My IB-6S fretless build

Hi everyone. This is my second build, but my first Pitbull. I decided to be adventurous and build a 6 string fretless bass. I also asked Pitbull to do a quilted maple veneer instead of spalted, which they were happy to do.

My original plan was kelly green Angelus leather dye on the top and a light tan dye on the back and sides. Unfortunately, the tan dye was more orange (the color of Doritos) than tan, and it looked awful. So I sanded that back a bit and applied a color Angelus calls "Army Tan". It's a reddish color, but when I sand it back a bit and let the orange come through, it actually blends nicely, like a cross between mahogany and cherry.

I'm ready to start the clear coat. I'm going to use Crystalac wipe-on poly. I used that on my first build and really liked the results.

I do have a question though. When should I drill the mounting holes for the bridge? Before I apply the clear coat or after? I'm thinking before so that I don't risk cracking or chipping the poly. But I'm not sure. To be honest, the only part of this build I'm dreading is drilling the holes for the bridge. I've been reading other posts here and on the web and it sounds easy enough. But for some reason it's completely freaking me out.

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Actually you can do it now or even after the finish but when you do it after the poly make sure you use the drill in reverse for a first few spin until it punches a hole into the wood and then then use the forward drill so as not to chip the finish

Thank you! I might just do it now, so that I don't have to agonize over it. My biggest concern is the placement of the bridge. The scale length is 34, but I've read that to measure it for sure, you measure from the inside of the nut to the 12th fret, and then double it. Since it's a fretless, and the dot markers are in the middle of the fret rather than the fret itself, I don't know exactly where the 12th fret is. :)

So I'm thinking of just measuring 34 inches from the inside of the nut to the middle position of the saddles and go with that. Hopefully, that will allow me the wiggle room I adjust the saddles for intonation. And I also have to make sure that the bridge is centered so that I don't have the lowest or highest strings flop off the fingerboard. My first kit was a guitar routed for a Floyd Rose, so the poles were pre-drilled. This is all new to me. But I imagine I'm just making it out to be bigger than it is.

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Originally Posted by robmyre

Thank you! I might just do it now, so that I don't have to agonize over it. My biggest concern is the placement of the bridge. The scale length is 34, but I've read that to measure it for sure, you measure from the inside of the nut to the 12th fret, and then double it. Since it's a fretless, and the dot markers are in the middle of the fret rather than the fret itself, I don't know exactly where the 12th fret is. :)

So I'm thinking of just measuring 34 inches from the inside of the nut to the middle position of the saddles and go with that. Hopefully, that will allow me the wiggle room I adjust the saddles for intonation. And I also have to make sure that the bridge is centered so that I don't have the lowest or highest strings flop off the fingerboard. My first kit was a guitar routed for a Floyd Rose, so the poles were pre-drilled. This is all new to me. But I imagine I'm just making it out to be bigger than it is.

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https://www.stewmac.com/fret-calculator/
You can use the stewmac fret position calculator and choose bass to find out the what should the 12th fret position for your scale length be and the As usual reverse it to the bridge. Ideally if you scale Length is 34 inches then 12 fret should be ideally be at 17 inches from the lower side of the nut ( Measure to the saddle string side) . Also make sure there is about a 3 to 4 degree angle (3 to 4 mm lower) on the thicker string side to compensate for the intonation of thicker strings

There is a post here on how to fix bridge for correct intonation. You can refer that too

Awesome! Thanks!

Latest pics of my build. After 22 coats of wipe on poly, it's now sitting for a week to cure. There are some blemishes I'll need sand out when I wet sand it next week. But all in all, I'm happy with how it's coming out. In the meantime, I started soldering the pots.

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Almost done. I just need a setup. The nut is very high off the fingerboard, which I expected because I custom ordered a fretless neck, and the nut is high to accommodate the frets. I've been playing around with the plastic nut that came with the kit, but I'm going to swap it out with a TUSQ nut and send it off to my luthier for the final setup. But I'm really happy with how it came out. Pitbull rocks!

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That green looks awesome. My husband had a fretless 6 string bass years ago, and has been looking at them again. Yours looks great!

Thank you! I appreciate it. It was a lot of fun to build. Now I just need to figure out how to play in tune. ;)