a defretting history

[erbesoderpayaso]

so there is this guy who apparently is carrying a long history of jazz upon his shoulders, who has defretted a bass for sounding more jazzy... and i thought maybe its true.

I saw the bass and it wasn't even a jazz bass (anybrand not just fender, it was a presicion bass)... so i contact a luthier for making him defretting a bass. It all sounded wreird to me, epoxy filling... i thought all that stuff under my fingers was going to feel unconfortable. later i thought "this guy its a dumbass" for defretting his bass, so i begun to reading threads here in tb (maybe for defretting one).

i believe his bass its still defretted with nothing covering the "fretboard" with holes for frets empty, and i've, after a year, made several instruments for mixing, amplifying and playing.

i wont never defret a bass, i love frets.

 

[Gorn]

Defretting can be done well or poorly. There are also fretless basses that were always fretless, but you don't have to play them if you don't want to.

 

[MrBassman17]

To each; their own. I got a five string Ibanez one-off with two soap bar pick ups in a jazz configuration, and thought - why not? So, I had a friend of mine who does this sort of work pull all the frets out, and then I replaced the slots with maple strips purchased at a hobby store. Super glued in place; sanded to silky perfection, and it did make a huge difference n the playability and tone! Now, I'm not going to do this to all my basses, but I certainly wouldn't discourage someone from trying it!

 

[erbesoderpayaso]

To each; their own. I got a five string Ibanez one-off with two soap bar pick ups in a jazz configuration, and thought - why not? So, I had a friend of mine who does this sort of work pull all the frets out, and then I replaced the slots with maple strips purchased at a hobby store. Super glued in place; sanded to silky perfection, and it did make a huge difference n the playability and tone! Now, I'm not going to do this to all my basses, but I certainly wouldn't discourage someone from trying it!

yes but one awfull thing to do is defret and not to put anything else to cover the slots... and a presicion bass, i believe its name comes from frets, by the way.

Defretting can be done well or poorly. There are also fretless basses that were always fretless, but you don't have to play them if you don't want to.

yes he didn't even read about it or if he did he didn't care.

 

[Gorn]

yes but one awfull thing to do is defret and not to put anything else to cover the slots... and a presicion bass, i believe its name comes from frets, by the way.

yes he didn't even read about it or if he did he didn't care.

The labels don't really matter. There are plenty of fretless precision basses. Fender made some stock ones back in the day. It sounds like your friend did a bad job defretting and it left you with a bad impression of the concept but it can be done properly with really great results.

 

[Wisebass]

there is this guy who apparently is carrying a long history of jazz upon his shoulders, who has defretted a bass for sounding more jazzy

JACO????

 

[erbesoderpayaso]

yes, but it has to be done well.

 

[erbesoderpayaso]

JACO????

jajajajaja yes, you got it... it was all a history, i thought this guy its the real deal... so he did everything bad... jajajja

 

[JRA]

i love frets.

i admire you for your conviction.

i used to tolerate them, at best. now: i won't go near them. they always seem to require more attention than i'm willing to give.

 

[erbesoderpayaso]

i admire you for your conviction.

i used to tolerate them, at best. now: i won't go near them. they always seem to require more attention than i'm willing to give.

i like fretless basses but im not going to defret one with a knife and leave it that way because i want a fretless sound. i buy one or i defret and treat the finderboard.

 

[erbesoderpayaso]

or ask someone to do it.

 

[erbesoderpayaso]

in that order now.

 

[HolmeBass]

Those Fender-made fretless Precisions were nice basses. A buddy used to own one, with a DiMarzio pickup, not sure if was active or not, but a very cool bass to play. He has black nylon tapewounds on it and it sounded great, too.

 

[Maxfenderbass]

I used to have a Squier CV 60s I had defretted at the 12th Fret in Toronto. They did a fantastic job, they refused to epoxy the board though.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

I can't help comparing de-fretting a bass with declawing a cat, where you are basically ripping the finger off at the first knuckle. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT FOR YOUR BASS????
Leave the knuckle, buy a real fretless. Let Jaco be Jaco and move on, sensibly.

 

[Drgonzonm]

Twisting to the left, to open a can of worms. IMO, especially after reviewing Calerance Leo Fender's patent. It's the the frets that gave the P-bass it's P. Now the bass is Precesionless Bass. By the way either notreble or Bassplayer has a decent write up on defretting.

 

[bobyoung53]

yes but one awfull thing to do is defret and not to put anything else to cover the slots... and a presicion bass, i believe its name comes from frets, by the way.

Yes but also the first common fretless bass was a Fender Precision first made late 1969-70. Rickenbacker also made them around the same time. Hohner made them during the 60's but they weren't very common.

 

[REMBO]

i would just buy a fretless neck and swap it out...you could always change it out

 

[farace]

Yes but also the first common fretless bass was a Fender Precision first made late 1969-70. Rickenbacker also made them around the same time. Hohner made them during the 60's but they weren't very common.

Ampeg offered fretless basses in 1966.

1966 Ampeg AUB-1

• farace
• Jul 9, 2016
• ampeg

 

[Thumpin6string]

I play my 6 string fretted and my 5 string fretless and I like them both. My 5 string was supposed to be fretted, but I filled the lines with maple and polyed the board. Plays like a dream with tons of Mwaaa. The op doesn't know what he's missing.