Fretless conversion?

[wazkelly]

G'day H, comments from all of the guys before me have provided most of the answers however I will share a few obstacles worth pondering before jumping in the deep end.

Fret removal - as a fret profile is T shaped the bit that lies underneath fret board surface has jagged edges to help the frets bind to the board. I used around 1" chisel to gently prise an end then gently grabbed the raised bit with pliers and removed all 20 of the blighters. Should have paid more attention to the You Tube Vids as I reckon heating the frets with the soldering iron first would have reduced the amount of splintering that was encountered.

Fret Marker Filler - Originally had bought the plastic plant label strips and then tripped over DB's thread from a few years ago where he used CA glue over Timber Mate which is what I ended up doing too. You just need to sand the FB down once all the frets are out then mask up so that just the fret lines to be filled are showing. Don't forget to also mask up along the length of the neck on either side of the FB to keep the filler in place and not spew out. Needs to be left to dry for a few days and then sands off real easy.

FB Radius - you can spend lots of money on plenty of things and this was one that I skipped. Used a cork sanding block lightly and followed the very flattish contour that was already there. It may have come out a bit flatter which doesn't bother me.

Owned a Yammy BB1000 back early 1980's that someone had converted by using Maple strips placed into the ebony FB and it was untreated other than waxed. Was using Rotosound regular guage Round Wounds at the time and they did not damage the FB, maybe that was because Ebony is harder than Rosewood. Initially wanted to do a similar thing but finding strips of Maple seemed difficult and more expensive than method used. If you think upright Double Bass their FB's are all untreated, possibly waxed, but definitely no shiny coating.

Hope this helps in some way before you commence your fretless journey.

[UpperCaseH]

Thank you all for the advice!

Might try to fill the fret slots with timbermate, seems like the easiest option. Maybe I'll do something about the dots while I'm at it. I'll need to clean up the edges of the slots, right? Will just getting a fret saw be a good idea, or is something else the best way?

I guess I'll epoxy or CA the fretboard. I've used epoxy before, I just found it was quite messy, but the CA doesn't seem to be any less messy. I'm sure whatever I use will be fine once I get going (famous last words...)

Could I make my own radius block by taping sandpaper rough side up onto the fretboard and using that to shape a piece of softer wood? Is that a terrible idea for reasons I haven't thought of?

Hopefully I'll get this kit ordered this week.

[wazkelly]

G'day H, not so sure the Radius block is required as the FB's on most Basses are quite flat however if you think you need one go for it. Not sure about a fret saw as some of the splintering on mine was up to 2mm either side of where a fret had been removed. It seemed that the very top layer of the timber was brittle and I tried to save all the tiny slivers to put back in place under the CA glue but that did not happen. No biggy as the CA stuff acted like a clear gap filler. Best to go slow with an 'easy does it' approach, and reckon pre-heating the whole of fret you are about to remove with a soldering iron should help ease them out more gently. Also start at the 20th fret and work back towards the nut as if you stuff things up at that end it won't be too big a deal to fix as how many times do you reckon you will be up around 19th or 20th fret on a fretless?

If you masking tape up to the level of the FB that will hold the Timber mate in whilst it sets and cures, and when you remove the tape it is also best to sand on the shoulder edges of the FB to smooth things out. Once sanded I reapplied the masking tape along the neck up to the level of the horizontal plane of the FB.

A word of caution - CA glue is very watery and can easily run if too much has been applied or your work surface is not completely flat. Thankfully it comes off quite easily from finished surfaces such as on back of neck but if you are really concerned just tape up the whole neck to be on the safe side. Especially beware up the nut end as you don't want to fill the nut slot full of CA glue. I used slithers of masking tape to build up enough layers to protect things and you also need to tape off the headstock unless you want to do more sanding and finishing that too, as I found out the hard way. Again, no biggy as the micro mesh pads work miracles on already glossy surfaces.

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks you everyone for the advice.

I just ordered the kit. Guess we'll see if I can pull this off...

[dingobass]

Wot Waz sed.
Pro tip: wind the truss rod so as to put a backbow into the neck. This will help to minimise chip out when you rip those pesky speed humps out
Then wind it back so the neck is flat and proceed with your choice of filler.

[stan]

Wot Waz sed.
Pro tip: wind the truss rod so as to put a backbow into the neck. This will help to minimise chip out when you rip those pesky speed humps out
Then wind it back so the neck is flat and proceed with your choice of filler.

Now that is an awesome tip, and I presume that also applies to when you refret a 6 string...

[wazkelly]

Wish I had heard that tip before I started.

[stan]

Oh for sure, we need a DB tips and tricks section

[dingobass]

Cant tell ya all my tricks cause then ya would know more than me