Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Put down your weapons...

I am a fretless bass player first, fretted second, and that's been the case for many years now. As Ric basses go, I have two fretless examples -- a 1976 4001FL and a 2008 4003FL. The '76 was mangled before I got it, but plays like a dream; the '08 is a good example of a Ric bass, bought new, with a slightly wider and thicker neck profile than more recent examples. (Yet, I would not say it has a super strong neck, just an adequately strong one that can handle most types of strings.)

I also have a 2015 4003S, bought new. This is probably my favorite Ric bass ever in terms of overall build quality out of any that I have played. The icing on the cake is that the neck profile is exactly to my liking, and the neck itself is quite sturdy but also responsive to the truss rods. In other words, I think RIC hit the ball out of the park when they built this one... Which is why I want to convert it to a fretless bass!

To be clear, I am not really sure I want to go through with it, but I can't avoid the feeling that my dream fretless Ric is already in my possession, with frets. With RIC not showing any signs of a "4003S-FL" emerging in the near future, I am not sure what to do. As we all know, you can't just go find the next closest thing available, like someone looking for an oddball Fender-type bass could. If we want to do something quirky (as I often have), modifications are often called for.

To those who have done it or had it done, I'd love to get your comments. And to those who don't think this is a good idea, I'm happy to hear why you think so. Thanks!

cassius987 wrote:...The icing on the cake is that the neck profile is exactly to my liking...

Keep in mind that the feel of this perfect profile will change a bot with no frets on it, since it will then feel a bit thinner front-to-back than it does, currently. What is your plan for the filler in the fret slots, and for the finish coat on the fingerboard?

jps wrote:

cassius987 wrote:...The icing on the cake is that the neck profile is exactly to my liking...

Keep in mind that the feel of this perfect profile will change a bot with no frets on it, since it will then feel a bit thinner front-to-back than it does, currently. What is your plan for the filler in the fret slots, and for the finish coat on the fingerboard?

No plan thus far. I think I want a dark filler to match the board, and probably to refin, but may be open to no finish or oil finish. Just floating the idea out there to see what others' experiences have been. If I can't see a solid strategy to actually do this, I won't. It's still a great bass with frets.

A shade thinner would not be a problem-- a shade thicker, I might not like as much. The 1976 bass has a paper-thin neck that is stiff as an iron bar, and I get along with it just fine. The only frustration there is that the bass can only be set up one way: with extremely low action. You simply can't add relief to the neck, it's frozen "dead straight". Great for certain applications, but not everything. Still, the tone kills, and I don't think I could part with it.

I was in the exact same situation as you. I had my 1980 4001 jet glo defretted by a luthier.. best fretless ever. It blew my ‘88 4003fl out of the water. So much so we parted ways recently the 4001 was stolen and I’m now fretless-less
I say: “mod-it,play it,love it” Others will chime in on the usual resale and anti-mod debates. Once u get that perfect rickenbacker fretless you’ll never part w/it anyways.

I say: “mod-it,play it,love it”

+1!

ricken5er wrote:I was in the exact same situation as you. I had my 1980 4001 jet glo defretted by a luthier.. best fretless ever. It blew my ‘88 4003fl out of the water. So much so we parted ways recently the 4001 was stolen and I’m now fretless-less
I say: “mod-it,play it,love it” Others will chime in on the usual resale and anti-mod debates. Once u get that perfect rickenbacker fretless you’ll never part w/it anyways.

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First, sorry for your loss. How can we help you keep an eye out for it -- do you have a serial #?

Second, do you mind sharing your luthier's approach to defretting the bass?

If I were you - since you sound very serious about this - I'd do it "right" meaning new board with proper dots on front and side (my personal preference is board dots where they'd be on a fretted, and side dots where the frets would be). And of course, that means a refin too. I have a 2015 4003S FG that I love... but I am afraid to route it for 1/2" spacing... not a lot of wood in that area, so I'd make sure not to push your luck on the perceived strength... in other words, don't put too heavy a string set on it. YMMV. But sounds like a cool project - go for it! No lines though is my $0.02371156229 (adjusted for inflation).

I too, would replace the fingerboard. No lines or dots on the face with just side dots in the correct locations at 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, (21, and 24! ). Then refinish the neck from the edge of the fingerboard and a nice coat on the top surface if using Chechen. Given my experiences with lots of fretless basses, if I were replacing the board I'd use ziricote or macassar ebony, these days.

jps wrote: just side dots in the correct locations at 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, (21, and 24!

weirdo lol

jdogric12 wrote:

jps wrote: just side dots in the correct locations at 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, (21, and 24!

weirdo lol

What's weird about that? Pretty standard on the fretless basses I have owned over the years.

If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you too?

BTST.

First, sorry for your loss. How can we help you keep an eye out for it -- do you have a serial #?

Second, do you mind sharing your luthier's approach to defretting the bass?

PegHead in Hamilton ON did a fabulous job. Off white veneer filler that matched the aged white binding. More of a satin finish on the board compared to the hard shiny finish that was on my 4003fl. He was very secretive as to what the finish and process was but it was the perfect blend of an unfinished finger board on a fender jazz fretless and the heavy finish of the RIC FL. Right in the middle and impervious to wear. Seemed to have way more “Mmwaah” (for lack of a better term) than my FL

If fretless is your thing do it. You could always to the defret and fill, then later the fretboard and refin if you so desire it.

jdogric12 wrote:

jps wrote: just side dots in the correct locations at 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, (21, and 24!

weirdo lol

Not to pry but I'm curious about your pushback, Jason -- I have always found the approach Jeff suggests very easy to work with on my 4003FL (RIC even put the 12 dots centered around the "fret", which I think is perfect). The old method used on my 4001FL, which marked every fret, is a very difficult situation to work with; I had to mask the dots corresponding to frets not mentioned in Jeff's post so I could navigate more easily.

As far as the fingerboard goes, I think I'd be happy with lines similar in color to the fingerboard, so they are subtle in appearance. This might help me in occasional upper register noodling, where intonation is the hardest. However, I have heard a weird thing about lined fretless. If you intonate it "correctly" you must play on the line, not just behind it like a fret. This could take getting used to; then again, fretless in general does.

The one nice thing about replacing the board would be the ability to extend just a little (probably 1-2 mm) to get a full-sounding 21st "fret". I kind of wish RIC would do this anyway, as it would beef up the neck/body joint a little, and just require the pickguard to slim down a bit between the neck and pickup. But I know even that subtle change would kill the look for lots of folks, so it's not going to happen on the flagship model.