I bought a Silvertone bass for second hand very cheap (+/- 100$ au) that I would like to use for upgrades and mods.
This bass currently has a fretted fretboard that has been converted to fretless (lined) by someone in the past.
I would like to swap this neck for an unlined fretless, perhaps upgrade the pickups and do some minor cosmetic changes.
The instrument itself as it is not too bad at all, it definitely plays well, it's lightweight, it sounds pretty good with half rounds, but I really don't like the fretless lined fretboard, the headstock and the tuners.
Problem:
I have purchased a PitBull rosewood fretless bass neck. It hasn't arrived yet but I have a PitBull maple fretless neck hanging around and did a quick dry fit test.
It looks like the PitBull neck is slightly wider than the neck pocket on the Silvertone bass, by no more than 1mm probably. I am aware that every neck is slightly different, but I think it's fair to assume that the neck pocket on the Silvertone is slightly smaller than the PitBull necks.
Questions:
When my fretless bass neck arrives, do I make the neck smaller (where the neck join is), or do I widen the neck pocket on the body? or a bit of both?
and what tools to make the neck fit to the body? I have a sander, and a rasp. Would they do the job?
My instinct says that I should make the neck smaller and leave the body as it is but I am not 100% sure.
Here the other mods I have in mind. Other than the neck itself and the pup, the rest is mostly aesthetic:
# swap neck to unlined
# stain the neck with Feast Watson Black
# finish with Feast Watson Gloss clear Varnish (all this is to try to match the existing body look/feel, but I might be wrong)
# stain the fretboard with black Dingotone (I still have some around from another project)
# reposition bridge closer to fretboard to slightly shorten scale to get the "21st fret" (3x full octaves from E to e)
# re-drill side dots to "fret" position
# pickup upgrade (TBC, depends on new neck and how it feels after the swap). Currently considering Tonerider, DiMarzio Model P or Seymour Duncan SPB-3
# black tuners, black bridge, black knobs, black neck plate.
# black strings? too much? which ones? I like half round a lot these days but I'm open to try different strings as long as they don't break the bank.
# custom decal with logo on headstock and neck plate. Decal possibly blue, or purple or dark purple.
# custom pick guard print or decal (TBC).
Any suggestion about how to fit the neck or any other mod idea while I am gradually upgrading this instrument?
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