Yamaha BB1100s fretless

[SRL]

I have a Yamaha BB1100s fretless that I purchased used mid 90s. I played it a bit and then moved to double bass. My electric basses stayed in their cases until a year or so ago. The Yamaha's neck in that time developed a back bow such that it was unplayable. I took it to a chap who suggested tuning it as high as I dared and leaving it like that to see if it would right itself. After several months it seemed to and I have a playable bass.

The fingerboard has some ruts on it and acoustically I think it sounds quite dead, amplified it's ok. This led me to wonder about replacing the fingerboard with an ebony board and replacing the truss rod while it's all dismantled. (I believe the existing truss rod is single action only). I just received a quote €770, which is reasonable for the work. Or €250 to shoot the existing fingerboard.

My question is "Is it worth doing?".

I don't know whether an ebony board would improve the sound dramatically. Shooting the fingerboard would even out the few slightly dead notes.

But for the price of the work, there are Squier or Sire fretlesses that seem to get good reviews...

The bass doesn't have much sentimental value is had some big dings when I bought it (although this probably adds to its attraction as it's well road worn...)

Any thoughts?

(Based in EU)

 

[ardgedee]

Judging from recent sales on Reverb, €770 is in the ballpark of what a BB1100S in decent condition sells for used. The main liability with yours is the neck, that will hurt the price a lot more than an attractive relic job can help it .

If you don't feel particularly attached to it, selling it off cheap and getting a new fretless costs you less in the long run.

On the other hand, a fretless with an ebony board can feel very nice to play, and it should sound pretty good too. You're unlikely to find a playable fretless with an ebony board for €770; Fender and Sire don't make them.

 

[djmay]

I just renewed one fretless, using the @Bruce Johnson method, and am in the process of doing another. I am a novice at this, so you could do it too. check these links

Thread 'What’s the best way to sand a fretless fingerboard and maintain the existing radius?'

Sep 12, 2024

I have a bass with a 12” radius and am going to be sanding and polishing the board with sandpaper grits 150 all the way to very fine grit. The sanding will be surface level—not to remove much material.

Still, I want to ensure I maintain the 12” radius. I read radius sanding blocks are better for carving out a radius, not for maintaining one. So should I just sand by hand ensuring I cup the curvature of the board, applying even pressure as I go from one end of the neck to the other, following the grain?

• Stagelab
• Replies: 83
• Forum: Luthier's Corner

• 

Thread 'Even fretless fingerboard levelling tips'

Aug 6, 2012

Hello everybody,

I have this nice medium scale (32") Warwick neck which I thought would be very cool as a fretless so I did the big leap and removed the frets. Removing the frets was a tough job as the wenge board is extremely hard. After removing the frets I placed some medium viscosity ca glue around the fret slots to keep chips in place and as a guide as to when I should stop sanding afterwards. The plan was to remove as little wood as possible afterwards and count on the factory levelling for a nice fretless board. After initial hand sanding with something like 400-grit sandpaper if I...

• jesterbass
• Replies: 157
• Forum: Luthier's Corner

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

I have a Yamaha BB1100s fretless that I purchased used mid 90s. I played it a bit and then moved to double bass. My electric basses stayed in their cases until a year or so ago. The Yamaha's neck in that time developed a back bow such that it was unplayable. I took it to a chap who suggested tuning it as high as I dared and leaving it like that to see if it would right itself. After several months it seemed to and I have a playable bass.

The fingerboard has some ruts on it and acoustically I think it sounds quite dead, amplified it's ok. This led me to wonder about replacing the fingerboard with an ebony board and replacing the truss rod while it's all dismantled. (I believe the existing truss rod is single action only). I just received a quote €770, which is reasonable for the work. Or €250 to shoot the existing fingerboard.

My question is "Is it worth doing?".

I don't know whether an ebony board would improve the sound dramatically. Shooting the fingerboard would even out the few slightly dead notes.

But for the price of the work, there are Squier or Sire fretlesses that seem to get good reviews...

The bass doesn't have much sentimental value is had some big dings when I bought it (although this probably adds to its attraction as it's well road worn...)

Any thoughts?

(Based in EU)

Im sitting on a BB400S fretless that is a great bass, but I don't want anymore. Bought it, put money into addressing the 43 year old fingerboard, but now - I don't want it, and will never be able to sell for even close to what I put in. Not that that's why I got it - I wanted to try a vintage fretless BB. I tried it, learned it's not the bass for me.

If I was you I'd get a Sire or MIM fender.