fretted to fretless (conversion)

[jojoagogo234]

hi

my names joe, and iv been playing for about 6 years now.

about 3 years ago i was found a got a left handed 5string ( [attachment=95450:Snapshot_20111217_3.jpg][attachment=95451:Snapshot_20111217_4.jpg][attachment=95452:Snapshot_20111217_6.jpg] [attachment=95449:Snapshot_20111217.jpg] )

it served me well for a couple of years, however i started getting bored of it. it ended up sitting in the corner of my room not really doing much, apart from every so and often picking it up and f***ing about with it for a bit.

iv been thinking of buying a fretless bass for years now, but never had enough money for a really high class one, so i thought id do it to mine.

however, i want it done by someone who knows what there doing, who wont f*** it up.

if some people want to give me the amount they would charge and some pics of them they have done themselves, and some good feedback from other people you have done business with before (just to be on the safe side ) then id love for them to give me a hand

thanks a lot for reading thing

[jojoagogo234]

*about 3 years ago i got a

sorry ^_^ my mistake lol

[Dom in Dorset]

Have you thought about doing it yourself? I've done a couple and it's not that tricky, plenty of people here happy to advise.

[leftybassman392]

If you don't want to do it yourself, you're not that far from London. A trip to the Bass Gallery in Camden might be in order. They won't charge you the earth, and will do as good a job as anyone in the business.

[ezbass]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1324129259' post='1471106']
If you don't want to do it yourself, you're not that far from London. A trip to the Bass Gallery in Camden might be in order. They won't charge you the earth, and will do as good a job as anyone in the business.
[/quote]+1 I had them defret my SUB, an absolutely blinding job, much better than my efforts on one many years ago and that wasn't a bad result, but their expertise is soooo much better. Not really expensive either.

[mentalextra]

Are there different "nuts" for fretted and fretless basses. If after defretting a bass I found the nut too high would I have to "modify" it, or can you buy one off the shelf?

[Dom in Dorset]

To do a good set up you'd need to modify the nut, I've never heard of an off the shelf fretless nut but I would expect to have to make adjustments whatever i used.

[ezbass]

Do you find it too high now? Yes it's nice to lower it once the freaks are out, but it isn't obligatory unless it's already a nuisance. You'd need nut files to do a proper job.

[jojoagogo234]

[quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1324136050' post='1471191']
+1 I had them defret my SUB, an absolutely blinding job, much better than my efforts on one many years ago and that wasn't a bad result, but their expertise is soooo much better. Not really expensive either.
[/quote][quote name='ezbass' timestamp='1324136050' post='1471191']
+1 I had them defret my SUB, an absolutely blinding job, much better than my efforts on one many years ago and that wasn't a bad result, but their expertise is soooo much better. Not really expensive either.
[/quote]

how much did they charge you ? ( ps thanks for helping out everyone )

[jojoagogo234]

-_- sorry about the double quote xD im still trying to get the hang of forums

[jojoagogo234]

also, would the charge be more for a 5 string ?

[ezbass]

If I remember it was £110 inc a set of La Bellas. I had maple fillets put in the fret slots and had the dots removed and replaced with rosewood to give a cleaner looking finish.

[mentalextra]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1324137177' post='1471205']
To do a good set up you'd need to modify the nut, I've never heard of an off the shelf fretless nut but I would expect to have to make adjustments whatever i used.
[/quote]

Which is interesting as if all nuts are the same, whether fretted or fretless, why do most fretless conversions require an adjustment to the nut.

[Dom in Dorset]

Once the frets are gone the strings have to go down further before they hit the neck. If you don't adjust the nut , the action is too high.

[mentalextra]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' timestamp='1324155379' post='1471414']
Once the frets are gone the strings have to go down further before they hit the neck. If you don't adjust the nut , the action is too high.
[/quote]

That is how I understand it. So for example the nut on a standard Fender jazz fretted would be different to a fretless version?

[Dom in Dorset]

The slots would be deeper on the fretless. I've never seen a nut for sale specifically for fretless, it's easy enough to file out the existing nut.