franzbassist Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) Some of you may recall that I bought a 2012 American Special a while back that I absolutely love. Two piece alder body, maple capped board, 8.5lbs, it's just the most wonderful bass. Anyway, I was browsing Gumtree a while back and spotted another one for a very good price, so I decided to buy it for converting to fretless. The basses have serial numbers just eight numbers apart! I sent the neck away to the guys at Brook Guitars down in Devon (they made me an acoustic a few years back and their work is just superb, so I was confident they would do it right) and in less than a week they did the most amazing job of converting the neck to an unlined fretless ebony board. They even managed to keep the original nut. It plays beautifully, and the unlined board is a dream - it's quite thick (7mm deep at the centre, 5mm at the sides), so the sustain is amazing. I've added a black scratchplate, tugbar, and upgraded to Hisphot tuners. Very happy camper. Edited February 23, 2015 by walbassist 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 A fret less p bass has a surreal beauty that words just cannot do justice to. It certainly looks the business hope it sounds as good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Holy crapola! Personally would've gone maple board...but still...that's gorgeous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 That is a lovely job, looks cracking. I really must get myself a fretless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Sam Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Lush. That's a fine pair you have there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Houghton Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 The Dogs B, drool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planer Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 [quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1424536288' post='2697448'] Holy crapola! [/quote] I think that about sums it up! Beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Nice one Gareth. It looks lovely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M@23 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Crikey!! That rosewood board suits that down to the ground. Lovely. Good find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wylie Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 That is a knockout! I would have chosen a lined fretboard, but that's a personal insecurity . . . Great-looking bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks for the comments guys. One other thing I meant to say is that the price Brook quoted was the most competitive I received, so if anyone is considering a fingerboard conversion I really can't recommend them highly enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 What a gloriously lovely pair of basses you have there now Gareth. I'd be interested to know how much the fretless conversion cost. P PS. Do you still have a Wal on order with Paul? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 [quote name='philw' timestamp='1424605013' post='2698137'] I'd be interested to know how much the fretless conversion cost. [/quote] £200 + VAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 [quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1424626461' post='2698456'] £200 + VAT [/quote]That's pretty impressive. I had a de-fret done many years ago that cost £110 inc strings and that was just fret removal and slot filing (which I thought was pretty reasonable and was very happy with), never mind a whole new board and ebony to boot! A cracking pair you have there; enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 A work of art Gareth. Very nice indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMX Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 That's an absolute beaut. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo2 Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Most impressive! What a lovely pair. Which one is the evil twin then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinnDave Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 That is a real beautiful job. I just put an unlined fretless neck on a VM Squier Precision and love it, I have two Fender Js and a P, all fretted and a starting to think fretless is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moos3h Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 That is proper lush! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Cor.. Perfection 👌 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funky Dunky Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Stunning. I'm really feeling it with the black pickguard too. Nice one mate, nice one :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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