How to do a Fretless Guitar Conversion (Cheap Electric or Bass) 

Thanks, I appreciate the comments! Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Ninh Ly How many times have you copied and pasted this comment?

Shell how many times have you made the mistake of calling someone out on a stupid thing?

Watch sarod we play it with nails

Fretless guitars are for people who use high distortion. And they do make them

+Conner Nagy True that! Hate fret buzz? Get rid of them all! Thanks for your comment, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Conner Nagy 😂

I thought that was more of a bass problem

Don't we all?

You monster

noooo

Gonna do this on my vintage '59 les paul

Sicarius Bladehart gonna do this on my 1954 Stratocaster. Gonna put a floyd in it while i’m at it. Might put a humbucker in the bridge while i’m at it.

I literally just screamed.

Hi Benjamin. Thanks for the comment! Yes, I completely agree. Having it bare wood (on a bass) does give you the woody upright bass sound. You don't have to coat your fretboard at all, but even with flatwounds - you'll notice the wear over time. One of my guitars is an actual Yamaha Fretless Bass, and even from brand new and flatwounds on it, it wore the board away. The epoxy/polyurethane is better for 6 string guitars.

Ninh Ly yeah, well, even upright basses need a fretboard change at a point in their life

Calvin Wendland Tried that - it becomes really hard to play then. I managed to achieve a balance, but overall on an Electric guitar, if you can bolt a thin steel plate throughout the length of the fingerboard, it sounds good then. Thanks for stopping by, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Ninh Ly True it is much harder to play, however that is also the case with the cello, or even comparing an upright bass to a standard electric bass, the action is MUCH higher. Thanks for the great tutorial!

***** Anytime! I'm glad you enjoyed this video. I've been meaning to make more guitar vids, but just haven't had the time. Keep an eye out for them!

@@NinhLyUK do you have a video of the metal plate thing?

+G L Wilson Apparently so. eBow is a pretty awesome tool! Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

The heat is not gonna make bigger the fret, isn t it?

​@@albertsciarronsky2251 Fret shouldn't expand too much to deal damage to the fretboard.

@@WhiskeyTape thanks for the answer, how would you heat them?

@@albertsciarronsky2251 Most people (me included) use soldering iron for that. When it heats up just move it along a fret for a while, then you can easily pull out the fret with fine nippers. You should watch the temperature though,I suppose overheating it might burn the fretboard a little bit, my iron has temp regulator so I keep it around 100 degrees celsius and that's seems to be enough.

@@WhiskeyTape great, thanks!

Thanks for the tip! Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Hmm what about using lower gauge strings? I guess that could help.

If you mean heavier, thicker guage strings.... Absolutely! That, tuning it down a tone to D, and if you want real sustain put in a Fernandes Sustainer. An E-Bow also works although a little harder to use.

+foxtrot889 Yes indeed. My first fretless bass was just a solid wood neck - no coatings. If you use flatwounds, it's fine and doesn't wear that much. Roundwounds however ... Thanks man, I appreciate the comments. Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Bad Mouth Men I'm fully aware of that, and even mention 'Vigier' in my video. There's just two differences: 1) Vigier make their fingerboards out of an alloy which is denser than the polyurethane I'm using and 2) I suck compared to Guthrie Govan! Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Bad Motivator the metal fretboard on it. Doesnt dampen vibrations like polyurethane considering it is after all rubber cured and hardened. Flattened skateboard wheels as a finger board. Hahahah

Cool - if you want the best results, glue a metal fingerboard to the neck .Works great!

Yes

Yeah, putting flatwounds on will prolong the life of your fretboard. And I found it was more useable. I also did one where I glued a thin steel plate on and it worked amazingly well! Thanks for the comment!

Hey bro. I generally use two stage epoxy resin, the same kind that you find in boat or marine shops. It's pretty easy to work with and the results are good so long as you do it right.

@@NinhLyUK i ended up getting some at hobby lobby. Should I wait full cure time before I sand?

You're welcome Umit!

Also, I'm confused about where did you use the poly... spray? Because it seems like you used it for the bass' fretboard at first (2:21) yet at the latter you told otherwise (5:17)? Thank you sir.:)

Thanks for the comments John, my first fretless was bare wood just like yours. Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

+J. Collins The only way I can think of is if you put in very thin sheets of maple where the fret gaps are and painstakingly cut and sand away the excess. Then polyurethane/epoxy it as per this tutorial. Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Yeah, I use flatwounds on bare wood on my other fretless bass. I've never tried an eBow, probably should. Thanks for stopping by.

I paid around $100CDN for my E Bow and it's given me a whole new pallet of sounds for all my guitars; but it's particularly fun to use with my fretless. Also, there's a great site on fretless guitar by Cenk Ergodan (check out his playing on youtube as well). Here's a link to the site: fretlessguitarlessons.com/en/ Happy picking!

Awesome, thanks!

You're welcome!

Wombat Sceptre Yes it does! I actually tried bonding on a very thin sheet steel after I made this video and it works. It's no Vigier Surfretter, but it does the trick! Thanks for stopping by, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Do you know how I'd go about doing that? I'm tempted to do this on a cheap Squier Strat.

John McLellan Find the thinnest sheet metal you can find (one that you can readily bend, i.e. a 0.2mm aluminium) and either epoxy or bond the metal fingerboard to the fretboard (clamped all the wat and curved around). Then I took a jigsaw, hacked off the rest of the sheet metal and filed the edges down so that it was smooth. Works really well. Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Epoxy is definitely better, but harder to work with. Poly is okay, but I found it wore out faster than epoxy.

Ah thanks, I appreciate the compliments.

Cool, I'm glad that your guitar turned out great. The flatwound strings are a must, otherwise they'll shred the fretboard. I also experimented with gluing a steel fretboard and it works amazingly well! Thanks for the comment.

Hi Diego. Thanks for the comment on my video. Solving the sustain issue is tricky, but it can be improved by raising the action (which makes it difficult to play) and using all steel fixings - steel bridge, saddles, tuners etc. Another way that works (and I tried it) was to glue a very thin piece of sheet steel to the fretboard (i.e. less than 0.3mm thick). This made a massive difference to sustain, but if the glue ever comes away - it ruins your guitar. I actually ruined a perfectly good guitar when I applied sheet steel onto a fretboard only for it to come away after a week ... and take most of the wood with it! Thanks again, be sure to share and subscribe :)

You can use an EBow for more sustain. I looked up this video specifically because I want to use an EBow with a fretless guitar.

Jeff Donovan Wow, I've just looked that up as I've never heard of it. That's pretty cool! I think I might give that one a go. Cheers Jeff!

Ninh Ly Thanks. I just subscribed to your channel. Hopefully we'll see some EBow playing on your fretless guitar.

Adam Howell Cool, I'm glad someone else has tried fretless-ing a guitar. No, you don't have to cover the whole thing, I have a Yamaha Bass that's uncoated, I think that it just adds a little bit more protection that just having it bare wood. Thanks for your input - be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

+Ricky Roma It's harder to play than it looks. Worth a go though. Thanks man, I appreciate the comments. Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

i will thanks

Yes, you can just fill in the wood and have it bare wood. Be sure to use flatwound strings, as normal roundwounds will eat into your wood like no tomorrow. Thanks for the comments, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

+Kpafu Kpa Thanks man, I appreciate the comments. Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

I think using finer grades of sandpaper might do the trick if you're not getting mirror finish. If you work down the grits, 600, 1000, 2000, 5000 etc - you'll find polishing it much easier.

@@NinhLyUK Thanks!

Yes, I did suggest using flatwounds in the video.

Thanks. I have no idea how that comment got to this video. I commented on one of his other videos. Haha oh well. Thanks for the info

No worries, glad you like this video.

It's still not fantastic even without coating ... and unless you're using flatwounds, your neck will be ruined in no time.

Thanks Kaya

Sweet, I hope it goes well!

It seems to work better than poly, for sure. But what would really help with sustain is if you glued a thin sheet metal to the fretboard. That really works.

Joe Teeple Thanks Jon. To answer your questions: 1) The more reputable brand, the better (like 3M) but if not, so long as you mix it in the right quantity, it should come out okay. 2) the only other advice that I didn't put in the video is use a spirit level to make sure the fingerboard is completely horizontal BEFORE you apply epoxy. So long as you have radius blocks, you should be able to sand it to the correct radius and it will play the same. If not, you'll have a flat fingerboard, which is okay for some, but not okay for others. Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Ninh Ly Awesome, thank you so much. You've been very helpful

Joe Teeple Any time! :)

+Trung Ha Quang Started without inlays. Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Yes, I think if you use a sustain pedal that should solve some of it.

Awesome, glad you tried this!

Ninh Ly got it done professionally though but I love having an active bass that is fretless also I went the same way as you did having the fret lines faint

I don't see why you couldn't. At least with a fender type, bolt on neck. It would probably be easier just to buy a garbage guitar and supe it up for whatever use you want (fretless, etc). 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thanks bro, much appreciated.

Yeah, that's right. Thanks.

Dude you can this stuff at any hardware/ home improvement store Wal-Mart too, even

you can. I think he's saying you don't HAVE to use it.

+SteelSkin667 No, epoxy is not harder than steel! Trust me, I tried both - steel all the way!

I didn't. I probably should have done.

@@NinhLyUK dam, that would of been killer Thanks for the tips though

It's a Yamaha BB404. A cheap one, but it sounds great! Thanks, I appreciate the comments! Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

It's not necessary, no. Some people like or prefer bare wood (especially Jazz Bass players) but I want to protect the fingerboard from unrepeatable damage. As for Lacquer, that'd wear away quite quickly.

@@NinhLyUK Thank you!

+SuperGaleford Ha! close enough. From a Cantonese family, born and raised in England and ... ummm ... likes watching Aggie Football. It gets weirder, trust me! Thanks for the kudos, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Found pretty much the same thing. In standard tuning or even in open tunings chording will often rely on fingering the same fret position on different strings, and apart from double stops you'll never get them right. Found myself using DADGAD, which has two benefits: many voicings have notes two frets apart (much easier), and a LOT of DADGAD arrangements mix upper voicings with open strings, which helps with autocorrecting intonation. Now have three fretless guitars and a fretless bass. They rarely leave the house but they're absolute fun to mess around on.

@@butting23 cool!! DADGAD is a great fretless tuning especially if you want to chord.... i might go back to it because the high 6 string is often an issue. Or alternately i've played the high 6th unfretted (or capo'd) like the Indian Taal (chiming reference note). Have you tried a sustainiac on a fretless?. Its really magic.

To be honest, both methods yields the same cosmetic result if you do it properly. The epoxy will last longer, though the Poly spray is the cheapest way to do it.

@@NinhLyUK thank you very much!

Black Souled Pope Yes, I believe that a neck adustment, nut adjustment, or brdge adjustment will gain the sustain of a fretless electric guitar. I don't have the same problems on a fretless bass conversion, but definitely something needs to be on a fretless electric. The other way of doing it is to glue thin sheet steel to the fingerboard and have an all-metal fingerboard. Sustain all the way! Thanks for stopping by, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

+Anthony Attwood Yes, to get the action a little lower, you'll need to take off a little on the nut. But be careful when you do! Don't shave it down too far, because it then becomes unplayable. Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Ninh Ly already done my friend :) Thank you!

+Anthony Attwood The best way to do this is to take a fret saw and shape each slot one at a time. Another option, mostly for bass players, is to use scrap string clippings to wear the slots down. Be careful, since you can crack your nut if it gets too thin. Also, you can still get buzzing on lower notes or open strings if you take too much off.

the answer is yes

+Tuonelan Joutsen Yes, process is the same with a classical guitar. Cheers for stopping by, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

+Ninh Ly Thanks a lot! I'm glad I've found your video because it's the best one. Cheers

Toronto sports fan, but I don't reside there. My family still does though. I ended up gluing a steel fingerboard to a neck and it worked great!

@@NinhLyUK Hmm steel...sounds like a good idea to me.

Right ... Flamenco. Not an electric guitar.

Whilst that in theory works, I found that I didn't need to, as the frets were not held in with glue on my guitar. Heat gun does the trick as well.

It does, and if you have a bare wood finish, it'll look great. Might be a bit sot for a fingerboard though. Thanks for the comments, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

+Mudkip TM I'd strongly advise against doing this on a really expensive guitar, mainly because it's really easy to get wrong! If you have an expensive axe that you want converting - take it to a guitar shop that does that sort of thing. You'll thank me in the long run! But a cheap guitar? Go nuts! Thanks for stopping by, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Ninh Ly Ok thanks :)

+Alan David No I don't see why not?! Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

24 hours in warm conditions. 48 hours if it's cold.

@@NinhLyUK I've left mine a good couple weeks but i can still scratch it with my nail. Is that normal? I was kind of hoping it would dry rock hard!?

Worked my way up the grits, started with 400, 800, 1500 etc.

Sigurd Fylling Kaarstad Only so much before the epoxy cracks. I suggest you do all your adjustments first, then layer the epoxy. Any adjustments thereafter should be minimal. Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Thanks man, I'm researching different alternatives to epoxy, like hardened glass or metal, there are plenty of people her in Norway that could make a fingerboard like that, but wodd alone could work wth a sustainiac! CHEERS!!

Sigurd Fylling Kaarstad I actually made a guitar with a steel fingerboard and it works! the sustain is great. You'll need a thin sheet of 0.3mm sheet steel and bond it to your fingerboard. You have to wrap it around your radius, but once you do it, it's pretty cool! Thanks again for stopping by!

That's cool! I'm gonna try your method first and then work my way up :)

+Ninh Ly You should do a video about it ! That's really interesting to know it can be done at home.

Vince Brown if you don't give it a very hard surface you would have a permantly muted sound, unless u use you nails on your left hand

wch bang Omg, I had no idea, thank you so much!!

Absolutely! It's worth trying on a cheap guitar. But it's pretty cool if you get it right. Thanks.

You can remove ivory dots by using a heat gun to melt the glue and then something like a pick or a nail to gouge it out. Alternatively, you could use a dremel style tool and drill in the middle and then hook it out using a dart.

I really appreciate it thank you very much

Anytime bro!

No, it should bow enough without cracking.

Thanks!

I saw another video that says to use lemon oil.

Hi ***** Not a lot really. I already had most of the stuff like tools and sandpaper. The only thing that really cost the money was the Epoxy - I think it was £25+ but I got enough to do several guitars. A can of polyurethane cost me £5. If you don't want to wreck your guitar and you don't have much in the way of tools - get a shop to do it. It'll save you the pain and hassle! Thanks for stopping by, be sure to share and subscribe :)

+Sergio Glande Any time Sergio! I'm glad you approve of this video. Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

yeeah hahahah i will show my friends how to transform an standard in to a fretless very cheaply ^^

Sergio Glande Awesome! Cheers :)

+SuperZemanel Not that much actually - if you level it out, you only need a thin layer of the stuff. Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Yes, the Vigier fretlesses for example come with 12s. Since you don't have to pull the strings sideways to do bends or vibrato on a fretless there's a lot less reason not to go back to the older, heavier sets with their fuller sound. OTOH you would likely have to widen the nut slots a bit, though you should really, properly be reworking or replacing the nut anyway since removing the frets will effectively raise your action automatically.

+Afurthyclays It did, but I found that epoxying a metal fingerboard works even better. I didn't make a video of this, but I guarantee it works! Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Ninh Ly Wow! How did you manage to come across a metal fingerboard? Does it have a contour/radius? Would love to see a video of THAT, if you have the time.

Hi Mad Dek. Yes, you can use a soldering iron. But my point in the video is that it's quicker to use nippers. I actually tried a fretless conversion with sheet aluminium and I do have a few tips. 1) Use the thinnest sheet aluminium you can find. Less than 0.3 mm should suffice. You want to be able to bend it into shape to follow the radius. 2) Bond it on with the toughest glue or epoxy you have, and make sure that you clamp it all the way along the radius. 3) The strings shouldn't eat away at it that much. Nowhere near as much as just using bare wood. I did try this and it worked great for a while. You don't have the sustain problems of the epoxy and/or polyurethane. However, I musn't have glued it on properly so when a little bit of it came away and I tried to reglue it, the whole thing came off, taking chunks out of the neck with it. So this is why I say bond the whole thing with the strongest glue you can find! Hope that helps? Be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Thanks a lot! :D

Anytime! :)

+infectionsman Yep, they make those! Just look online and you'll find many brands that do them. Cheers, be sure to share this video and subscribe :)

Pat Metheny's been using them for decades.Very nice once you get used to them.