....and man, it's COOL!
I picked up one of
these a few months back. I've been wanting to get a fretless 6-string for my soon-to-be Primus tribute, but I just couldn't find one in my price range that I liked. Rondo does make a fretless version of this bass, but I wanted mine to be lined.
I'm happy to report that it was a great success & it was easy to do. Here's how I did it...
- Mask off each side of the fret. Pull the fret out slowly with each a set of flathead cutting pliers or toe nail clippers. Repeat until all are out.
- Sand the fretboard using 200 grit sandpaper.
- I then coated the fretboard with a coat of Lincoln Black Leather dye. Stay with me...I then sanded with 200, then 400. What this trick did was it brought out the grain of the rosewood much more. Instead of a basic rosewood look, I got the look of massacar ebony with lots of rich brown and the depth that the black shades provide. Very cool!
- Mask off each fret & add white wood putty for the lines. Push the putty into the old fret slots until packed full. Wait for it to harden.
- Sand the fretboard with 200, then 400 to even out the fretboard & the wood putty.
- Mask off the entire bass minus the fretboard. Apply 3 coats of Minwax Polyurethane Clear Gloss in a spray can. For each coat, do this...spray, wait at least 2 hours (or more), lightly sand with 400, then repeat. On the last coat, sand lightly with 200, then 400, and finally a very fine steel wool. I used 000#.
- Slao on some strings, adjust the bridge & nut as needed & you are in business! SIMPLE!
- NOTE: I used orange oil to clean the fretboard after every sanding venture.
In addition, I bought a jazz bass body from Rondo & plan to marry my now "lined fretless" Douglas neck to a Jazz body. Not only would a 6-string fretless jazz bass look great, but it I believe the overall bass would be much more balanced. The Douglas' current body is small and has a pretty short upper horn. This flaw adds quite a bit of neck dive. The jazz body's longer upper horn & bigger body should reduce the neck dive to a minimum, if at all. And did I mention is would just be COOL?!?!!
Anyway, this would a fun project and I'm glad I took it on. Anyone who's hesitating, just do it! I had a blast. I'm waiting for my set of Elixirs strings to get here & once I install them, I'll snap some pics. Now to get on with this body swap project, but first, I better go play some kick ass Primus lines on my new toy.
"Jerry was a race car driver...." 
