filling gaps on self-defretted bass

[fretless]

hi,

i wonder with what to fill the fret gaps of my now fretless cheapish p-bass copy? btw: it sounds nice now - quite vintage and kind of dull, dry and dusty, but really cool!

anybody?

 

[noiseportrait]

I just filled them with plain old wood filler. Works fine. It's more important that you coat the neck with a good lacquer or epoxy than it matters what you fill the fret slots with. I've heard of people going all out and using strips of wood to fill the slots, but this is not at all necessary.

 

[Bass Freak]

i heard bondo? w/e that crap is. but id say wood putty?

freak

 

[Light]

NOT Bondo, and NOT wood filler. They are both too soft. We fill the slots with a contrasting wood veneer, usually maple. We get thick veneers, widen the fret slots to fit the veneers, and inlay them with cyanoacralate (super glue, but the stuff we use is very high quality).

You also never want to finish a fretless fingerboard, as the finish will wear away much faster than bare rosewood or ebony. Even epoxy. It is all about the wood.

Of course, Jaco never filled the slots with anything.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[EddieRay]

Don't laugh: I used clear plastic strips and superglue as recommended to me by a luthier. Look around for an email list called The Bottom Line. It must be in the archives several times over.

 

[apl]

Or, you could get a Carvin fretless neck for $140. Very nice durable ebony fingerboard.

 

[Light]

Or, you could get a Carvin fretless neck for $140. Very nice durable ebony fingerboard.

This is what we usually do (though not from Carvin). It is cheaper to buy a new neck than it is to have us do a conversion.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[ZoSo58LP]

yeah i did this to my old squier p-bass cheapo bass..and it plays pretty decent actually lol, that's my hybrid crazy project bass i never filled in the holes eitehr

 

[Major Tom]

I did that to an old beat up piece o'junk bass, I cut some maple strips, and sanded them down to the right thickness, glued them in there and then planed the whole thing. Worked pretty good.