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Fretted to fretless

Juan_De_Viann

Juan_De_Viann

Oct 26, 2011
15
12
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
www.gianniskontakis.com
#1
Hello everybody!!
I am the lucky owner of 2 great Pedulla Basses, a thunderbass 4 (1986) and a thunderbass5 (1993). Both have bartolini humbuckers, the 4 has an old Bartolini (volume, blend, tone) preamp, and the 5 has a newer Bartolini (volume, blend, bass, treble & mid switch) preamp.
I need a fretless bass, but I am luck of cash to buy something really good, so I am thinking of removing the frets and do the epoxy job to one of the Pedullas (I won't do the job myself, I will send it to a luthier). I cannot decide which of the 2 would be the best for a frettless modification, so I could use some opinions.
I also own another fretted 5 which is my main instrument.
The other option would be to buy a mexican Fender jazz and change the pickups to Fender 60's or something (I think I can afford this).
What would be your way?
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#2
Get something cheap and pull the frets. You can smooth the gaps and fill them with plastic wood. Don't forget to lower the nut. Then you can see if fretless is really your thing, or if you really need it. If you pull the frets on the Pedulla you'll lower the resale value quite a bit. But if you do go with a mod on the Pedulla, have a qualified luthier do the work.
 
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#3
If you've never played fretless before, use the cash to get a decent but inexpensive fretless bass (Squier, Ibanez, etc.) first to see if fretless works for you. There are plenty to choose from.

I say this because from what I've seen, about 90% of the people who do try fretless soon decide it's not for them. And of the 10% who eventually do learn to play a fretless neck, about half end up not playing one all that often.

I wouldn't mod something like a Pedulla unless I was absolutely sure that I wanted to regulary play fretless - and I only wanted to play fretless on the Pedulla I was going to modify.

Oh...and if you are going to try fretess, start with a 4-string. You'll have more than enough to get comfortable with that you won't need that extra string any time soon.
 
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#6
BassChuck said:
You can smooth the gaps and fill them with plastic wood.
Click to expand...
Not a good idea. A study that has been done on this topic by respected techs and luthiers, and the unanimous conclusion is that wood fillers, such as plastic wood, compress and often result in bad neck distortions under the stress of the string tension. The recommended way to fill the fret slots is with closely fitting wood veneer or plastic glued in. Check this thread: Defretting and the use of Wood Filler | TalkBass.com
 
#7
Turnaround said:
Not a good idea. A study that has been done on this topic by respected techs and luthiers, and the unanimous conclusion is that wood fillers, such as plastic wood, compress and often result in bad neck distortions under the stress of the string tension. The recommended way to fill the fret slots is with closely fitting wood veneer or plastic glued in.
Click to expand...
I believe that the luthier will fill the gaps with pieces of maple.
 
#9
I sold the bass I was going to do it to, but I was "this" close to ripping the frets of an epi TBird, and I was going to lay down a cool oxidized copper thin sheet, almost leaf.. and then epoxy over it. I would love to see someone with some sort of textured metal fingerboard under an epoxy finish.

Just a thought since I'm probably not going to get around to it.
 
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#12
Go for an Ibanez Gary Willis 35 (the Indo replica of the impossible MIJ original masterpiece)

I always jumped on and off the fretless train (that's nice, isn'it?;)) due to not so natural (IMHO) neck condition I used to find on basses I tried out
I mean Yamaha Trb 1005f, Warwick Corvette fretless 5, Squier VM Jazz and Ibanez Sr505f

Then I came across the Willis replica and it's strange how it immediately felt like designed with a fretless ace and not just a factory defretted model
It's not that costy if new and it comes for less than $. 400.00 if secondhand.

Why don't you give it a go?

Cheers,
Wallace
 
#13
I think the question you need to ask yourself is, which do I prefer slapping and popping on, the 5 or the 4??? And then convert the other one.

Once it's a fretless, you won't be slapping on it. So go with the one less suited to that.
 
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#15
Juan_De_Viann said:
Oh I forgot to mention that I do play fretless many years, and I am good at it. I used to own a nice handmade fretless but changed it for the Pedulla V (because the value of the Pedulla is by far better ). I don't really like the Squier thing, I need something better.And I like both 4 and 5 string basses equally.
Click to expand...
I would disagree with your statement about needing something better. Yes, Squier's rep from the past still haunts the Squier name, but the quality is surprisingly good. I own a Squier VM V Jazz and I like the bass a lot.
I hope you're not being an elitist because you own Pedullas. I own an American Jazz and a Precison Select and the Squier may not have the badge, but it has the sound and plays nicely.
If you are on a budget, it is a great way to go. You can find used ones for abut $250 - $275.
 
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#16
First, if money isn't that much of a problem, don't modifiy one of your bass!!

You can either ask a luthier to make one with the same spec as your pedulla or simply buy a low cost fretless bass to see how you like it.

That is what I did and ordered a wishbass
 
#17
if you must .. I'd do the 4 strings ... ( I did that to my Alembic Elan II , while keeping my ET5 fretted ) regretted it ...

also .. I replaced the pups and guts in my ET5 ... passive Barts ( yours are Active ) and an Aguilar OP3 ... wow , what a difference in clarity and tone control ... !!
 
#19
There are so many options out there for fretless that would be cheaper than having this modification done. If it is something you want to do, then by all means, but there is no reason to feel like you have to pull the frets out of one of your basses to save money. How often will you be playing fretless? If it will only be for a few songs/sessions, I would just get a Squier or MTD used. Again, if this is something you want to do, that is a different story. I know Mike Pedulla will convert it, but it won;t likely be cheap or quick.
 
#20
Turnaround said:
Not a good idea. A study that has been done on this topic by respected techs and luthiers, and the unanimous conclusion is that wood fillers, such as plastic wood, compress and often result in bad neck distortions under the stress of the string tension. The recommended way to fill the fret slots is with closely fitting wood veneer or plastic glued in. Check this thread: Defretting and the use of Wood Filler | TalkBass.com
Click to expand...

I understand that. I was talking about getting a cheap bass and doing this to find out if fretless is a good idea for the player. Certainly if the OP goes ahead with the idea of defreting one of his Pedullas he would be more that well informed to have the work done professionally.
 

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