The Fish
Right, I want a fretless guitar with a unique design for the minimal price. Time to get started....
The guitar used is an Alba Stratocaster, an ebay steal at £40 inc p/p from Germany! For that price the pick ups aren't of the highest quality so they were replaced with fender ones. Copper foil was added to the body cavity to enhance the electrical shielding, this is cheap to buy and quite easy to do. Poor shielding will result in lots of hum so in the interests of sound quality this is a worthwhile step. The body was then sprayed and painted to give an eye catching appearance. I followed the excellent guide at unfretted.com and here's how it developed...
Step 1: Copper foil
An optional step but I had some copper foil left over from doing my Strat so the body cavity was lined with foil to improve the electrical shielding. Most guitars actually have very poor shielding.
Step 2 : Pickups
Another optional step but as the electrics in this guitar were very cheap I decided to upgrade them.
Step 3: Defretting
These came out fairly easily. A pair of pliers and screwdriver got them out, although care is needed to make sure the wood isn't gouged.
Step 4 : Resin
The gaps need to be filled in and epoxy resin is a good choice for this. It dries very hard so will stand up well to the action of the strings and playing. It is essential to use a hard glue or your fret board will eventually erode leaving dents and spoiling the plane of the neck. This will need at least two applications. The glue is a high viscosity liquid (i.e. thick) and takes time to settle into the gaps, although it wont completely fill the space first time round. Allow 24 hours for the first coat to dry. Some air bubbles will remain and the gaps will need to be topped up. A third coat may be required but its important not to rush and make sure it is all cover, otherwise you may be left with tiny gaps where the frets were. It looks a bit crap at the moment but lots to do still!
