sanding down bass to fretless

Hi...I'm just wondering if anybody knows if it is possible to sand down the frets of a bass on a sanding machine instead of actually taking them off...I want to turn my semi-crappy old bass into a fretless bass, but I don't have much time and dont really need a fretless...I'm only gonna do it if it's easy. the bass plays fine and i use it for school so I'd rather not destroy it. I have a wood and metal shop at school that mighthave a few tools

so basically do I have to actually take the frets off? that sounds annoying.

any advice is helpful!

If you are looking for easy don't do it. The only way to get away with sanding down the frets and leaving the tangs in is by filling the gaps between the tang and the wood with something like superglue. That would involve carefully wicking the glue in, waiting a couple days, sanding down flush, and repeating if there was a lot of glue shrinkage. In the end it probably won't look or feel that great.

After all that, your bass will need a complete setup and maybe a neck shim to make it playable.

Oh, and you'll probably want to re-radius the board while you are at it.

i actually just did that exact idea to an old bass. its not difficult, it just takes time. although i dont see a way to do it without taking the frets out. takin them out is really easy if you have a tool that can get under them. also heatin them up a bit helps alot but isnt totally necessary. i just filled in the slots with wood glue and radiused the neck. spent like an hour one day filling in the frets and about 2 hours another day doing the neck.

Taking em out is the way to go IMO as it will probably be easier in the long run. Epoxy or strips of veneer and glue can be used to fill. If it's a maple board you'll probably want to refinish it after radiusing the board.

None of it's really that hard, but I wouldn't call it easy either for any one who hasn't done much guitar tech work before.

Hard, no. Time consuming, yes.

Here's how I did it for a friend and he loved the result. I pulled all of the frets and measured the thickness of the tangs with a micrometer. Then I tracked down some thin plastic sheet with a thickness ever so slightly thicker, I think it was .001" thicker. I used superglue to glue pieces of the plastic in so they would completely fill the void. When it was all dry, a razorblade trimmed the plastic even with the fretboard. Light sanding and polish and it was good. He loved the thing.

Novel approach. The lid to a margarine container is probably about that thick. Doesn't sound too difficult. Now, where's the phone # of that client who wants his bass made fretless.............

cool +1 tinkady

BTW, I did it with nice white material because he wanted the positions still marked. It made a really nice looking neck.

The way I do them is remove the frets and fill in the cuts with epoxy putty. The white color acts as markers. You can also buy wood colored putty if you want something closer as a match.

The reason I use the putty is that its a reversable mod. You can at some later date remove the epoxy with a fret saw and refret the neck of you choose. The putty does sand smooth and doesnt leach into the wood of the neck, yet its as hard and durable as the wood. You can use regular epoxy too, its just a littel tougher getting it on evenly. I usually use a putty knife to smooth it out before it sets.

a cheap fretless is @$100......................why bother?

He already has this bass and maybe he wants something better than a cheap fretless.

As pointed out numerous times here @ HCDIY, saving money isn't a concern. I'd bet 90% of the projects here could be purchased for less than the total cost involved. But what's the fun in that?

I have done this very thing (filing down the frets and leaving the tangs in place). I do not recommend it, the results are not good.

It's funny to see folks hanging out in the DIY forum asking why anyone would do it themselves.

Removing frets isn't bad, just get the right pliers and work them out. If glued in you might need to heat them with the soldering iron first.

I bet I could make a fretless neck quicker that I could do this. Apart from waiting a couple of days for the finish to dry.

If you are at all interested in guitar repair or construction, I recommend buying a cheapo and doing this kind of stuff. Even take it apart. Very educational. Nothing replaces doing yourself once.

Oops, Freudian slip. Still true though. I should know, I've been married twice.