NBD - Fender Precision American Special - fretless conversion

[franzbassist]

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

[uk_lefty]

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!

[AndyTravis]

Holy crapola!

Personally would've gone maple board...but still...that's gorgeous.

[gary mac]

That is a lovely job, looks cracking.

I really must get myself a fretless.

[Bassman Sam]

Lush. That's a fine pair you have there.

[Stephen Houghton]

The Dogs B, drool

[planer]

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1424536288' post='2697448']
Holy crapola!
[/quote]

I think that about sums it up!

Beautiful.

[Old Horse Murphy]

Nice one Gareth. It looks lovely

[M@23]

Crikey!! That rosewood board suits that down to the ground. Lovely. Good find.

[Wylie]

That is a knockout! I would have chosen a lined fretboard, but that's a personal insecurity . . . Great-looking bass!

[franzbassist]

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.

[philw]

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?

[franzbassist]

[quote name='philw' timestamp='1424605013' post='2698137']
I'd be interested to know how much the fretless conversion cost.
[/quote]

£200 + VAT

[ezbass]

[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.

[obbm]

A work of art Gareth. Very nice indeed.

[HMX]

That's an absolute beaut. Have fun!

[Romeo2]

Most impressive! What a lovely pair.

Which one is the evil twin then?

[FinnDave]

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.

[Moos3h]

That is proper lush!

[miles'tone]

Cor.. Perfection 👌

[Funky Dunky]

Stunning. I'm really feeling it with the black pickguard too. Nice one mate, nice one :-)