de fretting a neck

[jimmybass04]

im looking for some advice on de fretting a jazz neck, any one got any tips on the best way to go about it
what type of filler etc,, i know i should leave it to the pro,s but its the cash, so any help or advice welcomed.
cheers, jimmy.

[Deep Thought]

I followed a link from somewhere to this site:-

[url="http://www.audiomastermind.com/detail-defretting-an-electric-bass-guitar-8776.html"]http://www.audiomastermind.com/detail-defr...uitar-8776.html[/url]

-which seems pretty good, and was spoken of in favourable terms, IIRC.

[guyl]

Why bother - it would be false economy if you ripped your bass apart and found out that it sounded rubbish!

Why not sell your fretted and use the money to by a fretless. At least that way you can make sure it sounds good/suits your needs without the danger of a repair bill.

[jimmybass04]

cheers my man, but i must now say that it looks to technical for me and time consuming,
thanks for your help.

[Deep Thought]

Or pick up a cheap one and see if fretless suits you. I've toyed with the idea for a while (that's how I found that site). There's been a few fretlesses in the For Sale section here for less than £100. I was tempted, but I've gone off the idea now. At the moment I'm having similar thoughts about 5-strings.

[Delberthot]

I bought one of those cheap Wesley see through jobbies for tuppence and a button and pulled the frets out with a Leatherman. Used some kind of generic plastic wood to fill the holes then sanded it flat being careful not to alter the curvature of the fingerboard.

Worked a treat. Not the best of jobs but all mine.

[jimmybass04]

cheers guys, i may just buy a fretless neck and put it on my fender

[The Burpster]

[quote name='jimmybass04' post='335918' date='Nov 24 2008, 10:58 PM']cheers guys, i may just buy a fretless neck and put it on my fender[/quote]


Best way if you ask me.....!

[joe_bass]

Depends how much the bass is worth (sentimentally as well)

I did it to my cheap Vintage bass, followed the exact same guide above. I filled the fret grooves in with wood filler instead though as was easier & my bass teacher at the time had done this successfully to one of his basses. Put some flats on it & away I went!

[Mr. Foxen]

Defretting your first bass is a rite of passage for bassists. With the sanding, get a block of soft wood, once you've had the frets out, put the sandpaper roud side out over the board and sand the board radius into the block. Then you have a radiused sanding block to smooth the board with once you've filled the gaps.

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='jimmybass04' post='335800' date='Nov 24 2008, 08:14 PM']cheers my man, but i must now say that it looks to technical for me and time consuming,
thanks for your help.[/quote]

That was what stopped me from doing mine.
Im taking mine to the Gallery next week and they are doing it for me. It will cost £80 which for me is much cheaper than getting a fretless neck or buying tools to do it.
Plus i really like my Jazz neck so wouldn't really want a different one.
I'll never play this bass again as it is because i dont like the jazz tone as much as a P but i feel the bass is too nice to just sit around for years on end.
And if i can master the fretless neck it will then have a place in our set so it gets used again.

Edited November 26, 2008 by dave_bass5

[gary mac]

On a couple of occassions, usually on miserable wet, winter days I've approached my Wal bass with a pair of pliers. Fortunately I then come over all shakey and back off to think about it.

Roll on summer, I can go fishing and leave the old wal in peace.

[bassmaninar]

I de-fretted my 87 Fender Jazz Bass Special, and it wasn't that difficult. Here's how I did it...I used a small pair of flush cutting end nippers to remove the frets. I don't recommend using a screwdriver, no matter how small. It can dent the fingerboard. I worked from one end of the fret across the middle squeezing the nippers. Be careful not to pull up while squeezing as this may cause excessive chipping around the fret slot. Some chipping is unavoidable, so don't panic, they can be sanded out. Also, don't grab the fret in the middle, work from the end. Since some manfacturers glue the frets in, I suggest starting with the last fret with the nippers. If the fret appears to be glued in, use a soldering iron to melt the glue. Fortunately, mine weren't glued in.

Once the frets were removed, I lightly sanded the fingerboard with 200 grit sandpaper to take off the burrs around the fret slots. Then I used an Exacto blade and cleaned the fret slots. Some people use wood filler to fill in the slots, but I wanted to use something more substantial. I used red oak veneer that cabinet makers use to cover the exposed edges of plywood. It came from Lowe's and was in a roll like tape. It was 3/4" wide. I cut the veneer into strips about 1/2" longer than the respective fret slots and cut the width in half so they were about 3/8" wide. The veneer had heat activated glue applied to one side, which I removed with brush cleaner and a safety razor.

I applied wood glue (Titebond) to the edge of the strips and set them taking care not to break them. I removed the excess glue with a damp cloth. After the glue had dried, I took an wide Exacto blade that was beveled on one side like a miniature chisel and trimmed the overhanging lengths, following the side of the fretboard. Then I trimmed down the tops of the strips, removing a little wood at a time. Don't get too over anxious while trimming the tops because the wood may want to follow the grain, and the grain may be below the top of the fingerboard.

Once all the strips had been trimmed flush, I ligthly sanded the length of the fingerboard with wet/dry sandpaper dampened with lemon oil. The entire procedure took about 6 hours. I plan to defret a recently purchased Yamaha BB300 the same way. One other suggestion, I would recommend nickel plated strings as opposed to stainless steel...those can really eat up a fingerboard. Hope this helped.