ES4-B 1st Build

[fender3x]

I have now had this bass in it's gig-bag for over 6 months with no temptation to take it out. I think the finish is probably as hard as it's going to get, but still feels a little rubbery, and there are places where it has worn off on music stands. To get it right, I am just going to have to sand it back. That's a lot of work, and I have also never really been satisfied with the neck. The set up is OK, and it plays reasonably well. It's more a preference thing. So if I am going to refinish, I think I should make a couple of other changes too. Like maybe make it fretless? Are there any good threads on turning a fretted bass into a fretless?

[Simon Barden]

I can't remember any ATM. Frets off, sand down with a radius block (to remove any marks from the frets), then fill the fret slots, probably epoxy or CA the fingerboard (the engineered wood won't like direct string contact), radius sand again, then polish. You'll probably need the nut slots a bit lower as well.

I have no idea how well the board will take having frets removed, and you may find the tangs pull out big chunks with them. SO it may well be an idea to at least have one or two runs over with thin CA to help keep the board together, or be prepared to replace it (which is another way of doing it if you can live without fret markers).

[fender3x]

I think I must have gotten this before the transition to engineered wood. It was ordered in the fall of 2015 (Wow! that seems a long time ago). The fretboard on mine is real wood. Looks like rosewood, to my untrained eye, anyway. Would you approach this the same way on a real-wood board? I would hate to mess up the fingerboard. It's the best part of the bass at the moment ;-)

[fender3x]

FWIW, I haven't put anything on the fingerboard. Not even oil, since it looked so good "naked".

[Simon Barden]

Lucky you! It will look even better with some lemon oil on, promise!

It probably depends on what strings you are going to use. Roundwounds can make marks in the fingerboard on a fretted bass, so with even more fretboard contact on a fretless, you will probably be better off putting something hard on the fingerboard. If flatwounds, then they will be a lot kinder to the board, so then it's your choice. You can always wait and add CA/epoxy later if you start to see damage appear.

[fender3x]

Yeah, I have thought I was lucky every time I have heard the composite stuff described. One of my daughters told me the fretboard was the best looking part of the bass. Naturally it's the only part I did not finish ;-)

I may try carefully removing a fret at the treble end to see how it goes. Right now it has tapewound strings on it, and I had planned to stick with them. At least to start with.

I'd like to preserve the fret lines once the frets come out if at all possibe. I have some natural colored plastic wood filler that csccdrI like pretty well for other things. Does it make sense to use it on this?

[Simon Barden]

I don't see why not. Some form of robust filler is normally used. You may obviously need to sand the fingerboard down afterwards, so a radius block would be useful. The boards aren't always well smoothed and radiused at the factory, which gets disguised by the fret job.

[Fretworn]

I have now had this bass in it's gig-bag for over 6 months with no temptation to take it out. I think the finish is probably as hard as it's going to get, but still feels a little rubbery, and there are places where it has worn off on music stands. To get it right, I am just going to have to sand it back. That's a lot of work, and I have also never really been satisfied with the neck. The set up is OK, and it plays reasonably well. It's more a preference thing. So if I am going to refinish, I think I should make a couple of other changes too. Like maybe make it fretless? Are there any good threads on turning a fretted bass into a fretless?

I think in the early days Dingobass may have given instructions on fretless conversion, as he was a big believer in fretless bass. He actually used to use plastic garden labels to fill the fret slots. Then it was cutting off the excess sanding the fretboard with a radius bloke and sealing the fingerboard with CA glue. The guy who did the Hellboy bass I think did some fretless conversions as well that were might impressive. Eliot (Bassguy) may have had a go at it as well.

[jugglindan]

Yeah, I have thought I was lucky every time I have heard the composite stuff described. One of my daughters told me the fretboard was the best looking part of the bass. Naturally it's the only part I did not finish ;-)

That reminds me of the time last week that my daughter (almost 6) said "that's the loveliest song you have played". Shame it was just the backing track.

[fender3x]

Well, I am back at this build, it seems. I took the frets off last night. They came off OK, although there is a small amount of chipping around where they came out. I haven't done anything to the neck yet, except to give it a quick rub with a maroon sanding pad. Then I restrung it, and tried it out. I needed to raise the bridge by a half turn on each side to keep it from buzzing, but even so, it actually felt pretty good. I began learning bass guitar after taking up the double bass in the orchestra, which I did for six years or so. But I am pretty sure I have never played a fretless bass guitar before.

The Danos sounded good with it, and I had the most fun playing it that I have ever had with this bass. I always liked the weight and feel, but just did not like the neck. I think it must always have been destined to be fretless, and I just did not know. Now it will be truly different than any other bass I have.

I have never been happy with the finish. I guess this means I am going to have to do *that* too. I may try to save a bit of the finish, but it is possible I will need to just sand it all back and start over.

Will most likely need a sanding block. Does anyone know the radius on these?