Originally Posted by: PonyOneyou can take any regular electric bass and get it "de-fretted," meaning that they'll remove the frets and fill the spaces with a thin piece of metal that doesn't stick up at all and is flush against the fretboard. it's pretty cheap as i understand. there are also lots of basses available fretless from the factory.

Even though it's done all the time, "de-fretting" a regular bass is not a good idea. A true fretless bass uses ebony or some other very hard, dense wood on the fingerboard. Softer woods that are usually used on a fingerboard will kill the sound and will not have the sustain. Also, softer woods will wear a lot faster. Gotta remember that the strings are in direct contact with the fingerboard, and the strings will make indentions on a regular fretboard because of the softer wood.