Kelly Holdridge
New member
Bought a Peavey Bass today for a C-note. Wanna rip the frets off (to make it fretless). Any suggestions? Warnings?
V
virtual.ray
New member
Find the Bass Player Magazine site and look in their archives,they did an article on this subject not too long ago with how to's and what to watch out for's,it might be in there.Cheers!
O
OneLouder
New member
That article is definitely in there and very informative it is to. I may just attempt that task myself!
W
windowman
New member
There are 2 ways of installing and removing frets. Either they were placed straight down into the fret board or they were pushed in from one side of the fretboard to the other. Fenders as I recall (?) have there's put in from the side and must be removed the same way. This has to do with the little spikes that stick out from the fret-wire. Some spikes are angled sideways and others point up. If you try to pull out frets straight up that have side-angled spikes, you could pull out substancial amounts of fretboard with it. I don't know which metheod was used for Peavey. Just call the factory and ask. 
Treeline
New member
Do a search of the library at The MIMF forum.
www.mimf.com
You'll have to join to get access to the library, but go ahead; its free. There are extensive threads in the library on guitar construction and repair, including turning a fretted bass into a Fretless.
Beware of structural problems; you will have to do something to compensate for a (now) floppy neck, because the fretboard (usually ebony or rosewood) is a structural component. The fret channels render it structurally "thinner" - that is, the structural integrity of the fingerboard stops at the bottom of the fret channel. The beam becomes more flexible.
When the channels are loaded with frets, that restores structural integrity - stiffness - to the entire thickness of the fretboard. Pull the frets and you will have a bendy neck, unless you can come up with a means to restore the neck's integrity, which is usually done with surface level "frets" acting as shims.
www.mimf.com
You'll have to join to get access to the library, but go ahead; its free. There are extensive threads in the library on guitar construction and repair, including turning a fretted bass into a Fretless.
Beware of structural problems; you will have to do something to compensate for a (now) floppy neck, because the fretboard (usually ebony or rosewood) is a structural component. The fret channels render it structurally "thinner" - that is, the structural integrity of the fingerboard stops at the bottom of the fret channel. The beam becomes more flexible.
When the channels are loaded with frets, that restores structural integrity - stiffness - to the entire thickness of the fretboard. Pull the frets and you will have a bendy neck, unless you can come up with a means to restore the neck's integrity, which is usually done with surface level "frets" acting as shims.