donslow Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 ....I get one.....what do I do now....?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linus27 Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Post pictures 😀 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 Yes! Good shout! Have to also work out if the monstrously high action is due to the monstrously sized bridge saddles or something else also.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drax Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 As Tony Blair once said - Intonation, intonation, intonation. If the music you play doesn’t need many high notes, it’s a doddle. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) Interested. What is it? I've got a fretless that I rarely use - just noodle with it really, and have recorded with it Think I've only used it live twice - and only for one or two songs at that.... But I wouldn't want to be without a fretless now EDIT: Don't forget to post some pics Edited May 30, 2019 by Marc S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 I got my first fretless about 18 months ago. At first I was doing a lot of àrsing about with slides and vibrato, which is a lot of fun, but what really led me to me getting to grips with the whole intonation thing and automatically fretting the board in the right places was just playing the same lines that I play on a fretted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) Never owned a fretless before, never played one, just had a massive GAS for one in the collection, now I have one, no idea what to do with it! Anyway, without further ado.... As I believe, started life as a black, fretted squire MB4, neck stamp is feint but looks like May 2002 has been defretted, and body stripped of its blackness, the color of the body now is closer to a dark butterscotch than the pictures will allow you to see, some age related marks and the defret job doesn’t look the nicest in places, although smooth all round, but nothing to quibble about considering the price I paid for it, it works action needs sorting out, currently 5.9mm at the 12th and 6.7mm at the last fret, action at the nut seems about as low as it’s going to get, I suspect the action is mostly due to the massive saddles on the bridge, will see if I can get hold of something smaller and see how that works In in the same day, also acquired, for an equally good price an Ibanez SR300, I originally learnt to play bass on an SR800le but have since become a precision man but figured this’ll be nice for a little variation and familiarity, it’s in good nick, all works, some minor body damage but nothing to concern myself about, again, considering what I paid Edited May 30, 2019 by donslow 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 High action on a fretless? Maybe because it’s a defretted . Every fretless I’ve ever had has been really low on action, as it should be as there’s no frets to get in the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 Pop a shim in the neck pocket of the fretless - this will angle it back a little. A small tilt makes a fairly big difference at the bridge, and will bring the action down & give some adjustability to the saddles. Also check for relief in the neck - typically on a fretless you'll be looking to get it pretty much dead flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 35 minutes ago, Bassassin said: Pop a shim in the neck pocket of the fretless - this will angle it back a little. A small tilt makes a fairly big difference at the bridge, and will bring the action down & give some adjustability to the saddles. Also check for relief in the neck - typically on a fretless you'll be looking to get it pretty much dead flat. +1 for a shim. Cheaper than new bridge pieces, a piece of cardboard will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donslow Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 Shim was the first thing I tried but was looking at best part of 3mm of shim before I could get any decent adjustability on it, at which point the neck screws were struggling to sit in any decent amount of meat in the neck heel the saddles on the bridge are massive, I’ve not seen any this big before so I suspect changing those would help a lot, other options I had considered were recessing the bridge into the body so it sits flush neck is dead straight currently so no further adjustment needed there I think I have another bbot bridge in my spares box so will try that over the weekend and see what difference it makes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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