Fretless conversion

[guitarburks]

I'm sure this may have been covered here but I'm new and not real familiar with the board yet.

I'm sure someone here has done a fretted to fretless conversion before and I'm wondering what you used to fill the fret slots and where you got it. I plan to use maple veneer but I haven't been able to find exactly what I'm looking for, also thought of using thin binding material but haven't found any thin enough.

Any help would be great!

 

[AutoBat]

I had a friend that did it with toothpicks in a blender plus wood glue, then sanding.  It's probably not the routine way to do it, but I think the bass cost him under 50 bucks, so he wasn't afraid to mess it up.

 

[greywolf]

I think maple binding is a good place to start, or you may try Inlace  > http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/3/-/10/47/-/5180/Turners-Select-Crushed-Stone-Powder

 

[klangster]

I use maple veneer you can buy at the hardware store. Depending on what the fingerboard is made of and how much contrast you want you could also use ebony veneer

 

[line6man]

It's traditional to use maple veneer. Glue in strips, trim them with an Exacto knife, and then sand them flush with the fingerboard.

 

[greywolf]

good tip !

 

[croquet hoop]

+1 for the wood veneer.

Also, do not forget tu adjust the slot depth on the nut.