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Location: Cork, Ireland | Seems to be an Applause copy of a Fender Precision bass. I got the body and neck with no hardware (for the price of a set of strings) might make into something Playable https://imgur.com/gallery/L4A7WUn
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Location: Cork, Ireland | It is fretless but looks like it may have been fretted once and the slots filled in. Or is that what they do with fretless boards ?
https://imgur.com/gallery/L4A7WUn
Edited by sycamore 2020-02-03 2:27 PM
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| I'm not a luthier, and I don't know what you paid, but this looks like a piece of junk. Chuck it in the trash. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | You're probably right but I look at it as something to practice on. It certainly seems to have been used, judging by the string marks on the board: I think I can get it clean and smooth at least, and I have some hardware parts lying around. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Well, I think it's worth the effort. This is, as identified, the Bottom Feeders Luthiery Guild. With the bar set incredibly high by some of our members, assuredly. The neck can be leveled & refretted, hardware installed, & the critter resurrected to functionality. Just an issue of fortitude & persistence, with lots of conjecture by intrigued observers, to-be-sure. Go for it! |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | I will have fun trying anyway. Do you think it started out with frets? Theres very little chipping which I would expect if frets had been pulled out. I reckon it will work as a fretless. I might make a different body for it.
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Hmmm. I can see a bit more chipping now that I've cleaned it a bit. But it seems a neat enough job. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Either way is fine. A new body seems to represent a lot of work, but as "they" say; it's your dime. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | BTW, as I am only seeing the one photo of the fretboard closeup, is that the only image? What does the rest of this guitar look like? |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Applause Bass Headstock https://imgur.com/gallery/OAYBJJT |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Bass project https://imgur.com/gallery/wr3Rrqv |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Yea the body (plywood) is probably fine. Not sure about the finish on it but it would take a lot of work to strip it. They also had another one for sale not Applause but similar and with frets. Someone's unfinished project.
Board looks better already with cleaning and sanding |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Yep, it appears someone took some liberties with that instrument. The nut looks pretty trashed. The body is there, & essentially, a blank canvas, for constructing your master opus. Best of luck, & keep us posted, with plenty of pictures. Soldier On! |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Will go well with my other bass DIY 2-string bass https://imgur.com/gallery/SrSmtfV |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Outstanding! I believe you may have that creative enthusiasm that spawned this forum. We await your next installment! |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | OK, no pressure then. I shouldn't have started yet as there are other projects on the bench but I will post as I go along |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | 0000 steel wool has improved the board a lot. A few chips to fill in. What finish, if any, would people recommend for the fret(less)board ? |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Never surrender, never give up!
Unless you have to. |
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Location: Indiana | Why not refret it? |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | I kind of like the idea of fretless. On the other hand it would be a good way to learn fretting as I've never done it. I will see how if feels and sounds as a fretless. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | I kind of like the idea of fretless. On the other hand it would be a good way to learn fretting as I've never done it. I will see how if feels and sounds as a fretless. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Now, this may be a bit esoteric, but would a fretless neck facilitate more accurate intonation abilities/qualities, by the "end-user", by means of differential finger placement within the given fretting intervals? |
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Location: northern Georgia | Not esoteric - acoustic double basses don't have frets. A few double bass players who moved to electric basses removed the frets, a notable example was Jaco Pastorius, the bassist for Weather Report in the late 70s-early 80s. Supposedly, he removed the frets from his Fender Jazz bass using a butter knife.
As for intonation, theoretically a fretless bass can play a just scale rather than the tempered scale that most musical instruments are stuck with. However, it takes an exceptional player to be able to take advantage of that, especially over the course of a longer piece. In addition, most other instruments in a group would be playing a tempered scale, which will clash somewhat with the just scale the fretless bassist could be playing. Of course, double bass and fretless electric bass players have been key parts of lots of musical groups for a long time. This could be a lot of fun to learn and play with. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Any time I've picked up a fretless, playing in tune was easier than I expected. I imagine we probably make micro adjustments automatically based on what we hear. You don't see accomplished violin, cello or double bass players looking at the fretboard when they play.
The hardware I ordered should be here soon (it got delayed in transit) and I'll get on with the rebuild. Then I'll have to bulid a bass amp...
Edited by sycamore 2020-03-14 6:36 AM
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | So, furthering abuse to a deceased equine, why don't more players use fretless 6-&-12-strings? |
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Location: northern Georgia | I recall that Pat Metheny used to use a fretless guitar occasionally. Of course, without frets, the tone of a plucked instrument is going to decay faster than if it had frets, especially for higher frequency tones. On bowed instruments, you can continue to drive the string with the bow to sustain the note. On a plucked double bass, the faster decay will add a bit of punch to the line being played. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | We are going to need someone to de-fret an Ovation guitar to bottom out this discussion. Anyone got a trashed neck or fretboard? |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Interesting that bowed instruments also used to be fretted |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Tuners, bridge and strings fitted. All seems good so far. Going to leave it overnight to see if it all implodes. If not I will fit pickups and hook up to an amp.
Edited by sycamore 2020-03-21 5:35 PM
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Seems to have no truss rod or at least not an adjustable one. I hope it will be OK. 840mm scale length and 45 - 100 strings. Neck seems good as is but not sure how long it will stay that way. The parts I got are supposed to be for P Bass but I had to make them fit |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Photo |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Bass with strings attached https://imgur.com/gallery/XSrRArU |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Oh wait. it does have a truss rod. It seems fairly seized and with a shallow allen bolt head so I'm not sure if it will move if it needs to. But the neck seems OK with slight nut and bridge adjustments. And it sounds somewhat bass-like.
Watch out Geddy Lee, here I come
Edited by sycamore 2020-03-22 1:04 PM
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Location: Cork, Ireland | To make a pickguard, I found a piece of 6mm thick beech which might suit. Can you think of any downside of such a thick piece? I'm not worried about the weight as its already a bit neck heavy. |
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Location: When?? | sycamore - 2020-03-29 1:03 PM
Can you think of any downside of such a thick piece?
I can't... save for maybe you could bevel the edge to make it "look" less thick. Besides, it's about whatever works and makes YOU happy after all the work you have been putting into this. |
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The link isn't working. |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Yeah, not for me, either. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | can you try again?
Bass with strings attached https://imgur.com/gallery/XSrRArU |
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Location: Pacific Northwest Inland Empire | Thanks! The link works now. Progress is being made. Congrats! |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | The defretted neck feels very smooth and plays rather well. It really only needs pickguard and pots now to make it fully functional. Not sure if I will do anything with the finish, apart from colouring in the scratches so they are less visible. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Pickguard template in progress https://imgur.com/gallery/lvRUpsZ
I downloaded a pdf and stuck the printout to MDF board before transferring to the hardwood board |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Further progress on the pickguard.
https://imgur.com/gallery/aK0x95D
https://imgur.com/gallery/hWxx3FY
Edited by sycamore 2020-04-02 3:59 PM
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Location: Cass County, Texas | Great work. It is really coming back to life.  |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Thanks, the project is certainly keeping me entertained. Learning to play bass will be the next one. |
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Location: Yokohama, Japan | sycamore - 2020-03-14 1:34 AM
We are going to need someone to de-fret an Ovation guitar to bottom out this discussion. Anyone got a trashed neck or fretboard?
Nice work sycamore! You're almost done! Not ever planning on de-fretting an O, but do you remember these? This fretless Kramer KFB-1 sounds amazing with flatwound strings. Looking forward to seeing the finished project! |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Thanks. Not familiar with the Kramer but any time I've tried fretless acoustic bass guitars I enjoyed the experience.
I was too mean to buy flatwounds. They're pretty pricey around these parts.
My pickguard is slightly higher than the fingerboard so I'm tapering it down at the edges. More like a carved top than a pickguard.
https://imgur.com/gallery/7TX6X8Q
Edited by sycamore 2020-04-04 3:19 PM
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Location: Cork, Ireland | I was going to keep the finish on the beech( from my kitchen cupboards), but theres more bare wood than I had anticipated. Any suggestions on a finish to suit the beach and compliment the sunburst on the body?
Https://imgur.com/gallery/neElt3t
Edited by sycamore 2020-04-05 1:52 PM
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Location: northern Georgia | Quite a few sunburst solid body guitars have white pickguards, such as my G&L sunburst Legacy. Of course this is very subjective, but I think you want something that contrasts with the body. Along that way, other light contrasting colors could work, such as yellow or gold. If you go with something similar to the body color like a tortoise-shell pattern, you would still probably want a contrasting white stripe along the edge, but since you are putting a finish on a relatively plain wood, I would still probably go mostly white. You can see examples of these kinds of schemes by going to an online store/site and looking at their listings of solid body instruments (Musicians Friend, Elderly Instruments, Reverb, etc). |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Those are all good ideas. I had been thinking along the lines of woodstains to show some grain, but the wood is very pale and the grain is not very obvious. I think I need to experiment on a scrap piece before I commit.
one other caveat: with lockdown I can't really go out and by stuff so it may have to be something I already have in the shed. As I never throw away anything, that need not be too limiting
Edited by sycamore 2020-04-06 3:26 AM
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Location: northern Georgia | Looking at the picture, the beech is close to white anyway, where it is not stained. Perhaps sanding it down to where it is all the natural color and then putting a clear finish on it might give a good effect. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Pickguard down to bare wood. https://imgur.com/gallery/ubgyVWf |
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Location: northern Georgia | I think that color arrangement could work. I don't know what kind of tools you have at hand, but I would put a 45 degree bevel on the edge to give it a more finished appearance. A router could do that, you could also use a belt sander or even a sanding block with coarse sand paper (that would take some time). Even as is, with a protective clear finish you should have a fretless bass that was presentable. |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Yes I think the bevel is a good idea - no router but the sander should do the job. I have some 'antique pine' wood dye which is subtle but brings out the grain a bit |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | I like it without pickguard screws. I was thinking of screwing it on from the back.https://imgur.com/gallery/LvRckBC |
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Location: Cork, Ireland | https://imgur.com/gallery/LvRckBC |
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Location: Seattle | Very nice...... the natural wood finish on the pick guard looks sharp in contrast against the body.
The ability to see what a instrument could be and execute that plan is a remarkable skill.
Good Work!
Leads me to another question ..... do Fretless bass players even use picks?
Edited by kentrookie 2020-04-12 9:50 AM
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Location: Cork, Ireland | Thanks. The finish ended up with 'Antique Pine' woodstain and a few coats of Danish Oil (what I had in my shed, but I'd forgotten that I love the smell of Danish Oil).
No idea re picks. I assume all variations are possible. Still waiting on pots and pickguard screws but I soldered it up and stuck on the pickguard as i couldn't wait to play it.
Initial impressions:
-I love it and can't wait for post-Covid session.
-Theres a bit of a learning curve in playing fretless (or any) bass
-I need to taper the pickguard more as it looks/feels a bit chunky
Edited by sycamore 2020-04-12 12:28 PM
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Applause Bass Project