Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Professional defretting


uk_lefty
 Share

Recommended Posts

I've got the itch again... I really want an unlined fretless but cash is tight at the moment. I've got my eye on a few possibilities: buying a decent bass body and having someone make a neck for me to spec, or buying a good value second hand bass and having it defretted or ideally board ripped off and nice unlined board added. Failing that, just a professional defret.

 

I'm trying to get a rough idea of cost for these options:

Make a jazz style neck with an unlined fretless board;

Defret a fretted bass and finish nicely;

Take the fretboard off a bass and replace with a nice unlined board.

 

Any inputs gratefully received, and may stop me doing something stupid. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't help you on the cost being a DIY man when it comes to instruments . Option 3 for me . I have done 2 now . Plane board off , make new unlined board . Set up . Sounds easier rhan it is but not beyond the reach of someone who is handy with tools . First board was made of Richlite which I absolutely love . Second one was a P bass with a cheap neck that I made a board from a piece of unknown hardwood (sapele?) . Very happy with both . 

I originally did this due to the sparseness of unlined fretless options . 

In my heavy handed butchers way of doing things , the original board had the frets pulled and the board taken off with a power plane . 

fboard fitted.jpeg

fboard glue up.jpeg

finished piezo j bass.JPG

sidedots.jpeg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had my Overwater Perception defretted  and refinished by David Wilson. The bass had an ebony fretboard so Dave used some ebony veneer to fill the slots and they are now hardly noticeable under stage lights. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, JPJ said:

I had my Overwater Perception defretted  and refinished by David Wilson. The bass had an ebony fretboard so Dave used some ebony veneer to fill the slots and they are now hardly noticeable under stage lights. 

How much were you looking at paying for that job, if you don't mind me asking? Just ballpark...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...