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Is this a job well done?

neil|lien

neil|lien

Sep 6, 2018
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#1
Hello everyone!
So, there is this bass for sale on the second hand market here in Spain. The asking price is 400€ & seller claims that the defret job was performed by a luthier. But:
- no epoxy or any kind of finish on the fretboard, &
- it seems whatever filler was used to replace the frets kind of sinks into the fretboard? Or am i seeing it wrong? Does the defretting look like luthier work to you?
Does it change anything when playing? It comes with D'Addario flats.

And also: that black line that has been drawn on the body seems to be there to hide some big ding in the body.. or is it my eyes again ?

Do U think it is worth the asking price? The bass is 700km away so no chance of going there just to see it & try it first.

IMG-20231104-WA0026.jpg
IMG-20231104-WA0024.jpg
IMG-20231104-WA0027.jpg

IMG-20231104-WA0025.jpg
 
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#2
neil|lien said:
Hello everyone!
So, there is this bass for sale on the second hand market here in Spain. The asking price is 400€ & seller claims that the defret job was performed by a luthier. But:
- no epoxy or any kind of finish on the fretboard, &
- it seems whatever filler was used to replace the frets kind of sinks into the fretboard? Or am i seeing it wrong? Does the defretting look like luthier work to you?
Does it change anything when playing? It comes with D'Addario flats.

And also: that black line that has been drawn on the body seems to be there to hide some big ding in the body.. or is it my eyes again ?

Do U think it is worth the asking price? The bass is 700km away so no chance of going there just to see it & try it first.

View attachment 5240978 View attachment 5240979 View attachment 5240980
View attachment 5240985
Click to expand...
As far as I know, fretboards only have a finish on them if they are maple. It's in no way odd that this board is bare wood.
 
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#7
direktor said:
I have learned recently that if you ever think you’ll want to put frets back on a bass, you use filler. Or veneers and filler.

what wrong with this defret?
Click to expand...

Well, the thing that worries me is that when U zoom in on the first picture i posted, it looks like the filler lines sink into the fretboard & i was looking for input from more experienced players on this. Does this affect intonation? Playability?
 
#8
themickster said:
As far as I know, fretboards only have a finish on them if they are maple. It's in no way odd that this board is bare wood.
Click to expand...

I am not worried about the lack of finish in itself. I have a B4FL that is awesome with what looks like unfinished wood... BUT i am worried that this might be a sign of a home-made job by an amateur & not a luthier like he says.
I mean, some amateurs do fantastic things, & some professionals s*ck at what they do, but i'd feel more comfortable buying without trying if i knew i wasn't being lied to..
 
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#9
neil|lien said:
I am not worried about the lack of finish in itself. I have a B4FL that is awesome with what looks like unfinished wood... BUT i am worried that this might be a sign of a home-made job by an amateur & not a luthier like he says.
I mean, some amateurs do fantastic things, & some professionals s*ck at what they do, but i'd feel more comfortable buying without trying if i knew i wasn't being lied to..
Click to expand...
With every dark-wooded board being unfinished, how would you take it as a warning that anyone incompetent took out the frets? If you're worried, don't buy it.
 
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#12
bassicmike said:
Why does one pic of the headstock show a logo at the top, but one doesn't?

Trust rod cover is different too.

Makes me think we're looking at 2 different basses. Why?
Click to expand...

I studied these pictures for awhile and could not conclusively rule that we are or we aren't looking at 2 different basses. That, and all the question marks about the quality of the fretless conversion are enough red flags for me to steer clear unless I could view the bass in-person.
 
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#14
neil|lien said:
Well, the thing that worries me is that when U zoom in on the first picture i posted, it looks like the filler lines sink into the fretboard & i was looking for input from more experienced players on this. Does this affect intonation? Playability?
Click to expand...

I don’t see what you describe, but low spots, high spots, indentions, etc. in a fretless fingerboard will cause places that create a buzz, places where the string might touch the board slightly behind where your finger is pushing the string down causing the note to be dead, and other inconsistent noting issues.

The snake line does look like it might go into a gouge on the fingerboard end.

You and others have already described enough oddities that I wouldn’t consider buying it without hands-on time.

it looks like it could be a (hack) job well done….
 
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#19
The Cort Logo is there. The other at the top is just some sticker that was probably removed. The frets were removed pretty carefully from what I can see. If you just yank them out, there'll be a lot more damage than seen here. For a de-fret, it actually looks better than 90% that I've seen.
 
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#20
Meh, pass if you can't inspect it visually.

I would question if the seller is attempting to hide wear on the body with that black line and would ask him about that. If he's dishonest about that, then what else is he being dishonest about? Unsavory sellers often pass along instruments with "hidden" problems like maxed out truss rods. He's far enough away that you will have no recourse if the instrument is jacked up.
 
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