Making a fretted into a fretless.....

[Whippet]

Let's say you have a half decent fretted bass guitar, and one was to make that into a fretless, could you actually hope / expect that it would be half decent?

Or is the fretless version a complete different animal?

I know makers do this but is this just a cop out, so that they don't have to pump money into making a prototype of different versions to perfect the fretless version?

Thanks for all information in advance.

 

[bucephylus]

It would be best to understand which characteristics of basses in general are appropriate to your preferences for fretless. For example, I vastly prefer a very light resonant body bass for pizz work in general; and since 99.9% of my fretless playing is pizz, I specifically look for the lightest most resonant bodies I can find for fretless. For me, one of those 12 pound ash bodied Jazz Basses, which is great for slap, would not be the bass I would think about defretting. YMMV, of course.

Second, information is out there to do the work yourself; but, if you are unsure what you are doing, best to have the work done by a qualified luthier who has previously done the conversion. Among other things, removing the frets changes the flexural characteristics of the neck; and, so, the slots need to be filled with a suitable material. Plus, you may decide to convert back to frets at some point; and properly filled slots are readily re-cut in the case of a later refret. There are also issues related to fingerboard finish; but, that's another discussion.

 

[IronLung1986]

Converting a fretted to fretless is a perfectly viable and not-too-uncommon mod. If you do it with care and a bit of skill there's no reason you can't get a great fretless out of it. I mean Jaco's bass was one such project for example. I defretted a guitar once and filled the slots with balsa wood strips. Never actually finished it but the concept was sound I think.

Sure, there are models out there like Pedulla's Buzz basses that are designed from the ground up to be fretless basses, but fretless Fender P's and J's are just fine. Not a cop out at all. And converting one to fretless is fine too, just do the research, get the right tools and materials, and take your time with it.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I have had three basses converted to fretless with excellent results, a 1972 Telecaster Bass, a 1987 Yamaha BX-5, and a 1984 Alembic Exploiter.

Go for it.

 

[Bodeanly]

Another thing worth considering: have you ever played a fretless bass? Or are you just bored and looking for a project? The first step should be to go and play a few fretless basses. It would completely suck to spend a ton of time on converting a bass, only to realize you're not a fan of playing fretless.

 

[Jonithen]

I've had it done, properly. Expensive, worth every cent to me, and probably never able to sell without taking a huge bath.

I loved the idea of fretless, but never quite got on with the MIM I had as a kid. I made the decision a few years ago to ask HG Thor to convert a p deluxe and it is killer. I set it aside for a while to focus on the VI but I think I need to dig it out again. I'd say for fretless get the best you can, other basses I can kind of work with but personally speaking I needed to know the fretless neck was as perfect as I could get to remove any doubt about the instrument and just focus on left hand technique.

 

[esa372]

I had a Fender AV'62RI converted to fretless; it's now my favorite bass.

The work was done by Norik and Brett at Invalid Link Removed, and cost about $200. Renson had originally put on an epoxy coating, but I recently had Pat Wilkins change it to polyurethane.

 

[Mosstone]

I had a Fender AV'62RI converted to fretless; it's now my favorite bass.

The work was done by Norik and Brett at Invalid Link Removed, and cost about $200. Renson had originally put on an epoxy coating, but I recently had Pat Wilkins change it to polyurethane.

Why the switch to poly?

 

[Jeff Scott]

I had a Fender AV'62RI converted to fretless; it's now my favorite bass.

The work was done by Norik and Brett at Invalid Link Removed, and cost about $200.

The first guy, is he Vulcan?

 

[packhowitzer]

The first guy, is he Vulcan?

He's Vulcan awesome. that's for sure.

 

[esa372]

Why the switch to poly?

After consulting with several luthiers, I discovered that poly was the preferred coating for fretless necks. (A few went so far as to say that epoxy was for hobbyists and DIYers, not pros.) I'm glad that I went with the recommendations; the bass feels better to me with it.

The first guy, is he Vulcan?

He might be! ...but, even if not, Norik Renson is one of the best in the business.

 

[MMiller28]

It would be best to understand which characteristics of basses in general are appropriate to your preferences for fretless. For example, I vastly prefer a very light resonant body bass for pizz work in general; and since 99.9% of my fretless playing is pizz, I specifically look for the lightest most resonant bodies I can find for fretless. For me, one of those 12 pound ash bodied Jazz Basses, which is great for slap, would not be the bass I would think about defretting. YMMV, of course.

Second, information is out there to do the work yourself; but, if you are unsure what you are doing, best to have the work done by a qualified luthier who has previously done the conversion. Among other things, removing the frets changes the flexural characteristics of the neck; and, so, the slots need to be filled with a suitable material. Plus, you may decide to convert back to frets at some point; and properly filled slots are readily re-cut in the case of a later refret. There are also issues related to fingerboard finish; but, that's another discussion.

Which company makes a 12-pound Jazz body?

 

[BAG]

It would be best to understand which characteristics of basses in general are appropriate to your preferences for fretless. For example, I vastly prefer a very light resonant body bass for pizz work in general; and since 99.9% of my fretless playing is pizz, I specifically look for the lightest most resonant bodies I can find for fretless. For me, one of those 12 pound ash bodied Jazz Basses, which is great for slap, would not be the bass I would think about defretting. YMMV, of course.

Maybe I shouldn't have got the Blacktop Jazz body to go with my fretless neck..... it's now the heaviest bass in my collection and my only fretless. In saying that, it's around 10.5 pounds but feels a LOT heavier than my sub-8-pound Godin or 8.5 pound Franken P.

I'd say for fretless get the best you can, other basses I can kind of work with but personally speaking I needed to know the fretless neck was as perfect as I could get to remove any doubt about the instrument and just focus on left hand technique.

I'd second that.
My plan was actually to get a cheap fretless to see if I liked it. As it turned out, the Warmoth neck needed a lot of work. It ended up costing me more than double what I expected for the work which made the whole bass more than double what i'd budgeted....... but i'm so glad I did. I play the fretless more than any other bass and the neck is now a work of art that looks, feels and plays brilliantly.

 

[bucephylus]

Which company makes a 12-pound Jazz body?

I believe I stated 12 pound ash bodied Jazz Bass. You may take grammatical issue with my use of a probably incorrect adjective. But, I believe you know what I meant. Are we done here?

 

[bucephylus]

Maybe I shouldn't have got the Blacktop Jazz body to go with my fretless neck..... it's now the heaviest bass in my collection and my only fretless. In saying that, it's around 10.5 pounds but feels a LOT heavier than my sub-8-pound Godin or 8.5 pound Franken P.

We learn our preferences by doing. There aren't any rules. And, as I believe I stated, my prefs are just that. Doesn't mean some other cat won't prefer the complete opposite. The OP was inquiring as to whether removing frets from a decent fretted bass would produce a good fretless. My ONLY point was that understanding one's preferences and how they line up with instrument characteristics is a big part of determining "good."

 

[bucephylus]

I had a Fender AV'62RI converted to fretless; it's now my favorite bass.

The work was done by Norik and Brett at Invalid Link Removed, and cost about $200. Renson had originally put on an epoxy coating, but I recently had Pat Wilkins change it to polyurethane.

Outstanding! I really like what polyurethane does on a board. Very durable and considerably warmer tone than epoxy. Good stuff!

BTW, Pat really does outstanding work.

 

[Jloch86]

Another thing worth considering: have you ever played a fretless bass? Or are you just bored and looking for a project? The first step should be to go and play a few fretless basses. It would completely suck to spend a ton of time on converting a bass, only to realize you're not a fan of playing fretless.

That's what happened to me. Bought a fretless jazz and hated it. Sold it six months after buying it.

 

[felixxx]

It may be cheaper to get a fretless neck and swap it on one of your basses, just to see if you like it at all. If you don't you can always sell it for the same amount of money.

 

[ChaosAD]

When my father was younger he bought a Fender Jazz Bass and converted it to fretless. I just checked with him and he said that he simply used a metal file and filed the fret's down and it turned out really really well.
If you're specifically looking for a project to work on then best way to do it (according to my father) is to use a rough file and be careful. Although keep in mind that my father is a VERY well trained engineer so he is generally very good at stuff like this, but to be honest it isn't that much hard work. You just have to be very careful when the fret wires get almost level with the neck and then use a file with a small surface area and rub it down carefully.

If you're looking to do this as a project then I bid you the best of luck. How ever if you simply want your bass to be fretless and you're in the UK then my father would be more than happy to do it for you, if you like. He has recently had surgery so he is off work for a few weeks so he could do with a project to work on.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

A doable project as a conversion, but it's not easy, sometimes impossible to get frets out without damage to the fretboard. As a factory applied finish, the poly is much more durable in my experience, CA glue is much easier for a DIY job. Check out a used Squier VM Jazz fretless, I was shocked how good they are right out of the box, and the lined fingerboard makes the transition from fretted to fretless much easier.