Fretted to Fretless Conversion

I did my first "turn a fretted into a fretless" job for a friend 18 years ago... Skip to more recent experiences, We glued our frets in when I workd at Tobias Guitars, some companies do and others don't (it goes a long way to preventing loose frets as the wood sometimes changes with age).

You should have some special tools modified even further:

A. end pin cutter. This is a plier like tool that has a long (wide) mouth and it terminates in a heavy duty wire cutter (see below) These need to be further modified by grinding the top biting surface flat. ($10?)

). Let the oil soak in.

2. set the iron on LOW and sit it on the last frets (the longest ones at the end of the fingerboad/neck joint) so that they are warmed by this. If there is any glue holding the frets the iron also loosens it. As the first frets get warm you can put the iron on the next group of frets or remove it altogether if it is a precarious situation. Do not leave the iron on too long in any event as it might loosen the fingerboard/neck glue joint...

3. starting at the end of the last fret with about 1/2" of the end pin cutter contacting the fret on both sides (see diagram2.jpg) at the juncture with the fingerboard (fbd.), gently but firmly apply pressure to the cutters and wedge the teeth between the fret and the fbd. rocking it ever so gently to make the end of the fret come up. move in appropriate increments across to the other end of that fret and finally remove it from the fbd. THE IDEA IS NOT TO TAKE THE FRET OUT ALL AT ONCE but to pry it out gradually while it is warm. Go on to next fret....... If you encounter any big chips coming out, keep them. Use Wood Glue or Elmers Glue and glue it back when you put in the other filler strips (see #4, NEXT)

4. You can use (dyed) black or (naturally) white maple veneer 1/32" (depending on whether or not you want to see the fret lines). After you clean away any dirt and get rid of any residual oil from before (so the glue will work). You might find something at the hardware store that desolves oil and is safe for wood.

Glue the thin strips into the slots and replace any aforementioned chips. Use a big enough piece of veneer so that it sticks above the fingerboard a little on all sides which is to be sanded flat in the final fbd. preperation. Let the glue dry for 24 hours (very important!). This works for unbound Rosewood fingerboards (Maple is usually coated with laquer or other finish and is therfore more difficult). If your bass has a maple fingerboard or binding on the fingerboard, I would definately consider having the conversion done by a professional.

5. For final preparation, you would use a 12" x 2" piece of wood wrapped in 100 grit sand paper to take off the humps from the new fret fillers/markers and any residual glue. Be careful not to change the overall shape of the fbd by taking off too much fingerboard wood. Use 200-400 grit as the final surface. Re-oil the fingerboard the next day. use some #0000 steel wool to work the oil in. Put masking tape over the pickup cavities (there is nothing worse than having the steel get into the pickup drawn by the magnet or just physically falling in the cavity).

6. Reglue and recut the nut, restring and intonate (The nut may best be done by your local repairman YMMV)...

Play fretless bass....

I don't assume any responsibility for anything that happens If you decide to try this project. What I have written about the process is FYI only. It is easier reading about brain surgery than actually doing it.

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