4003 converted to fretless

[rickenbrother]

So...how many 4004's DO you have Joey?

Oh, you know...you've held them all except for the Ruby.

[llocust]

Andy - do you know if your brother had the nut altered? Fretless basses need to have lower clearance since there is no frets to help when you stop the string.

Regardless, it looks really nice!

Thanks for all the nice comments! I talked to my brother a little and asked him about the nut. He said he didn't have it changed and mentioned that the bridge isn't adjustable and the action gets higher going up the neck (towards the bridge) so he didn't want to add to the angle. He seems to like playing it based on a rehearsal video I saw.

Personally, I need to have a couple more strings, all of them thinner and closer together in order to play

[woodyng]

He had a guy pull out the frets and replace them with maple strips and had the board epoxied.

That is gorgeous. I looked into having my Cii done this way,but the luthier advised doing a new ebony board instead. I liked the idea of keeping it looking original,like it was still fretted with the lines and the position dots, better. In the end i found a very nice fretless Carvin that i love the sound of for less than the price of the makeover. (And got to keep my Cii for the fretted with Maxima flats sound alternative). But i would really love to see,play,and hear a fretless 4004 someday.

[T.A.R.]

That is very sharp, nicely done!

[aceonbass]

Woody, what reason did your luthier give for steering you away from converting your bass to a lined fretless? My guy did a great job on mine. When he was done with the fret lines, he brushed a very thin epoxy into the board till it would absorb no more. The bass had that perfect fretless tone. Maybe your guy just didnt wanna do it.

[woodyng]

Dane, I think he offered to do either,but he just thought replacing the board with ebony would be a better option. I actually am very happy with the way things turned out. I thoroughly enjoy playing fretless,but consider it a lesser-used alternative,(i have no desire to play fl ALL the time),so am satisfied with the smaller investment i have in the Carvin,and the fact that i get to keep my wonderful Cii as is.