I'm starting my second kit before I've finished my first. Guess the bug has really bitten...
I've wanted a fretless bass for a while (bass is my main thing), but I've never felt justified in buying one because I don't know if I'll be as into it as I am into my P-Bass. I restrung the P with flats, and while I love them, it's kind of impossible to get a good rock or punk sound out of it now, so the plan is to build this kit fretless, move the flats over to it, and go back to rounds on the P.
I started a thread in the "how to" forum about converting a bass to fretless, and thanks to the advice there I feel pretty confident that I can make it happen.
Kit arrived today. Quick mock build showed that all the parts were present and no major issues. Neck fits pretty well with a little bit of play.
A couple of things suprised me about this kit.
The pickguard's black, not white as depicted. That's good, because I was going to buy a black one anyway.
It came with ashtray style pickup covers. Not sure the bridge one actually fits over the bridge, but since I'm not going to use them it doesn't matter. Maybe they'll be useful on a future project.
The pickguard and pickups were already installed. Not sure why, since I've obviously had to pull them off anyway. Not a problem, just a surprise.
The neck inlays are rectangular, not dots. I was probably going to remove the dots, but I might leave the rectangles. Only problem with the neck is that the inlays and frets look really nice - nice enough that I'm almost questioning whether or not to go fretless at all (...I'm gonna though).
The body has a... crack I guess... where two of the pieces join.
It's not all the way through, so I'm sure it'll fill easily with the timbermate I'm planning for this build anyway.
All disassembled, components bagged up to make them harder to lose, and back in the box until I get some free time.
Plan is a grain fill/pop with ebony timbermate, then a stain. I emailed DB about a custom colour, but he hasn't got back to me (I understand he's laid up with a back injury, and I know how much that sucks!), but what I'd like to do is something close to Wudtone Dark Tease. I'd like to use dingotone though because it's been so simple so far. Probably I'll do the neck in the same colour as the body this time round. Presumably I can use the DT neck final coat over the regular DT stain/intensifier?
De-fretting and finishing the fingerboard will obviously be the hard part. Plan is to pull the frets (I've ordered a nipper), fill with ebony timbermate, and then either CA or epoxy for the finish. I expect to swear a lot as I'm doing this, and I'll probably ask a million questions.
Also, why is the neck pickup hole not the same as the bridge? If it was, I'd probably ditch the pick guard, but there'd be a huge ugly gap around it then. Maybe I'll try to find a pickguard surround or something. Again, this isn't a complaint as the pickguard would cover that hole, I'm just wondering why it's like that.
Don't think I'll be able to get actually started until next week, but who knows?
Last edited by UpperCaseH; 05-08-2016 at 09:59 AM.
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