The Fretless Club

[TRob1293]

WOW - I think just posting the question helped me make up my mind - I'll keep my fretless P up and running (along with my fretted red-burst, white block rosewood neck, PJ Jazz), and get...

The Squier. Played it before and really liked it a lot. Maybe I should snag one now before they raise the prices on them puppies?

 

[BassBus]

My Lakland 55-02 fretless,...borged at the moment with a Roland GK-3b pup for my GR-20. This gal and my Ritter are my two go-to basses. Don't leave home without 'em!!!:bassist

How does the GK3B cope with the fretless fingerboard. Do you have to finger the note precisely? Can you slide notes freely?

 

[alexei]

Does the builder of your bass make many? I can barely read English so I was not able to locate any area of that web site where they offer custom basses? From your photo your bass looks excellent and a real workhorse, built to play music on for years. It's a winner.

I did find this info which I assume says somethiing about they make custom guitars? But no links or other info.

Alvarez Música te ofrece la posibilidad de tener un instrumento exclusivo a través de su linea de bajos y guitarras customizados…Acercate ya a Alvarez Música y encontrá el instrumento que siempre estuviste buscando...

Hum yeah, that paragraph says, in english, "we offer the chance to have your exclusive instrument with our customized basses and guitars... Step by to find the instrument you ever wanted"
I was able to to design my own bass, and Paulo priced it for me... then I added (I mean, removed) some changes to fit my budget, then the race began!
I went for their standard body and neck shape, so It made the build a lot faster.
I just told him I want clean high quality ebony for the FB, dots on it's side, black shiny paint all the way, no built-in preamp and 1 humbucker (MM style) PUP (he offered 2, but it was surpassing my budget way too much.
AFAIK, they are not selling ouside Argentina, but I'm sure you can order a similar bass to one of the many great luthiers in your country. I'd love to share details about this design if anyone's interested.
This forum is full of such great designers and luthiers!

....

This ritter is one of the prettiest basses I've seen in my whole life. 28 years old and counting, not that old, but I assure you I've spent too many hours looking at basses picts.

 

[saxofunk]

Alright, another member. Soon we will take over the world.

[evil laugh] bwahahahahaha! [/evil laugh]

voodoobassist, you're already in at number 298.

341. gregh
342. basschick22
343. tlr1293

 

[Lethean]

Is this club still handing numbers?
I have the Squier VM fretless, I only have a cell phone camera (the no pics no bass) would be accepted?

 

[TRob1293]

OK - changed my mind - for the money I had:
went with a SansAmp Bass Driver DI and a pure white SX jazz which I will put my stray SX rosewood fretless neck onto.

My bang for my buck - yeppers!

 

[RedsFan75]

Right here.

Took delivery of a LPB fretless P bass. It is in pieces right now As I go over it. I have a few pics.

This is all part of phase one of the project.

I should have phase one complete by next Friday.

Any updates? Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Curious to your project plans etc...

 

[saxofunk]

tlr1293 - Nice choice. I dig the white.

Lethean, #344.

 

[mrhardy]

Any updates? Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Curious to your project plans etc...

Got a 12" radius block from Stewmac, a couple of bone nuts, and a new wiring kit today.

I've sanded the board and taken it back to the rosewood. Using the radius block really highlighted the uneven surfaces of this board. it is now much flatter and truer. I need to check it carefully with the straighedge and make sure I have not sanded any bad spots into it. I don't think I have. My Wife even noticed how much better it felt and looked.

There is still a couple of the fretlines that are below the surface, but just barely. I think instead of going back again with the black dye I'm going to just tung oil it, to harden and protect the surface. Between having the board face blacked out, or harder, I'll go with the harder surface. There is a black stain at lowes that I had originally thought about using. (scratches chin)

I've been working on the neck pocket to get the neck to sit better. There is a ever so slight gap where one edge is not fully seated. I think once I get the neck sitting fully in the pocket, it may not need the shim, but we shall see.

I've got a few days off, so maybe I can get some work done on the new nut, and get the wiring taken care of. Get the neck bolted up and maybe play the darned thing.

 

[Gary Lynch]

Got a 12" radius block from Stewmac, a couple of bone nuts, and a new wiring kit today.

I've sanded the board and taken it back to the rosewood. Using the radius block really highlighted the uneven surfaces of this board. it is now much flatter and truer. I need to check it carefully with the straighedge and make sure I have not sanded any bad spots into it. I don't think I have. My Wife even noticed how much better it felt and looked.

There is still a couple of the fretlines that are below the surface, but just barely. I think instead of going back again with the black dye I'm going to just tung oil it, to harden and protect the surface. Between having the board face blacked out, or harder, I'll go with the harder surface. There is a black stain at lowes that I had originally thought about using. (scratches chin)

I've been working on the neck pocket to get the neck to sit better. There is a ever so slight gap where one edge is not fully seated. I think once I get the neck sitting fully in the pocket, it may not need the shim, but we shall see.

I've got a few days off, so maybe I can get some work done on the new nut, and get the wiring taken care of. Get the neck bolted up and maybe play the darned thing.

What brand Tung Oil did you buy. I see a number of them out there with other ingredients in them (hardners and also for drying).

 

[mrhardy]

Formby's tung oil from Lowes. Nothing fancy just off the shelf stuff.

They had a high gloss and a satin finish, I went with the satin finish. I just put a coat back on the board. Before I go to bed I'll swipe it again with a light pass, then continue a couple times tomorrow. Then let it dry for a few days. Then micro polish it with some 2k grit paper.

When I first started to sand the board down I had put several coats on the board. The first parts of wood that started to show look real nice with the tung oiled surface underneath the color. I had put layers of color, oil, color, oil..

I'm learning a lot about how I'm going to do my next project.

 

[Gary Lynch]

Formby's tung oil from Lowes. Nothing fancy just off the shelf stuff.

They had a high gloss and a satin finish, I went with the satin finish. I just put a coat back on the board. Before I go to bed I'll swipe it again with a light pass, then continue a couple times tomorrow. Then let it dry for a few days. Then micro polish it with some 2k grit paper.

When I first started to sand the board down I had put several coats on the board. The first parts of wood that started to show look real nice with the tung oiled surface underneath the color. I had put layers of color, oil, color, oil..

I'm learning a lot about how I'm going to do my next project.

I'm taking delivery of a MIM Jazz Fretless next week. I think I will trick out the fingerboard with Tung Oil and 2K paper until it looks killer. It might take a week but then it will be finished for a long time using flats on it..

 

[RedsFan75]

Follow the link in my sig to my Jazz Bass build. You'll see how I worked over a rough neck to get my current Jazz fretless. I did mine on a 10" radius. I took the sanding dust, collected it and used it to fill the gaps. Maybe you could do the same to those pesky lines.

I 'tried' an ebony stain I got from Lowes. It 'reacted' with the natural oil in the rosewood. Would never fully cure. I ended up using the leather dye and a coating of super glue to harden the board.

 

[mrhardy]

Nice!

The tung oil looks great as a stand alone finish. I was hoping for m board to look similer to Redsfan's board, but I just was not happy with it visually. Never learn if we don't try.

Next step is to get that neck fitting how I want then put it all together, and see how it plays. After that I'll continue with the other work. I want to be able to verify each step as it goes.

 

[Gary Lynch]

Follow the link in my sig to my Jazz Bass build. You'll see how I worked over a rough neck to get my current Jazz fretless. I did mine on a 10" radius. I took the sanding dust, collected it and used it to fill the gaps. Maybe you could do the same to those pesky lines.

I 'tried' an ebony stain I got from Lowes. It 'reacted' with the natural oil in the rosewood. Would never fully cure. I ended up using the leather dye and a coating of super glue to harden the board.

Thanks for the links. I read all the info. I think I'll go with Tung oil and super fine sandpapers/steel wool on this neck because I do not think I can blow it that way and it's a brand new bass. I was hoping the Fender necks from Mexico were already pretty flat. I'll know next week. I would like to buy a neck and do the whole treatment too. I have not seen all the super glue products at any store, I guess you buy them on line. At the store they just have tubes of super glue.

 

[mrhardy]

Thanks for the links. I read all the info. I think I'll go with Tung oil and super fine sandpapers/steel wool on this neck because I do not think I can blow it that way and it's a brand new bass. I was hoping the Fender necks from Mexico were already pretty flat. I'll know next week. I would like to buy a neck and do the whole treatment too. I have not seen all the super glue products at any store, I guess you buy them on line. At the store they just have tubes of super glue.

I was not worried about messing up this neck, because I could replace it for so little money if I did.

If I were getting a Fender Fretless, I would be much more careful about sanding the board. I def, reccomend using a proper sanding block. Even with the block you need to be careful, and keep the block straight on the board.

The MIM Fenders I've played with have all been pretty good, but,.. almost every basss could stand a bit of picky setup to really get it screaming.

If it were me, I would get the bass then, really set it up and get very picky and precise with the adjustments. Then note what could be made better without spending any money and go from there. Then see what I'd want to replace and order everything at once.

I always get rid of the plastic nuts though. I like vintage Fender bridges, with the threaded saddles, so my standard has that and a replaced nut. Other than that it is stock. I did spend a lot of time on cleanup of small stuff though.

Have fun with your new bass "G", of course pics when it arrives.

 

[RedsFan75]

I got the super glue at my local hobby shop actually.

And agree with Mr. Hardy about taking care. As you saw in my pics I didn't have much to lose, it was fix it, or replace the fingerboard so I figured why not!

 

[j.kernodle]

Here's mine, Warwick Corvette Standard, all stock. Big fun, nice and farty sounding with roundwounds and blend knob just barely leaning towards the bridge pickup. Cuts through like a machete...

 

[saxofunk]

345. j.kernodle

 

[zakkiedude132]

well... i dont have a fretless yet, but i'm getting a bass (soon) i'm planning on tearing the frets out of... ill post again w/ photos when its done maybe.