My first Defret, How did I do?

[primussucks9126]

I just finished defretting and light sanding my Yamaha RBX250 and I'm wondering if I did ok. It looks alright to me, but I've got no clue, as its my first time. There seem to be some tiny dings around where the fret was, but I think that'll come out in the final sanding.

[Kenbuntu]

how did you remove the frets?
Looks a bit rough but its good that there are no splinters coming out. Sand it. Clean it. Fill it in with wood filler. Let it dry. Sand it. Clean it. Sand it even finer. Clean it. And finish it off with something.

But good work so far. i think it looks fine.

[edbutler3]

Are you planning to fill in the "cracks" with wood putty or something? I've defretted a couple of basses, and I always use wood putty. I cram it into the cracks using my thumb, wipe off the excess, and then sand the whole thing down with extra-fine grit sand paper after the wood putty dries. It worked out pretty well for me.

I guess it would be even nicer to hammer in a thin strip of wood, but I'm not quite that handy. :-/

[primussucks9126]

I used a flat head screwdriver, a hammer, and a soldering iron to remove the frets. I haven't decided if I'm going to use actual wood or the wood filler stuff. Filler seems like it might be easier and would cover up the slop I created, but I don't know yet.

[Kenbuntu]

yeah id go for the filler. Because for wood strips you
A) Have to find good thin pieces of wood.
B) have to glue in there.
C) Wait for it to dry.
D) Cut the access wood down to level.
E) worry of glue going into the Cracks around the area.
F) Have to sand till you get it right.
G) Finish it.

[primussucks9126]

Originally Posted by T_T

yeah id go for the filler. Because for wood strips you
A) Have to find good thin pieces of wood.
B) have to glue in there.
C) Wait for it to dry.
D) Cut the access wood down to level.
E) worry of glue going into the Cracks around the area.
F) Have to sand till you get it right.
G) Finish it.

Hmmm, Well I guess I'll go the filler route seeing as its my first time. Seems like less stuff for me to mess up. Is there any particular brand or type of filler that I should use?

[Darkstrike]

The filler won't give an even line like the wood strips will though.


Would ice cream pop sticks be too wide to use? It would be easy to get a lot of them.

[primussucks9126]

Yeah, I think a popsicle stick would be too wide. I think the wood filler will be fine for me at this point, I've got no experience doing this kind of thing. Maybe I'll try wood strips if/when I do this again.

[idoru]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

The filler won't give an even line like the wood strips will though.

Most of the defrets I've seen here have suffered from this - to my mind, it looks very ordinary. I'd suggest not going for the high contrast look - it'll make it a bit harder to navigate, but the plus side is that from a distance or in bad light it will look unlined

Would ice cream pop sticks be too wide to use? It would be easy to get a lot of them.

Easy, and delicious!

c-

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by primussucks9126

Yeah, I think a popsicle stick would be too wide. I think the wood filler will be fine for me at this point, I've got no experience doing this kind of thing. Maybe I'll try wood strips if/when I do this again.

Originally Posted by idoru

Most of the defrets I've seen here have suffered from this - to my mind, it looks very ordinary. I'd suggest not going for the high contrast look - it'll make it a bit harder to navigate, but the plus side is that from a distance or in bad light it will look unlined

Another option is to copy the pro's(Fender etc.) and use strips of binding, clean look too.

Originally Posted by idoru

Easy, and delicious!

c-

[ErebusBass]

Wood filler works fine, and will make for some nice training wheels (fret lines). I just did my first defret a week or two ago and I'm loving it, it's making me want a real fretless at some point. Just make sure you get the wood filler all the way down in the slot, and wipe the excess off right away or you'll have to do alot of sanding.

[PilbaraBass]

time to sand...AND SAND!...and sand

(keep the rosewood dust)

next time, use end nippers with the jaws ground flush...you don't want anything digging into the wood...

[SBassman]

Stewmac has a tool for this that makes it very easy.

[primussucks9126]

Yeah, I found out about all that later. I just went by several tutorials I found online and did what I could.

[MNbassist]

I dont know how many of you have tried this but I always take a good quality stearated sandpaper and give a quick light sanding to the wood that I just filled, it blends some sawdust with the filler making it less noticeable and blended.

[Arx]

Originally Posted by MNbassist

I dont know how many of you have tried this but I always take a good quality stearated sandpaper and give a quick light sanding to the wood that I just filled, it blends some sawdust with the filler making it less noticeable and blended.

depends if he wants the fretlines though. I used bondo on mine.

There's some jaggies, but who cares. I finished it up smooth and it plays great. a beginner on the fretless will probably find the lines helpful.

His will probably be a bit more jagged. mine came out very clean other than a few frets (right at the front of the picture). I used a pair of end cutters I ground flush to jiggle the frets loose.

I think if you want it to look really nice, either wood or binding is the way to go. It'll be cleanest if you saw the slots to a slightly wider kerf and get some slightly thicker wood. (popsicle sticks? who knows.. it may work alright.)

If you don't care how it looks. contrasting wood filler or bondo so you've got some lines until you can play without looking.

[fretlessman71]

There's this stuff called Styrene that hobbyists use to make things out of... it's white, and comes in sheets. One of the thicknesses just happens to be the same thickness as the tang of a fret.

My old luthier would take sheets of Styrene and cut them to size - get the width right, place a block in and glue it into place, shave off the excess, and sand flat, filling in any gaps or nicks with rosewood dust mixed with epoxy. Nice and bright and easy to see.

[scuz]

Hells yeah, Bondo! Makes me wanna yank the frets outta my MIM Seriously though, what was the whole process with the Bondo? Just like putting it on a car? Slap it on, smooth it out and sand it? Did you use the recommended amount of hardener or maybe a little more?

[Arx]

Originally Posted by scuz

Hells yeah, Bondo! Makes me wanna yank the frets outta my MIM Seriously though, what was the whole process with the Bondo? Just like putting it on a car? Slap it on, smooth it out and sand it? Did you use the recommended amount of hardener or maybe a little more?

I used the recommended amount of hardener.

I masked off the board right up to the fret slots with masking tape then just plastered it on there with a piece of plastic to squeegee it into the slots. let it harden, carefully broke off the excess, and peeled off the tape. Sanded down the ridges that it left behind.

All the pics I took are at:
http://arx.ca/fretless

You can see the whole procedure.

[scuz]

Originally Posted by Arx

I used the recommended amount of hardener.

I masked off the board right up to the fret slots with masking tape then just plastered it on there with a piece of plastic to squeegee it into the slots. let it harden, carefully broke off the excess, and peeled off the tape. Sanded down the ridges that it left behind.

All the pics I took are at:
http://arx.ca/fretless

You can see the whole procedure.

Awesome! I'm half way through the pictures and can already tell I won't be getting anything else done at work today

I don't get the sandpaper with the 2x4 chunk. Did you fold the sandpaper in half and use it that way?

Also I'm thinking of doing this and refinishing the bass to the color of bondo

edit: What kind of epoxy did you use to coat the newly-Bondoed board?