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Board index » Electric Guitar & Bass Construction

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Wednesday
 Post subject: Fretless Electric Guitar
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 3:07 pm 
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Hi again,
I have an old squier strat. Very low grade. Plywood body and very cheap electronics.
I wanted to do something experimental with it and decided to make a fretless guitar out of it.
Anyone know what I need to do with it (exept taking out the frets and filling them up)?
Setting it up for .10 strings is probably a good idea.

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Chris Pile
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 3:47 pm 
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My opinion? Leave it alone.

What is the latest fascination with fretless guitars? I see them on eBay and in pawn shops all the time. Is there some rockstar playing fretless these days? Zappa had a fretless Ampeg years ago, but I don't think he ever did much with it.

(On the other hand, it is just an old Squier. Grind the frets down to the tangs and play the bejeezus out of it)

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helldunkel
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 4:00 pm 
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Chris Pile wrote:
Leave it alone.


I agree totally, all the guys I know of who have made a fretless guitar end up leaving it aside and never play it anymore because they all realise (when its already to late) how difficult it is to play and master...

Chris Pile wrote:
What is the latest fascination with fretless guitars?


Sadly - Forum Hype

Chris Pile wrote:
I see them on eBay and in pawn shops all the time. Is there some rockstar playing fretless these days? Zappa had a fretless Ampeg years ago, but I don't think he ever did much with it.


They mostly get the idea of the fretless guitar because of the incredible talent of virtuoso Shawn Lane...


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Chris Pile
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 4:04 pm 
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I learn something new everyday.
Danke.

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alan stassforth
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 8:34 pm 
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I tried that once.
I didn't like it at all.
I would pull the frets,
try it out,
then go from there.
Here's a pic of a lap steel fb I made that I like.


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JimO
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 9:17 pm 
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Fretless works for bass. Took me a while to get used to it on my bass. If you got lots of time to practice and figure it out, and it's a spare guitar that you don't play much, go for it. I wouldn't do it if it was my only guitar.

Pull the frets, cut some maple to fill in the slots, super glue them in, sand it down and have fun with it.
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Wednesday
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 10:23 pm 
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Thanks for all the responses.
To all the opposers: I have no doubt thats is useless but so is the plywood squire the I got for 100 Shekel (around 30$).
I'm just doing it for shits and giggles.
I understand that aside from the ermoval and refilling of the frets there's no other diferance in the guitars setup so it should be simple enough.
I'll upload some pics and reviews once it's done !

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mdubs712
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:55 am 
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Wednesday wrote:
Thanks for all the responses.
To all the opposers: I have no doubt thats is useless but so is the plywood squire the I got for 100 Shekel (around 30$).
I'm just doing it for shits and giggles.
I understand that aside from the ermoval and refilling of the frets there's no other diferance in the guitars setup so it should be simple enough.
I'll upload some pics and reviews once it's done !


I believe you would have a shorter nut on there also
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JimO
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 7:38 am 
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There you go Lad! Keep as cool as you can. Sounds like fun. Like playing slide without a slide.
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HaMMerHeD
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 7:40 am 
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mdubs712 wrote:
Wednesday wrote:
Thanks for all the responses.
To all the opposers: I have no doubt thats is useless but so is the plywood squire the I got for 100 Shekel (around 30$).
I'm just doing it for shits and giggles.
I understand that aside from the ermoval and refilling of the frets there's no other diferance in the guitars setup so it should be simple enough.
I'll upload some pics and reviews once it's done !


I believe you would have a shorter nut on there also



Yes, you will need to either file the nut slots down a little or sand the bottom of the nut so it sits lower.
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alan stassforth
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 10:04 am 
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Give it a try.
Maybe you'll lke it!
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Wednesday
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 12:12 pm 
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HaMMerHeD wrote:
mdubs712 wrote:
Wednesday wrote:
Thanks for all the responses.
To all the opposers: I have no doubt thats is useless but so is the plywood squire the I got for 100 Shekel (around 30$).
I'm just doing it for shits and giggles.
I understand that aside from the ermoval and refilling of the frets there's no other diferance in the guitars setup so it should be simple enough.
I'll upload some pics and reviews once it's done !


I believe you would have a shorter nut on there also



Yes, you will need to either file the nut slots down a little or sand the bottom of the nut so it sits lower.


I thought I might need to change the action a bit.
First I fretless it and the I'll see what adjustments I need to do

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Brett L Faust
PostPosted: Thu May 12, 2011 10:01 pm 
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Go for it, if you don't like it you can use it to practice cutting slots and refret.
Good luck, enjoy.
You might also check out the music of Ed Degenaro, great player.

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