I recently ordered a custom built fretless from warmoth and I am planning on using a Hipshot b style bridge and they do not offer pre drilling for that style. So I told them to leave it alone and I'll drill the holes for it myself. I know that if I position the bridge wrong it can completely mess up the intonation of the bass. Does anyone have any links to articles or videos that tell you how to do this. I have seen videos for fretted basses but not fretless. Not sure if there would be a difference.
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Installing bridge on fretless bass
- Thread starter bassman30
- Start date
The placement is the same. The scale length isn't going to change just because its fretted or fretless.
Depending on the fingerboard thickness, I think they make a bridge that's not as tall to compensate for the lack of fret height.
spade is also correct, in that you need to lay a straight edge on the finger board to determine the proper height of the bridge saddles. You may have to modify something if it doesn't line up correctly. If its not right, your string height will not be off, and may result in action that is too high.
the position might be difernt i have had to reposition the bridge on fretless bass conversions in order to make up that almost 1/2 inch diferance from the fretted.;;.think about it where your finger lands on a fretted bass the note is produced at the fret not were your finger is .;;. fretless the not produced at your finger;.;.and there not enough adjustment on stock fender bridges.;;.
Headless Llama said:
+1
The scale length remains the same, regardless of whether the neck has frets or not. You will want to file the nut a bit lower than on a fretted neck to compensate for the ~1/16" difference in fret clearance vs fingered clearance to preserve the same angle of incidence from the nut to the first position to maintain accurate intonation in the lower positions.
roamershaker said:
When playing a fretless you need to place your finger at the position where the fret would be on a fretted neck; not behind where the fret would be as on a fretted neck. If you're playing "at the dots" on a converted neck you will never be in tune no matter how much you shorten the scale length.
spade2you said:
The bridge should have a more-than-adequate range for saddle height adjustment. If you manage to bottom out the saddles and the strings aren't hugging the fingerboard, let alone having unacceptably high action, then the neck pocket on the body has been improperly routed. This is a simple matter of correcting the angle at which the neck meets the body; in this case it could be done by placing a thin shim at the bridge end of the neck heel: a 1/2" long strip of low grit sandpaper abrasive-side-down cut to the width of the neck pocket will resolve the issue. However, given the quality of Warmoth products, you shouldn't have anything to be concerned about. Have fun with the build!
