When I found out that's what he did to the bass of doom to get his sound, I immediately took out the frets on my jazz with a buter knife. I still don't sound like him.
@@shant1530 Sooo glad he is vegetarian. - Where is our cat? No! Buy your strings in a shop! - Is that alto flute a human bone?! I don't like those nasty neighbour kids, but this is a bit extreme. Kids have a right to walk on TWO legs! - No! You can't extract any gold from a goldfish! Use silver on your brass flutes!
Tim Beaton "If you don't want to risk destroying your precious bass guitar to make something you may not even take to, you have no soul" Not everyone has the skill and tools to do this kind of job. If you want to, go for it, but why tf should everyone be held to that standard.
I wanted a brand new 6 string fretless. Good luck finding those in stores. I cant find any. So I created one for myself using some of this guy's method.
also, you might already like the fretted model your playing, and there probly isn't a fretless model of that, so why not just turn yours into a fretless isntead?
Man, why did you put gloss coat on it?! No one will ever want to play this bass because of what you have done... ...because it looks so amazing :D Incredible effort, effect and experience!
I've played bass since "79, but never tried a fretless until a few years ago. I'M IN LOVE! I now have 3 fretless basses (after converting two I had) and my fretted bass collects dust. I had no problem with intonation, because as was said in the video, your fingers already know where to go. Muscle memory takes over.
Totally agree bro...once fretless, no turning back. I was amazed by Ralphe Armstrong of Mahavisnu Orchestra playing one of the first Fender P Bass fretless back in 72’...just had to get involved...😎🤙🏽
....I am hoping to convert ONE of my 6 (lefty) basses to fretless, soon....it will become another "flavour" for my compositions....I settled upon a 5-string, 2-octave neck (a Schecter Stilleto), to have all my "basses covered"...I was inspired by a Gipsy Kings vid...for a few songs their bassist plays an electric upright..with some chorus effect.....I said, "I gotta do it!".....
Can I suggest... at 0:45, when you're using the craft knife to loosen the fret, that you push it away from you, rather than pull it toward you? That way, you can be more sure of being able to play the finished guitar with 10 fingers, rather than 8.
Maybe you be suprised, but I absolutely don't have any musical talent. I am just building guitars, not playing them. But you are right, building with 10 fingers is easier.
I agree Art. That amp that he is playing on looks like a Fender 500 rumble amp. I have one and never sounds that tinny. Maybe needs to turn the bass pot up a bit and back off the treble. Other than that ,you are right it is an awesome video. Would like to do this with a few or my basses( I have 10) but don't have the time or patience.
Thank you for the tips. Just made my Squire jazz bass fretless. I used a chisel to pop the frets out, filled in veneer, glued veneer using superglue, trimmed veneer with chisel, sanded using a 220grit sand paper on a long piece of wood plank, painted sanding sealer on, sanded again with 600 grit, checked for bald spots, sprayed satin finish on, bang on.
The result is simply stunning congratulations.I was thinking about doing this on a fretted guitar though.Do you think its a lot more work on a fretted instrument or i may as well forget about it altogether?
I played a bass at the recent NAMM shoe that was a prototype- had like 1/4” wide grooves instead of frets. They said you could feel the grooves, but I couldn’t really. Played like any other bass.
More easy: Use light wood paste to fill the remaining gaps after pulling the frets.... I assure, I have done this 3 years ago with my beatles-bass and it looks still perfect. And there was no risc to damage the board.
This could have been done easier and quicker in many ways. But it would not give this result and that is why we watch his clips and not people who use woodfiller.
Thanks to this video I have made 2 conversions and they went GREAT - loads of work but fretboards looked like made by pro luthiers - both necks I have saved around £150/each in my pocket THANK YOU!!!!
Lovely job Bert. I have a friend who had a Fender PJ defretted but he didn't want a lacquer finish, he wanted to keep the softer tone of the rosewood. Recognising that the rosewood would wear away quickly without some kind of protection, especially with roundwounds, the luthier put only the thinnest of sealing coats and finished it matte. It needs to be redone every couple of years but it gives the player the sound he wanted.
I inherited an expensive Warwick corvette bass where the past owner used wood filler and super glue after they removed the frets to make it fretless ... Now it plays like shit lol ... It’s a 5 string and the G & B strings sound off on the notes .. the dam thing won’t Intonate and even when played open you can tell it’s a bit off on open tune 🤦🏻♂️ I only use the low strings now lol Not to mention my lowest string buzz’s like hell and you can’t understand what note it’s on 😂 And yes I’ve tried to set it up by fixing the bridge, the nut and almost everything I can think of
took a lot more care than I did, impossible to find a left handed fretless bass, just take an old squire jbass and rip the frets out with a pair of plyers and fill the holes with sawdust and model glue, worked a treat
I agree, i`m not hater. Simply I cannot see THE REASON, WHAT FOR...? 2) is it so cool or important to see the old board "fret marks" at this renewed "fretless", even made so greatly?
Back in the 80's, I had a 84 NJ series BC Rich Warlock bass. I bought it because I had a thing about doing things differently. I didn't want to play a P bass like every other band's bass player in town. Then one night, I had the brilliant idea to take the frets off, lower the strings, and raise the pick ups so I could be REALLY different. I want to say that I was wasted as an excuse but I wasn't, just dumb. I guess it was cool for a while but the neck began to warp because I didn't fill the fret grooves or seal the sanded wood neck. One gig we had, our guitar player insisted that I play with a borrowed p bass because the Warlock just couldn't be tuned correctly. DRAG. Now, 35 years later, I have brought it out of storage, I am straightening the neck and I am going to put a superglue finish on it, hipshot bridge, EMG Geezer Butler pickups, Grover tuners, and possibly Emerson prewired Pots. The Fretless Warlock will be reborn!! Thank you for this video!
I want to say thank you for the instructive video. I was looking for a way to work on my bass, a Fender Jazz Bass. Your video is very inspiring. I can see the passion that you put in your work. Congratulations!
Please google: Free online video reverser tool Upload a video file (up to 100 MB size) or paste video file url. Then click the Reverse! button and this tool will output reversed video with the same resolution and encoding (in rare cases with some odd encoding we may default to mp4, you man also choose it manually). If the video has sound, you can choose to keep, reverse or mute it.
@@meij008 The way you do it in the video looks so much quicker though, like it just kinda magically floats back into the bottle the second the nozzle gets close to it?
i like this diy conversion videos but one thing i dont like is that pretty much no one says what sanding paper grit they are using... which kills it for those without experience looking to experiement.
Hi, I used a lot of different grits, ascending from te first rough sanding with lets say 280, then 400, several times with 600 to eliminate the low spots, when it is rather flat i go up to 800, 1000, 1250, 2000, 2500, 3000 end up with with micromesh polishing pads and at last mcguire polishing compound.
Bert van der Meij I'm defretting my old cheap bass right now being inspired by your video, for which I thank you. But, speaking of sandpaper, could you please specify what grit did you use as the last one on unfinished wood and what was the first one on superglue layer? Thank you!
Pff, it's a long time ago. I think i used 600 for the last one on the unfinished wood. It is not so important which grid you use as the first one on the superglue. As long as you use ascending grids and not scipping one there is no problem.
Bert van der Meij thank you for the fast answer! Sorry for bothering but now there's a question about superglue. Not sure if you know this brand but I've got Cosmofen CA-12 which seemed to be quite thin for this purpose. I tested it on a scrap piece of wood - put a few drops and spread the glue as evenly as I could, but it wont spread as nice as yours. In fact, the drops left small circles that wont disappear as I spread the glue. Do I have to look for even thinner one or is there another way to make it spread better? Thanks
I don't think the superglue is the problem. I don't know this brand, but any thin good superglue will do the job. I suppose the scrap piece of wood you use is the problem and it might not be good for testing. Maybe it is softwood, not well degreased, not dry enough, not sanded right or the grain is not the right structure. The fretboard is made of hardwood (ebony, maple or rosewood) and quartersawn. So if you want to test it, you have to use a piece of wood which is comparable with the wood of the fretboard. So i think if you use the superglue on the real fretboard it will be ok. If you do it on the real fretboard don't be disappointed because after the first few layers it will not look very nice. Only at the last layers with high grid wet sanding / polishing and reaching the end result it will look nicer and nicer.
I de-fretted a Maple Jazz neck years ago and used dark wood putty in the empty fret slots. I sanded the neck to a near flawless finish and used 10 coats of super glue. It had a remarkably hard and beautiful finish after tons of sanding. Nice job mate! Cheers
I once defretted my 1962 Precision Bass. I didn't know they were to become highly sought after! I simply used a household screwdriver and pliers. But I didn't make too bad a job of it. I didn't fill the slots and left the fingerboard exactly as it was and played it as a fretless for about 18months before getting it refretted. I sold it for not a lot of money in the mid 90s---and have regretted it ever since.
SO I AM CURIOUS ? super glue has no tensile strength when left to dry on a surface so when you get around to having to adjust the truss rod how is the glue not going to crack ?
Superglue has an amazing tensile strenght. I think you mean that it is not flexible. So if you have to make big corrections with the trussrod I think you are right and it might crack, but keeping the guitar in good conditions (no extreme heat/cold or humidity) a correction with the trussrod should hardly be necessary.
I believe adjusting the truss rod adjust the entire fretboard in relation to the body of the guitar . So adjusting the rod shouldn't mess up the finish .
You have worked rel hard on this and i respect that, but are you building furniture or a neck ? Two minutes with my strings on this, it would be destroyed.......looks beautiful though...best off in a display cabinet
nah, all the point of finish (beside shine and brighter sound, so one of the points then) is that it's very hard so you can use roundwounds and not have scratches on the fingerboard
@@TheShirsh HI, I didn't right this, don't know what's happened ! It looks fantastic to me, never considered using superglue, but what a great mirrored finish. What did you use to finish the body ?
Yes. Bass strings, particularly roundwound strings will chew up a fretboard. Using epoxy (like Jaco) or superglue (like this guy) protects the fretboard from direct string contact. There’s also the added benefit of regaining some of the sustain lost by going fretless; the harder the fretboard the less the vibrations of the string are absorbed by the fretboard, increasing sustain.
Got to admit, I had not expected the idea of a cyanoacrylate finish! That's either absolutely genius or complete madness but given the final result, I mean...
Great work! I had a fretless Fender P Bass (sold it due to illness). If ever I converted a fretted bass to fretless I would fill in the removed frets with the exact color as the rest of the fingerboard as I feel that having fret markers ruins the fretless bass playing experience. Example, I play upright bass, violin, viola and cello. None of them have fret markers so I play by ear. So I would want the same experience with any converted bass. No fret markers, so I do not look at the finger board to determine my pitch. Use my ears only. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! -Peter
Yes after about 12 months playing it fretless(I didn't bother filling the fret slots). I got someone else to refret it for me. He used jumbo fretwire which was a drawback when I came to sell it(that and the fact I refinished the body myself and had all the hardware rechromed as well!)All together I reckon I had devalued it by 50%. I was young and stupid and didn't know any better!
I'm in the process of doing the same thing right now. I would have never thought of a superglue finish. I was just wondering, will that be flexible enough? I don't know when you actually did this, but have you had any issue with cracking, or anything else? I'm definitely thinking I'm going to go that route. Just thought I'd ask first. Thanks a bunch for the idea!
Very masterfully done, but I have to ask: why the cyanoacrylate coatings, rather than, say, a clear gloss polyurethane? I'm just not following your reasoning, but I'd like to...
Can anyone tell me if there is anything other than a 1mm thick veneer I can use as fret markers? As I don’t have any means of acquiring this and I want to make a fret less bass Edit: what is the purpose of the super glue?
This is stupid. On a 34" scale bass, entonation is too critical. If you wand a fretless, then why not get the original; a 42" scale upright bass. When you play this mistake you will give up playing fast riffs.
I was prepared to roll my eyes when I clicked on the video but I'm impressed. And I would have figured you would have to sand in between each coat of crazy glue. Guess I was wrong
@@Nikosi9 he didn't, actually....he laid down 4 coats, THEN sanded....with "thin" ca, if you sanded between each application, it woud never build........
Mixed feelings. Nice video, a couple of good tricks. But sanding the fingerboard freehand (before the finish I mean), without a guide to do it straight? Ouch! Big mistake. Will leave warbling/buzzing spots of even create new ones.
When you listen to jaco pastorius once
When I found out that's what he did to the bass of doom to get his sound, I immediately took out the frets on my jazz with a buter knife. I still don't sound like him.
WillC Bass it’s more than the type of bass. It’s technique, tone and all sorts of other factors
Paul Goff I know, I mean that as a joke. I do kind of sound like him in the tone factor.
+WillC Bass Keep practicing. One day you may sound as he did.
WillC Bass That's 'cos you used a buter knife. If you'd used a butter knife you'd probably have got better results...
I thought I'd see someone totally butcher a bass. Was pleasantly surprised to see good craftsmanship.
lmaoooo u r the guy who made the potato flute, keep your amazing videos coming!!!! 👍 👍 👍
Hey, I know who you are
Pupsi hey.... I know you
Yo! It’s the vegetable flute guy!
@@shant1530 Sooo glad he is vegetarian.
- Where is our cat? No! Buy your strings in a shop!
- Is that alto flute a human bone?! I don't like those nasty neighbour kids, but this is a bit extreme. Kids have a right to walk on TWO legs!
- No! You can't extract any gold from a goldfish! Use silver on your brass flutes!
4:52 minecraft piston
Where
What
@@anuvette the sound
lmfao bro nice ears
WTFF XDDD
To all those who say, don't bother, buy a cheap fretless....you have no soul! Sometimes is just nice to do things for yourself.
you are totally right Tim. As an experiment how a result will be it is better to try out on a cheapy, isnt't it?
That's it. 👍🏼
Tim Beaton
"If you don't want to risk destroying your precious bass guitar to make something you may not even take to, you have no soul"
Not everyone has the skill and tools to do this kind of job. If you want to, go for it, but why tf should everyone be held to that standard.
I wanted a brand new 6 string fretless. Good luck finding those in stores.
I cant find any. So I created one for myself using some of this guy's method.
Cheap fretless bass. Hell I can't even find one so rare i think I gotta do this if I'm ever going to play one.
I fell in love with that finish. It´s like a mirror. Dude you have so much patience I can´t even understand it. Amazing.
And THAT is much of how the world works. Lots of boring elbow grease to make a nice result.
also, you might already like the fretted model your playing, and there probly isn't a fretless model of that, so why not just turn yours into a fretless isntead?
6:45 The L I C C
I'm glad I'm not the first one who noticed :)
Man, why did you put gloss coat on it?! No one will ever want to play this bass because of what you have done...
...because it looks so amazing :D
Incredible effort, effect and experience!
They had us in the first half not gonna lie
You got me on the first half not gonna lie
that is wood polishing, from a 1000grid, to a 10000grid powder....
am I the only one who read "a fretless bass conversation"?
Dramilion no I thought it was some debate over what type of bass to use but I’m not disappointed
Nope
Dramilion me too 😂
Yeah i always speak to my keyboards
Really I am! )(-^)
I've played bass since "79, but never tried a fretless until a few years ago. I'M IN LOVE! I now have 3 fretless basses (after converting two I had) and my fretted bass collects dust. I had no problem with intonation, because as was said in the video, your fingers already know where to go. Muscle memory takes over.
Totally agree bro...once fretless, no turning back. I was amazed by Ralphe Armstrong of Mahavisnu Orchestra playing one of the first Fender P Bass fretless back in 72’...just had to get involved...😎🤙🏽
....I am hoping to convert ONE of my 6 (lefty) basses to fretless, soon....it will become another "flavour" for my compositions....I settled upon a 5-string, 2-octave neck (a Schecter Stilleto), to have all my "basses covered"...I was inspired by a Gipsy Kings vid...for a few songs their bassist plays an electric upright..with some chorus effect.....I said, "I gotta do it!".....
Can I suggest... at 0:45, when you're using the craft knife to loosen the fret, that you push it away from you, rather than pull it toward you? That way, you can be more sure of being able to play the finished guitar with 10 fingers, rather than 8.
Andy Northall you already have 8 fingers thumbs shouldnt count
Brohann Sebastian Bach
The right thumb is commonly used in guitar repertoire. So is the left thumb, but it's rare
Maybe you be suprised, but I absolutely don't have any musical talent. I am just building guitars, not playing them. But you are right, building with 10 fingers is easier.
Brohann Sebastian Bach ok fine!!! So that way you end up with 10 FALANGES
Dyslexia sucks
That dude at the end is a guitarist. You can tell by the way he plays.
😂😂
he plays like a bassist tho
Just sum guy he does not.
@@sevenblizzards7077 no he does, ik from experience
@Just sum guy - well not sure what kind of bad experience you have, that dude was not playing like a bassist lmao what
Came for the information; stayed for the shiny shiny.
That was absolutely gorgeous, that super glue finish!? I’ve never seen that before
awesome video tutorial but very unsatisfying demonstration of the playing and sound at the end. other than that I it's marvelous. great job!
I agree Art. That amp that he is playing on looks like a Fender 500 rumble amp. I have one and never sounds that tinny. Maybe needs to turn the bass pot up a bit and back off the treble. Other than that ,you are right it is an awesome video. Would like to do this with a few or my basses( I have 10) but don't have the time or patience.
He said in another comment that he has no musical talent and just likes making basses and guitars but not playing them
Although he is pretty good
Can I ask a dumb question: Why use superglue to finish the neck? Wouldn't something like 2-Pack epoxy be tougher? Hmm, that was 2 questions!
Good question
There are a couple other vids i've seen where they did use epoxy... seems a little bit more work, but end result was good.
StonyRC where we live, there isn't really something similar to epoxy. I believe this is the closest that we can get: super glue...
OK, that makes sense - thanks for updating me.
CA is harder than epoxy
6:46 I just heard the lick
LongSchlong Silver haha
nice
Good ol' silver exposing the lick once more
It’s sound like it but not quiet it
What lick?
Thank you for the tips. Just made my Squire jazz bass fretless. I used a chisel to pop the frets out, filled in veneer, glued veneer using superglue, trimmed veneer with chisel, sanded using a 220grit sand paper on a long piece of wood plank, painted sanding sealer on, sanded again with 600 grit, checked for bald spots, sprayed satin finish on, bang on.
Yeah, remove those prison bars and make your way out to the audibility of freedom!!
Great video by the way :D
The result is simply stunning congratulations.I was thinking about doing this on a fretted guitar though.Do you think its a lot more work on a fretted instrument or i may as well forget about it altogether?
Dreamdancer11 if you are talking about the CA glue finish on a fretted guitar, it would still work. You would just have to mask off the frets
I tried it on a wenge board a couple of months ago. It works perfectly although now and it looks like glass(which it was the thing i was going for).
That is the shinest fretboard I think I've ever seen! Great job and craftsmanship :D Well done!
Let's practice ice skating on this fretboard
Take a skateboard nose grind to it lol
personally the really glossy neck just looks weird
Lots of fretlesses come like that. I love it, myself. :)
this bass belongs to davie...
SLAP LIKE RIGHT NOW ON THIS COMMENT!
Very impressive but can you make a bassless bass
I have some bassless frets
I just pulled the frets and left the cuts as a guide for the notes. Took about 5 minutes.
J0ZZE123 does it sound alright?
Sam Majcher Would sound fine, the added veneer would be their to stop gunk and just general stuff building up. I
I was thinking of doing the same and putting wood filler on the fret cuts
I played a bass at the recent NAMM shoe that was a prototype- had like 1/4” wide grooves instead of frets. They said you could feel the grooves, but I couldn’t really. Played like any other bass.
This was my question. Might look ugly, but it works, right?
Great work...but in no way should you ever use superglue because it yellows and deteriorates... You should use two-part quality epoxy...
More easy: Use light wood paste to fill the remaining gaps after pulling the frets.... I assure, I have done this 3 years ago with my beatles-bass and it looks still perfect. And there was no risc to damage the board.
NEVER use paste. Leave that for the cabinet makers to fill nail holes.
This could have been done easier and quicker in many ways. But it would not give this result and that is why we watch his clips and not people who use woodfiller.
Also - no "rims" on this bass. It's not a banjo. Learn the correct lingo.
@@leokowald - You're a HACK.
using wood filler, is for HACKS......
Thanks to this video I have made 2 conversions and they went GREAT - loads of work but fretboards looked like made by pro luthiers - both necks I have saved around £150/each in my pocket THANK YOU!!!!
excellent!! i hate the frets 😊
amazing job!
I wonder how well the superglue finish is holding up over time
A VERY long time !
ruclips.net/video/SyRGDhpj_F4/видео.html
@@tobbebergman7583 cool, thank you
I have used superglue for projects and it gives of a gass and burns everything around it leaving a white dust and crystals . Its pretty bad over time
I had to give up around the time when you took the neck off.
Anyone else get a dentist vibe from the background music or just me?
Extraction music.....
Lovely job Bert.
I have a friend who had a Fender PJ defretted but he didn't want a lacquer finish, he wanted to keep the softer tone of the rosewood. Recognising that the rosewood would wear away quickly without some kind of protection, especially with roundwounds, the luthier put only the thinnest of sealing coats and finished it matte. It needs to be redone every couple of years but it gives the player the sound he wanted.
this is so relaxing to watch...
wow. Great job and thank you for taking the tine to document it on video.
I played one once in a music store, went home and took all my frets off my univox. Then baught a proper 5 string fretless dean. Good times.🍻
The glossy finish looks amazing, I wonder if the cyanocrylate could get cracked by truss rod adjustment?
Nope !
I put + 25 layers Cyanoacrylate on my Squier Classic Vibe J Bass !
No problems !
@@tobbebergman7583 excelent!!! 🤘
@@jggarzao
FYI:
The truss rod should be completely loose (relaxed) when you put on the superglue coats !
I inherited an expensive Warwick corvette bass where the past owner used wood filler and super glue after they removed the frets to make it fretless ...
Now it plays like shit lol ...
It’s a 5 string and the G & B strings sound off on the notes .. the dam thing won’t Intonate and even when played open you can tell it’s a bit off on open tune 🤦🏻♂️
I only use the low strings now lol
Not to mention my lowest string buzz’s like hell and you can’t understand what note it’s on 😂
And yes I’ve tried to set it up by fixing the bridge, the nut and almost everything I can think of
Check the neck for dead straight -if it has a slight bow it will play like crap,rather toe than bow
How is it possible to make something so beautiful? xD
I’m wanting to do this with my acoustic bass.
Haha! I still have yet to do it! 😂
6:51
me when i’m home alone
ashish pokharel 4:52 minecraft pistion
I want to do this to my Ibanez bass so damn hard, also, lefty fretless players are uncommon, so, fretless conversion is added to my cheklist
I want a ML bass but Dean doesn't offer a fretless Dean ML bass so I'm just going to buy a ML and do the revove the frets myself.
Instructions unclear: my bass guitar is now a nuclear bomb
took a lot more care than I did, impossible to find a left handed fretless bass, just take an old squire jbass and rip the frets out with a pair of plyers and fill the holes with sawdust and model glue, worked a treat
And to think that Jaco used a knife to take out his frets on his Fender back in the day...
Don't remove frets of a fretted bass. Just buy a fretless neck, so now you have both necks with one body.
An artist at work. I love it.
I agree, i`m not hater. Simply I cannot see THE REASON, WHAT FOR...?
2) is it so cool or important to see the old board "fret marks" at this renewed "fretless", even made so greatly?
This is really really cool! I would've never thought to use superglue. God bless
Been doing this since the mid-80's.
I love to see people who really care for their craft .... Well done !
Back in the 80's, I had a 84 NJ series BC Rich Warlock bass. I bought it because I had a thing about doing things differently. I didn't want to play a P bass like every other band's bass player in town. Then one night, I had the brilliant idea to take the frets off, lower the strings, and raise the pick ups so I could be REALLY different. I want to say that I was wasted as an excuse but I wasn't, just dumb. I guess it was cool for a while but the neck began to warp because I didn't fill the fret grooves or seal the sanded wood neck. One gig we had, our guitar player insisted that I play with a borrowed p bass because the Warlock just couldn't be tuned correctly. DRAG. Now, 35 years later, I have brought it out of storage, I am straightening the neck and I am going to put a superglue finish on it, hipshot bridge, EMG Geezer Butler pickups, Grover tuners, and possibly Emerson prewired Pots. The Fretless Warlock will be reborn!! Thank you for this video!
I put those GZR EMGs in my cheap squier p bass, really brought it to life
Is superglue gonna be as hard as epoxy laquer?
This is beautiful. That blond line really looks smart. I like that the lines are still there but only serve the purpose of visualizing the fret point.
Very nice job.
I was considering a conversion, then took the easy way out and bought a fretless neck. Maybe someday??
It is obvious that AI and robots cannot defeat his craftmanship
Next video: fretted bass conversion
I want to say thank you for the instructive video. I was looking for a way to work on my bass, a Fender Jazz Bass. Your video is very inspiring. I can see the passion that you put in your work. Congratulations!
Like Jaco haha
Please do a tutorial on making a fretless bass fretted please
Please google: Free online video reverser tool
Upload a video file (up to 100 MB size) or paste video file url. Then click the Reverse! button and this tool will output reversed video with the same resolution and encoding (in rare cases with some odd encoding we may default to mp4, you man also choose it manually).
If the video has sound, you can choose to keep, reverse or mute it.
Why would you ever do that
@@meij008
So I followed the reversed video's instructions and I'm having trouble getting the super glue back in the bottle, any tips for that?
@@meij008
The way you do it in the video looks so much quicker though, like it just kinda magically floats back into the bottle the second the nozzle gets close to it?
xfritz5375 That’s the joke
i like this diy conversion videos but one thing i dont like is that pretty much no one says what sanding paper grit they are using... which kills it for those without experience looking to experiement.
Hi, I used a lot of different grits, ascending from te first rough sanding with lets say 280, then 400, several times with 600 to eliminate the low spots, when it is rather flat i go up to 800, 1000, 1250, 2000, 2500, 3000 end up with with micromesh polishing pads and at last mcguire polishing compound.
Bert van der Meij I'm defretting my old cheap bass right now being inspired by your video, for which I thank you. But, speaking of sandpaper, could you please specify what grit did you use as the last one on unfinished wood and what was the first one on superglue layer? Thank you!
Pff, it's a long time ago. I think i used 600 for the last one on the unfinished wood. It is not so important which grid you use as the first one on the superglue. As long as you use ascending grids and not scipping one there is no problem.
Bert van der Meij thank you for the fast answer! Sorry for bothering but now there's a question about superglue. Not sure if you know this brand but I've got Cosmofen CA-12 which seemed to be quite thin for this purpose. I tested it on a scrap piece of wood - put a few drops and spread the glue as evenly as I could, but it wont spread as nice as yours. In fact, the drops left small circles that wont disappear as I spread the glue. Do I have to look for even thinner one or is there another way to make it spread better? Thanks
I don't think the superglue is the problem. I don't know this brand, but any thin good superglue will do the job. I suppose the scrap piece of wood you use is the problem and it might not be good for testing. Maybe it is softwood, not well degreased, not dry enough, not sanded right or the grain is not the right structure. The fretboard is made of hardwood (ebony, maple or rosewood) and quartersawn. So if you want to test it, you have to use a piece of wood which is comparable with the wood of the fretboard. So i think if you use the superglue on the real fretboard it will be ok.
If you do it on the real fretboard don't be disappointed because after the first few layers it will not look very nice. Only at the last layers with high grid wet sanding / polishing and reaching the end result it will look nicer and nicer.
I de-fretted a Maple Jazz neck years ago and used dark wood putty in the empty fret slots. I sanded the neck to a near flawless finish and used 10 coats of super glue. It had a remarkably hard and beautiful finish after tons of sanding.
Nice job mate! Cheers
I once defretted my 1962 Precision Bass. I didn't know they were to become highly sought after! I simply used a household screwdriver and pliers. But I didn't make too bad a job of it. I didn't fill the slots and left the fingerboard exactly as it was and played it as a fretless for about 18months before getting it refretted. I sold it for not a lot of money in the mid 90s---and have regretted it ever since.
I like the fact that he uses veneer instead of wood filler, it really looks better!
Great job! Preparing to do my second neck this way - this is a great tutorial.
SO I AM CURIOUS ? super glue has no tensile strength when left to dry on a surface so when you get around to having to adjust the truss rod how is the glue not going to crack ?
Superglue has an amazing tensile strenght. I think you mean that it is not flexible. So if you have to make big corrections with the trussrod I think you are right and it might crack, but keeping the guitar in good conditions (no extreme heat/cold or humidity) a correction with the trussrod should hardly be necessary.
I believe adjusting the truss rod adjust the entire fretboard in relation to the body of the guitar . So adjusting the rod shouldn't mess up the finish .
@@meij008 is the end result a dead straight neck?-no toe or bow present hence trust rod adjustment should be a once off?
better off heating the frets first, saves you from ripping the wood....this is so wrong.
Heating the frets is only useful if they are glued in. In this case. Tried it with the first fret and found out that they were not glued in.
you are a master!
You have worked rel hard on this and i respect that, but are you building furniture or a neck ? Two minutes with my strings on this, it would be destroyed.......looks beautiful though...best off in a display cabinet
nah, all the point of finish (beside shine and brighter sound, so one of the points then) is that it's very hard so you can use roundwounds and not have scratches on the fingerboard
@@TheShirsh HI, I didn't right this, don't know what's happened ! It looks fantastic to me, never considered using superglue, but what a great mirrored finish. What did you use to finish the body ?
No need to bother with the veneers. I always use "liquid nails" to fill the fret slots and then sand off the excess during shaping.
hack.....I hope you are not chgarging for "nail polish"!!
Very very impressive, love the perfect gloss finish; you have skill and patience. keep up the good work. Nice video too, thank you!
what is the superglue for? Is that the protective layer?
to even out the surface i guess
Yes. Bass strings, particularly roundwound strings will chew up a fretboard. Using epoxy (like Jaco) or superglue (like this guy) protects the fretboard from direct string contact. There’s also the added benefit of regaining some of the sustain lost by going fretless; the harder the fretboard the less the vibrations of the string are absorbed by the fretboard, increasing sustain.
That's some sexy neck You recreated.
Instructions unclear, converted bass into guitar.
Or you can buy a fretless bass
Too bad that I was born with two left hands.
SmurfK rip
Do you have a problem with Polenarif
Alot of work but worth it in my case since I'm a lefty and there aren't alot of choices in general for a fretless lefty.
Or a decent left handed bass in general am I right!? And don't even get me started on the visits to guitar stores😂
6:46 the licccc
Did you really spread super glue all over the fingerboard ?
Yes...and it looks fantastic lol
you know what's easier buy a fretless bass
AndyXGamer well at least you save a couple thousand dollars
Dr. I got my fretless for 250
AndyXGamer but the bass that turned fretless in the video was a really nice expensive bass that would cost alot more if it was fretless
buy, buy, buy.... I am sure he had fun doing it..
Sometimes it's about the process....same reason people spend money and time on squiers
What's the point of sanding each glue layer? (newbie here)
Nice Job!!
Got to admit, I had not expected the idea of a cyanoacrylate finish! That's either absolutely genius or complete madness but given the final result, I mean...
Master!
Beautiful shiny thing
as i violin player i respect you removing frets
Beautiful work. I am curious about the CA glue finish. Why that product instead of like others have mentioned, 2 part epoxy?
Great work!
I had a fretless Fender P Bass (sold it due to illness). If ever I converted a fretted bass to fretless I would fill in the removed frets with the exact color as the rest of the fingerboard as I feel that having fret markers ruins the fretless bass playing experience.
Example, I play upright bass, violin, viola and cello. None of them have fret markers so I play by ear. So I would want the same experience with any converted bass. No fret markers, so I do not look at the finger board to determine my pitch. Use my ears only.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
-Peter
"stick to it" all you want; 99.9% of electric bassists do not play upright/viola/violin/violette, cello, etc.....
I once defretted my 62 Precision bass before I knew how valuable it would have become had I left well alone!
refret it?
Yes after about 12 months playing it fretless(I didn't bother filling the fret slots). I got someone else to refret it for me. He used jumbo fretwire which was a drawback when I came to sell it(that and the fact I refinished the body myself and had all the hardware rechromed as well!)All together I reckon I had devalued it by 50%. I was young and stupid and didn't know any better!
why it is need to finish the fretboard with superglue? is it because the duration of the new fretboard?
Most likely in order to allow the player to slide better.
I hope you wear a mask when applying and sanding the super glue.
So much work! Congrats! When I did my bass I filled the slots with a mixture of sawdust and wood glue : /
Great idea!
Wow,this is one of the best defret work!!!?
Heck, that was downright inspirational! How did you make it so shiny? 6000 grit. Loved it.
fuck my recommended
Almost got tears in my eyes,😊 beautiful craftmanship.. very very beautiful finish.🫶
That is amazing work, very nice.
I'm in the process of doing the same thing right now. I would have never thought of a superglue finish. I was just wondering, will that be flexible enough? I don't know when you actually did this, but have you had any issue with cracking, or anything else? I'm definitely thinking I'm going to go that route. Just thought I'd ask first. Thanks a bunch for the idea!
Very masterfully done, but I have to ask: why the cyanoacrylate coatings, rather than, say, a clear gloss polyurethane? I'm just not following your reasoning, but I'd like to...
Can anyone tell me if there is anything other than a 1mm thick veneer I can use as fret markers? As I don’t have any means of acquiring this and I want to make a fret less bass
Edit: what is the purpose of the super glue?
This is stupid. On a 34" scale bass, entonation is too critical. If you wand a fretless, then why not get the original; a 42" scale upright bass. When you play this mistake you will give up playing fast riffs.
I was prepared to roll my eyes when I clicked on the video but I'm impressed. And I would have figured you would have to sand in between each coat of crazy glue. Guess I was wrong
He did sand between each coat... Many times
@@Nikosi9 he didn't, actually....he laid down 4 coats, THEN sanded....with "thin" ca, if you sanded between each application, it woud never build........
@@jamesparker1063
@meij008
7 years ago
I sand after every coat using assending grids (till 2500), used ZAP SUPER GLUE "THIN",
Mixed feelings. Nice video, a couple of good tricks. But sanding the fingerboard freehand (before the finish I mean), without a guide to do it straight? Ouch! Big mistake. Will leave warbling/buzzing spots of even create new ones.
SLAP LIKE!