experiences turning fretted into fretless

[bassman84]

Hey mates! Any of you ever turned a fretted fender JB into a fretless? I'm very tempted to have a good fretless jazz bass as my main bass, since I have no money to buy a decent one I'm thinking of turning my main bass (fender road worn fiesta red) into a fretless and buy a squier to have a slap bass when needed.
Any thoughts?
Cheers from portugal, João

[DarkHeart]

I would try and get a second hand fretless neck rather than defretting as you can always switch it back if you wanted to sell it on. Get the Squire as planned or why not get a fretless Squire?

[AndyTravis]

If I was doing it to a roadworn, I'd pay a pro.

Or as suggested, buy a fretless neck.

[Grangur]

What if you don't like that favourite bass when the frets are gone? There's too much chance of this ending in regrets for my liking.

If I were you I'd buy a cheap bass and convert that, or find a cheap fretless.

[bassman84]

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1453563995' post='2960621']
I would try and get a second hand fretless neck rather than defretting as you can always switch it back if you wanted to sell it on. Get the Squire as planned or why not get a fretless Squire?
[/quote]

Been there, and not good enough for me when compared to my road worn...

[bassman84]

[quote name='AndyTravis' timestamp='1453564086' post='2960623']
If I was doing it to a roadworn, I'd pay a pro.

Or as suggested, buy a fretless neck.
[/quote]

If I'm doing it I'm paying a pro for the job

[bassman84]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1453564390' post='2960627']
What if you don't like that favourite bass when the frets are gone? There's too much chance of this ending in regrets for my liking.

If I were you I'd buy a cheap bass and convert that, or find a cheap fretless.
[/quote]

As I said before a Squier as my main bass is not an option, rather have a squier just for some slap stuff.
Is there any chance a great JB such as mine become dull by changing it into fretless?

[DavidMcKay]

My sense of it is that adjustments cost an arm and a leg and that you are better off buying what you want rather than modifying what you have.

Sell your current bass and buy what you want.

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='DarkHeart' timestamp='1453563995' post='2960621']
I would try and get a second hand fretless neck rather than defretting as you can always switch it back if you wanted to sell it on. Get the Squire as planned or why not get a fretless Squire?
[/quote]

Yes on the new fretless neck as the OP could then get a nice ebony board, which is why I'd then say no to the fretless Squier - I really didn't like the ebanol board. Too "twangy" and wore very quickly.

As for the fretless making the JB dull, there is no reason why a nice board will do this, but you may have to experiment with strings to get what you are looking for.

[nash]

Get Shuker to make you a neck

[Norris]

I'd be tempted to either get a fretless neck for your roadworn or get a cheap fretless bass to try out. If you really want to de-fret your bass it's not that difficult, but re-fretting afterwards isn't quite so simple.

[goonieman]

I'm with everyone else - it takes quite a bit of cash to convert to a decent fretless actually... and the results are not guaranteed.

I humbly suggest you save or sell some other stuff/music gear. At the end of the road, you'll most likely have saved money AND be happier.

[3below]

What will the 'conversion' cost. There are many seriously good value fretless basses or fretted for conversion (diy) about at the moment. As with others in the thread, if you have a really good fretted bass, keep it that way. Find something else that 'does not matter' or get a fretless neck e.g. mighty mite to try.

Edited January 23, 2016 by 3below

[herbass]

I had my standard jazz converted by a luthier when I bought my first five string bass. It ended up (or stayed) being my main gigging bass apart from the gigs where I needed the low B. It only retired when I could buy my fretless fiver! I still play it ocassionally, it makes me want to play four string again...