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I have a 6 string fretless!

The Ethanator

The Ethanator

Jul 28, 2008
517
68
Illinois, except like 6 hours from Chicago
#1
I just picked up my ESP LTD D6 from a friend who took it to a local luthier (Jimmy from J Gravity in St. Louis) to be defretted, and WOW. You can hardly tell it had frets on it previously. The 2 truss rods and dense neck through body give it sustain for days, and the mwah...oh the mwah. He even replaced my gigantic strings, set it up great and threw a coat of plastic epoxy on the fretboard. Who else plays a fretless six? I was hesitant to have it done at first until I got good on a cheap fretless 4, and since then I've been hooked on playing fretless.
 
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#6
Pics! Sorry about the glare in some of the shots, that epoxy really makes the fingerboard shine like a mirror!
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#8
I've been performing on my Carvin LB76 fretless since I got it new in 1999. It's the one in my avatar pic. I've been fretless since 1977. My first fretless was a 1976 Fender P-bass; I bought it new in 1977 for $250.00! I sold the Fender after I got the Carvin. The Carvin is the only bass that I own.
 

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#9
The Ethanator said:
I just picked up my ESP LTD D6 from a friend who took it to a local luthier (Jimmy from J Gravity in St. Louis) to be defretted, and WOW. You can hardly tell it had frets on it previously. The 2 truss rods and dense neck through body give it sustain for days, and the mwah...oh the mwah. He even replaced my gigantic strings, set it up great and threw a coat of plastic epoxy on the fretboard. Who else plays a fretless six? I was hesitant to have it done at first until I got good on a cheap fretless 4, and since then I've been hooked on playing fretless.
Click to expand...

I play fretless 6, though these days (it depends on the music I'm playing) I tend to be playing my G&L fretless L2500. (a 5er) I love your story on the ESP LTD because I recently bought an ESP LTD B-206SM. It's a killer ax in the intermediate price range.

But while I have a host of fretted 6ers, as you know fretless 6ers are much harder to come by. Hence I only have two. My Alembic Epic fretless 6 and my SX 6er I converted to fretless. That covers the high end and bar bass levels of playing but I have nothing in the middle. Which is why I've been seriously thinking of a fretless conversion of my LTD B-206SM.

Your conversion is only fueling the fire!
 
#10
bassbenj said:
I play fretless 6, though these days (it depends on the music I'm playing) I tend to be playing my G&L fretless L2500. (a 5er) I love your story on the ESP LTD because I recently bought an ESP LTD B-206SM. It's a killer ax in the intermediate price range.

But while I have a host of fretted 6ers, as you know fretless 6ers are much harder to come by. Hence I only have two. My Alembic Epic fretless 6 and my SX 6er I converted to fretless. That covers the high end and bar bass levels of playing but I have nothing in the middle. Which is why I've been seriously thinking of a fretless conversion of my LTD B-206SM.

Your conversion is only fueling the fire!
Click to expand...

Do it, you won't regret it! My one complaint about the D6 since I got it is the neck dive, but I've since gotten used to it, and from what I remember this isn't quite so much of a problem with the B series basses I've played. Eventually I'm going to put some strap locks on it and replace the pickups with dual-mode EMGs...and possibly have it converted to a string-through body just for the sake of turning this bass into a complete and total monster. I'm about to use this to work on an EP with a local deathcore band, but I'm also a music composition major and have a few short classical sketches for bass I've been working on, as well as a Sonatina which I finished last year. Let me tell you, this thing really screams classical music...
 
#11
The Ethanator said:
I have a 6 string fretless!
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Congrats!! I have an ESP B205SM fretless and love it!

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They're great basses!

project43 said:
I've been performing on my Carvin LB76 fretless since I got it new in 1999. It's the one in my avatar pic. I've been fretless since 1977. My first fretless was a 1976 Fender P-bass; I bought it new in 1977 for $250.00! I sold the Fender after I got the Carvin. The Carvin is the only bass that I own.
Click to expand...
Nice!! I have a fretless Carvin 6er as well. I sold it but through a fortunate turn of events, I was able to get it back. It's not leaving again!

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