a little advice before instrument purchase

So ive been saving up for about a year (no job so its hard to make money. lol) to purchase a new bass. the thing is though im looking for a specific type. a 6-string fretless through-body design. however, since they are not the norm they cost over $1K. usually starting around $1,300. now, i have found i very nice bass in my price range that costs $700, however its fretted and is a bolt on. so my question is should i just buy the $700 one that i really like and just go Jaco on its ass and pull out the frets myself and forget about the through-body part? or should i wait a bit longer until i save up about another $700-$1000 and buy one thats already fretless and through-body? (i actually do have that kinda money, but its more of an emergency fund and i really dont want to take any money outta it) maybe find some part-time job to get some more money?

also, id like to point out that i am not very confident in myself to pull out the frets.

Buy one that's already fretless. De-fretting will not result in a "nice" fretless action.

  On 6/16/2013 at 9:29 PM, futureimage said:

Buy one that's already fretless. De-fretting will not result in a "nice" fretless action.

Yeah ripping out the frets is one thing...filling in the holes so they're smooth is another.

What is the $700 bass in question btw?

  On 6/16/2013 at 9:34 PM, LimpyLoo said:

 

  On 6/16/2013 at 9:29 PM, futureimage said:

Buy one that's already fretless. De-fretting will not result in a "nice" fretless action.

 

Yeah ripping out the frets is one thing...filling in the holes so they're smooth is another.

 

 

What is the $700 bass in question btw?

 

see, thats what i was thinking

this is the $700 one. its an Ibanez:

ive built one in Carvin that i really like and it has everything i want (the pic is fretted, but it comes fretless). this one, with the specs i want (fretless, through-body), is about $1700

the actual process is not rocket science, lever off the frets, glue in some veneer, and do a nice job sanding it off. you'll need to file down the nut, and you need to evaluate whether you need a different bridge, as you'll want much lower action than with the fretted bass.

if this operation goes wrong though, you'll end up frustrated and will have lost 700 units of money. I'm sure there's nice fretless basses to be had for 700 cash bits.

another thing to keep in mind. you'll never be able to sell your homebrew fretless thingie if you don't like it anymore. but in my experience, nobody buys discontinued modern ibanez basses anyway for a reason.

my first bass was one of these, it looked and felt very cool:

i sold it off because the neck was twisted.. and from the money got myself a cheap yamaha, which i successfully defretted, added a heavy bridge and a big handmade Super Mario pixel mushroom sticker... and this one's still good and plays very nicely.

edit.. posting this to say that i think thru-body designs look nice but are completely overrated.

  On 6/16/2013 at 9:56 PM, phling said:

the actual process is not rocket science, lever off the frets, glue in some veneer, and do a nice job sanding it off. you'll need to file down the nut, and you need to evaluate whether you need a different bridge, as you'll want much lower action than with the fretted bass.

 

if this operation goes wrong though, you'll end up frustrated and will have lost 700 units of money. I'm sure there's nice fretless basses to be had for 700 cash bits.

  On 6/16/2013 at 9:59 PM, phling said:

another thing to keep in mind. you'll never be able to sell your homebrew fretless thingie if you don't like it anymore. but in my experience, nobody buys discontinued modern ibanez basses anyway for a reason.

thats what im afraid of. if i end up making a mistake ill never be able to ditch the thing. ill have paid $700 for a piece of worthless crap.

  On 6/16/2013 at 10:10 PM, phling said:

my first bass was one of these, it looked and felt very cool:

 

 

 

i sold it off because the neck was twisted.. and from the money got myself a cheap yamaha, which i successfully defretted, added a heavy bridge and a big handmade Super Mario pixel mushroom sticker... and this one's still good and plays very nicely.

 

edit.. posting this to say that i think thru-body designs look nice but are completely overrated.

that is nice. and the through body actually does a lot. not only do you have less joints where the bass exerts tension but it also allows the strings to resonate clearer and longer. oh, and you can design the body so that it is easier to access the higher frets.

my dream is to own a handmade Carl Thompson bass.

something like this

however these things cost around $5000 and up.

Basses are sexy.

I try not to entertain gearlust these days but sometimes it just hits you, ya know.