De-fretting a fretted bass?

[mangotango]

Once upon a time long ago, in a land far, far away, I had a fretless bass. A Shergold Marathon, unlined Maple neck.  The bass was lovely, my playing rather less so.

Then I stopped playing bass for a few decades.

Now I'm back in the Low Life and have a hankering for a fretless again. Thing is, nowadays I'm mostly playing 5-string and a finding a fretless 5'er might be an expensive experiment.

However, I already have a bass that I like but I'm looking to sell...so I had an idea. Would it cost more to have that bass, which I like, de-fretted and lined, rather than trading it in on a purpose-built fretless bass which I may end up selling anyway if I can't get on with it?

Has anyone had a bass de-fretted, how much would such a process cost, and how successful was it?

 

And before you ask - no, I'm not letting my Captain Caveman DIY skills loose on a bass I like and might want to play ever again; there's absolutely no chance of my trying to do the job. It'll just end in tears. And that's before any hears me play it.....

[Manton Customs]

You'd be looking at approximately £80-£100 from a full time pro luthier. Obviously less from hobbyists, but you get what you pay for with a fretless conversion as the board needs to be levelled properly.

[Guest MoJo]

2 hours ago, mangotango said:

Has anyone had a bass de-fretted, how much would such a process cost, and how successful was it?

I did it myself. Bought some maple sheet to fashion the filler strips out of. Surprisingly easy to do

[ezbass]

I have both defretted a bass and had on3 done professionally. My attempt was actually quite fair, although there was a little bit of chipping here and there. The one I had done professionally was by The Gallery in Camden. Top quality job, absolutely no complaints, just praise. IIRC it cost £110 including a set LaBella flats (this was a while back though).

If you like and get on with the bass you’re considering moving on, I’d definitely have that converted, rather than buy new.

Edited July 8, 2018 by ezbass

[Cato]

What's the fretboard on the bass made from?

I looked into having a maple board defretted a while ago and after speaking to a few people on here and a local luthier, the advice, which I took, was that the poly finish on the board would make it a very difficult and expensive job.

I think with it's much more straightforward with rosewood or ebony.

[mangotango]

20 hours ago, Cato said:

What's the fretboard on the bass made from?

I looked into having a maple board defretted a while ago and after speaking to a few people on here and a local luthier, the advice, which I took, was that the poly finish on the board would make it a very difficult and expensive job.

I think with it's much more straightforward with rosewood or ebony.

It's rosewood and it's in very good shape, so I'm loath to damage it with my inevitably ham-fisted efforts.

[DarkHeart]

Could you not just buy a fretless neck for what ever bass it is?

[mangotango]

16 hours ago, DarkHeart said:

Could you not just buy a fretless neck for what ever bass it is?

Possibly.  It's a Fernandes Gravity 5X. Have never seen a fretless neck for those and looking at their Endorsed artists for that, I'm not convinced that fretless would be right for their target market! 

So I guess that it would be a special order; worth enquiring about maybe. However, in pure economic terms, it's probably going to be more viable just to trade in on a purpose-built fretless, which isn't the point of what I'm trying to do.

[mangotango]

21 hours ago, Meddle said:

If you are absolutely stuck then I would 'have a bash' at defretting for you if you ship me the neck. I've done it a few times with good results, and I might even have some photos at home somewhere. 

Thanks for your kind offer.  Will investigate all options before I move ahead...but you never know!!

[mangotango]

Well, while I was getting the excellent Jerome Davies to mend my damaged EUB, I asked him how much to de-fret the bass. He quoted me a decent "all in" price, so it's done.  And I'm very happy with both his work and the results, I can't recommend him highly enough.

[ped]

Pics!

[mangotango]

35 minutes ago, ped said:

Pics!

To follow soonest....