice of woods and sound?

I'm a little curious as to whether the neck with the extra fingerboard length would look OK on the Jazz body. The website says it will overlap the fingerplate so I suppose it would be OK, but it would be great to see someones example. Has anyone done this conversion?

Final question. Is it an amateur job just to unscrew the old neck and 'furniture' and try to assemble this myself, or is it best to find a luthier to do it. I'm pretty game and good at making things, but don't know where I would start.

[Mushroo]

Hi Twizell,
I think you have a good idea. It is pretty much an "amateur job," assuming you are comfortable with truss rod, saddle height, intonation, and (possibly) nut adjustments. The Warmoth should be an exact replacement for an MIA Fender Jazz (but I have not tried it personally). I do have a Warmoth neck on a Warmoth body, and it is top-notch.

If you are coating the fingerboard with some sort of epoxy or hard finish, the wood type matters not at all; choose based on looks. If you're going for unfinished, I would not recommend maple, as it will darken and discolor over time. Ebony on a maple neck is a great choice in this case.

I would personally stick with a 20 or 21 "fret" neck; I wouldn't do the 24-fret extension on a Fender style bass.

Good luck!

[kayakbass]

I think you'll find Ebony to be a GREAT choice for tone and wear. Maple is less common and ( to me ) sounds a bit "scooped"....which is not what you normally equate with fretless tone and mwah. I'm a BIG fan of roundwounds on fretless! Nice choice! Warmoth neck should bolt right on your Fender. Having a properly cut nut is critical to making ANY bass play well but even more so on a fretless. You MAY want to handle everything BUT cutting the nut. It's worth having a luthier handle that one. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

[()smoke()]

if you have a cursory knowledge of hand tools like a screwdriver and some common sense, you can easily do the swap

the overlap looks fine, just be prepared to access the truss rod, which is on the heel end...the good thing about the steel bars in the necks is that once the neck is adjusted, mine doesn't move much at all

i have some photos during the process of building a warmoth jazz that's hanging next to my fretless warmoth with fretboard extension here in the luthier forum if you want to see the fretboard

[()smoke()]

Originally Posted by kayakbass

Having a properly cut nut is critical to making ANY bass play well but even more so on a fretless.

+1

the nut on my fretless was cut just right so that it only required minimal filing of each slot to get the ht correct--you could probably do this to, but a tech will already have the tools/experience

[kayakbass]

Originally Posted by ()smoke()

+1

the nut on my fretless was cut just right so that it only required minimal filing of each slot to get the ht correct--you could probably do this to, but a tech will already have the tools/experience

NICE! I'm just SUPER cautious with nut height on my fretless basses. I have a guy I know and trust and have worked with for years so I just send that stuff to him. Better to pay a little now than a LOT later.

[interp]

I've done this several times and it has worked great for me. You can get a Warmoth maple neck with a fretless ebony board for just under two bills, I believe.

I would definitely go with an ebony board and flatwound strings (I strongly recommend TJ Jazz flats.

Another good neck wood choice is bubinga. It is very stiff, tonally robust and does not need a finish. Much depends on the color/finish on the body of your bass; bubinga looks better with some woods than others. I've had two bubinga/ebony fretless Warmoth necks and love them both.

[twizell]

Thanks for all your feedback... I'll probably get a local luthier to sort the nut / set it up for me once I have it basically in place.

I'll check out the bubinga option as well. Lighter woods probably look better because the bass is a silvery colour.

[lpdeluxe]

I ordered a fretless maple fingerboard neck from Warmoth last fall and installed it on a Precision. Warmoth applied their gloss finish oer the whole neck/fingerboard.

I use TI Jazz Flats, and now that I'm playing it all the time I'm seeing some faint tire tracks on the fingerboard.

For $15 Warmoth installed and cut a nut, and it works fine. I bought Schaller tuners from Stewart-McDonald, along with a string tree (I don't care for the round Fender kind).

Installation is straightforward: I put the tuners and string retainer on the new neck, then took the strings off the bass, removed the four screws (note: lift the neck out of the pocket: don't try to slide it forward because that won't work).

Then I bolted the new neck in place, strung it up, and off I went. The neck as shipped was adjusted properly, and I haven't touched the truss rod. It fit in the neck pocket snugly, and the whole thing (lack of Fender decal aside) looks like it came from the factory.

I really wanted the look of the unlined maple, so Warmoth was the way to go. I'm pleased with the quality of the neck, and the bass turned out killer.

Everyone's seen this link by now, I'm sure, but here it is:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19652150@N02/2068468907/