is fretting a fretless a good idea?

MaxOnBass

MaxOnBass

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Do you think it would be a good idea to get a fretless wick and then get it fretted in order to have an ebony fb on a standard wick? (can't get CS, will hire a good luthier to do it, a big fan of ebony boards :) )
 
Hi,
On my re-fretted fretless jazzman(I bought it as is), the fretboard seems to be thicker than normal fretted 'wick, since I have to raise my nut pretty high (even at max, the stock JANII was too low for me... I replaced it by a JAN I and it's ok now, but the screw are quite high compared to the body of the nut)

Somebody can confirm this impression? I wonder if it's true...
 
Hey buddy,

I'm not going to pass judgement on the idea of fretting the neck, however I will say if all you want is the ebony board why not speak to the Custom Shop?

If its a simple change like that it might not be as expensive as you thing.
 
I'm wondering why you'd do it. I believe they use ebony for the fretless because of it's hardness and less tendency to scar from the direct contact with the strings. Would there be a lot of difference in the sound compared to wenge after it was fretted? The wenge board is really nice btw.
 
Sure - ebony is really hard, so will add a nice brightness to the tone...

I'd go the CS route for the bass in a fretted configuration with an ebony board, but if you can't do that, then having a good luthier fret a fretted bass is a fine idea.

;)
 
i was thinking of getting my thumb fretted as i don't play frettless to much.and i got a good deal on the fretless.but i know i will want a fretless again and i can't see changing a great playling bass,and it sound great to.so even though i think about it i know i'm not going to do it.
 
I wonder how hard it is to find a set of Brass Jumbo sized frets.. To make it harder, 26 brass jumbo sized frets for a Thumb NT, lol
 
I'd honestly try the fretless thing for a bit see if you like it - or go CS for the ebony board. But i can't see a problem getting a luither to fret a fretless bass. I dig ebony as well and the next bass i'd get must have one fretted or fretless!
 
first, thank you for all your replies :)
I can't get a CS bass because I'm getting this through some other channels (most probably even used) and I want ebony because it adds a nice hint of brightness (as said before).. as for the frets and JAN, that would be no problem..

-kC- could you tell me if that affects the playability of the bass?
 
Fretting a fretless bass is a relatively easy process for a luthier and once done said luthier would be able to set it up to play like any other regular fretted bass. In fact I'm going though exactly the same thought process for my 86 fretless SSI... it will make a phenominal fretted bass so I'm just in the process of seeing one or two final trade offers for it, then it becomes an 86 fretted bass and I'll keep it! :twisted:
 
i'm glad i'm not the only one who is thinking of getting a fretless fretted i see most people go the other way.my fretless would makea nice conversion over i think.now you guy's have me thinking of having it done again.
 
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