I de-fretted an old Ovation Breadwinner solidbody electric guitar back in the mid 1980's. Filled thr fret slots with thick walnut veneer. It worked great with the ebony fingerboard. Still play it today. I use flatwound strings so as not to scrape, scratch up or wear down the fingerboard. If the idea of fretless guitar intrigues anyone I would urge them to give it a try. Keep in mind you have to play right on the lines where the frets used to be... to play in Western music tonalities. Chords can be more difficult, so I stick to diads and triads. Shell voicings work well with a little practice. Good video for inspiring people to explore different avenues without having to learn a whole new instrument. Cheers!
@@RotemSivanGuitar Hi Rotem, I neglected to mention a couple of things about fretless guitars back when you first posted this video. You may find it interesting to hear some fine fretless players such as Cenk Erdogan, there's also some videos of the New York city fretless guitar festival from over the years, and you may be interested in some higher end fretless electric guitar models from company's such as Vigier. Better late than never I figured. Thanks again for all the great UA-cam videos you post. They're always interesting and informative. Cheers.
I love how raw and awesome this video is. You’re already so incredibly talented (look at his serious stuff, people. This guy is a step beyond). and you were willing to take a risk and just DIY and play around for the hell of it. I’m a fellow pro guitarist/composer and LOVE your attitude. You got a new sub, bud.
very cool! I de-fretted my old inexpensive classical guitar using a wood putty; but I think just about any powdery glue will work. NOW, all I have to do is actually learn how to play it.Hmm, I may de-fret my electric guitar! Thanks
@@RotemSivanGuitar Yes, thank you! I', fairly new to guitar and I'm trying to practice scales and learning the neck this way, your videos have helped a lot! One thing I'm struggling with is understanding and playing polyrhythms in a consistent way.
Hello there, awesome video on the process of making a fretless and AMAZING playing dude! I got a question though: I'm trying to convert my old Aria to be a fretless, how did you approach the nut? Did you have to sand it off?
I only started watching your videos recently, but it's good that I did because I've always been fascinated by fretless guitars. Greetings from... Israel lol. Great video!
@@RotemSivanGuitar I used an iron to heat them up, so didn't take very long:) I wanted to be able to have vibrato not just above but also below the pitch. Kinda missed the sustain of the frets though!
Great video! I have a request: can you show us some tips on how can correctly absorbe language? I mean, after have transcribed and learn To play a solo, how we treat all the phrases and licks?
i have seen and tried this a couple of time, myself... by far the best i have ever seen someone play a fretless guitar... i think you're onto something here, man. lofi is pretty popular at the moment... as you said; make some tracks. cheers man
Broke it in half. Tried to do a guitar spin, it went flying away and basically exploded on impact. Thank God it didn't hit anyone, stupid teenage years.
I've defreted an acoustic bass making it fretless. With my archtop I changed all the electronics (caps, pickups, etc,) tuners, tailpiece, redrilled the holes for the tailpiece because it was slightly off center, moved the strap button, and sanded the body with micro mesh to bring down the shine level. I run thomastic nylon rope core strings on this currently which sound really cool. I have a solid body with HH pickup config that I wired a 5 way switch into and two concentric pots so I could split the bridge into a single coil and control the tone and volume of each pickup independently. Recently I 3d printed a bridge and nut for this old Eko flat top acoustic with a floating bridge that I have black nylon strings on. Sounds really unique and beautiful. It's my 80$ beater guitar. My main amp is a polytone baby taurus in a custom cab with a 12 inch eminence wheelhouse. Polytones sound so beautiful! Makes me feel like I'm Jim Hall. Love working on guitars.
Martin acoustic. Changed the saddle and nut to bone. Had to do much more shaping of them than I expected. I then shaved them down to reduced the string height and have really easy action. Then... I added Fishman electronics. Pretty intense the first time I used a drill on my nice guitar. I had to drill a tiny hole in the bridge and make the end hole bigger for the plug-in. Really happy with the results.
I decided that my ultra cheap Squire five string deluxe bass needed an “ashtray” felt mute, (to get that Carol Kaye Motown sound) so I made one out of a piece of copper I found, and I then decided it needed cool position markers so I drilled holes and put in some antique white shell buttons. I’ve tended to be inspired to hack my instruments usually around 1am.
Great vid! Subbed channel.here’s my question. I tried to buy aftermarket Necks. 1 is oak wood and the other is maple. The maple has a shiny polish on it. I notice the oak slides better and the maple is more sticky and slower. It grips fingers. Does the polyurethane epoxy resins stick at all or is the original oak faster on slide? Might add that on my Fretless guitars. Check my patented fretboard invention! Let’s collabo. I added groove slots 🎰🎸to bend all strings over fretcorner to add extra x notes to pulloffs as FretCorner plucks note. Infinite vibrato sustain as well. I invented a jig to cut str8 lines with a Dremel.
You should get in touch with Boaz Elkayam in the Golan. He’s a world class luthier and does some wild things with guitars. Genius. Also, he’s a great dude and he has some super strong coffee 😉. Chanukah Sameach.
@@RotemSivanGuitar Doing great! Almost done with the curriculum. Love the sound of this guitar! Would be great to hear you play it more. Also, have you thought about live streaming? I think you can reach more audience if you do it, maybe on twitch, just a thought.
@@RotemSivanGuitar Nice! It will be specially hopeful for people (like me that want to get into this world) to know your development as a F R E T L E S S guitarist.
Don't bend it haha just slide from now on... i mean thats what i do, im scared of ruining the neck finish XD do you noticed the lack of sustain on thinner strings? i think this is why nylon guitars are best for fretless... the strings are thicker... but then i never played one ! i like how you mixed paprika haha thats the way it should be done imo ! haha
@@maxlove8894 You'd think, but i don't see no f-holes :). This is a pretty thick guitar, in terms of chamber -- as opposed to more standard hollow-budy guitars with f-holes, but we're discussing a grey zone here. Anyway, here's his guitar: reverb.com/uk/p/gibson-howard-roberts-custom-1973-1981
Love that Middle Eastern vibe of that first little melody you played after strings were put on
I de-fretted an old Ovation Breadwinner solidbody electric guitar back in the mid 1980's. Filled thr fret slots with thick walnut veneer. It worked great with the ebony fingerboard. Still play it today. I use flatwound strings so as not to scrape, scratch up or wear down the fingerboard. If the idea of fretless guitar intrigues anyone I would urge them to give it a try. Keep in mind you have to play right on the lines where the frets used to be... to play in Western music tonalities. Chords can be more difficult, so I stick to diads and triads. Shell voicings work well with a little practice. Good video for inspiring people to explore different avenues without having to learn a whole new instrument. Cheers!
Oh wow!! 🤘
Also, thanks!
@@RotemSivanGuitar
Hi Rotem, I neglected to mention a couple of things about fretless guitars back when you first posted this video. You may find it interesting to hear some fine fretless players such as Cenk Erdogan, there's also some videos of the New York city fretless guitar festival from over the years, and you may be interested in some higher end fretless electric guitar models from company's such as Vigier. Better late than never I figured. Thanks again for all the great UA-cam videos you post. They're always interesting and informative. Cheers.
It sounds like the guitar in "last train home" by pat metheny group
Sooo true! 🤘
Or the solo from Imaginary Day - PMG.
Thank you for the video as my son and I are going to work on a fretless conversion. Thanks again.
I love how raw and awesome this video is. You’re already so incredibly talented (look at his serious stuff, people. This guy is a step beyond). and you were willing to take a risk and just DIY and play around for the hell of it. I’m a fellow pro guitarist/composer and LOVE your attitude. You got a new sub, bud.
Please take this back with you to New York and record an album with it! Rotem Sivan fretless is what I've been searching for all this time.
I think I'm gonna re refret another guitar in nyc... I just can't fly w more (kinda) & I enjoyed it so much lol
very cool! I de-fretted my old inexpensive classical guitar using a wood putty; but I think just about any powdery glue will work. NOW, all I have to do is actually learn how to play it.Hmm, I may de-fret my electric guitar! Thanks
So no more fret buzz lol..yeah liked the sound..seems like it’s possible to control the right pitch
lolz. yea, i just need to really practice it.. that was my first go
Sounded middle eastern. I dig it
honestly my favorite channel on youtube right now
Oh man! ❤️
Let me know if you have any topics you'd like me to do
@@RotemSivanGuitar Yes, thank you! I', fairly new to guitar and I'm trying to practice scales and learning the neck this way, your videos have helped a lot!
One thing I'm struggling with is understanding and playing polyrhythms in a consistent way.
Spicy.
lolz ;)
awesome!! This is the best video of fretless playing I've been able to find so far. everyone else seems to just be playing it like a normal guitar.
Check this one out! ua-cam.com/video/U5l0fT8YcJY/v-deo.html
It sounds beautiful...I'm thinking of messing with my guitar like this
Have you considered moving that bridge back a couple inches to end up with a baritone? You'd need to "repaint" the frets and side dots though
Well done, Rotem. Please play this instrument more!
Hello there, awesome video on the process of making a fretless and AMAZING playing dude! I got a question though: I'm trying to convert my old Aria to be a fretless, how did you approach the nut? Did you have to sand it off?
A little tip
varnish the fretboard with super glue with around 20 to 30 layers and you get longer sustain!
20 to 30 layers!??? also isnt superglue more thick, at least the one I use is, so im not sure what exact one to get
I only started watching your videos recently, but it's good that I did because I've always been fascinated by fretless guitars. Greetings from... Israel lol. Great video!
🙏 I'm in haifa foe a few days lol - where are you based at?
@@RotemSivanGuitar A kibbutz around kiryat malachi
I love this guitar... So slim and beautiful... Wonderful sounding too..
Wish I could get something like this.
Nice work, Rotem!
Thanks mate!
מגניב בטירוף ויצירתי, תמשיך לעשות את מה שאתה עושה 🤘
❤️🙏🙏
I loved the sound! Incredible! 😍
Great video :) so unbelievable how you totally created a new instrument with a unique new sound
Thanks man! It has a vibe 💙
PAPRIKA and glue?! THAT'S thinking outside the recipe! BRILLIANT!!!
Lol :)
This is a great video Rotem!
Thanks Ray!! 🙏
Have done it myself - so interesting stuff! Thanks for sharing the video man :)
oh wow cool! so how long did you iron the frets for?
@@RotemSivanGuitar I used an iron to heat them up, so didn't take very long:) I wanted to be able to have vibrato not just above but also below the pitch. Kinda missed the sustain of the frets though!
Great video! I have a request: can you show us some tips on how can correctly absorbe language? I mean, after have transcribed and learn To play a solo, how we treat all the phrases and licks?
Great suggestion! lemme think how to break that down
@@RotemSivanGuitar thx
i have seen and tried this a couple of time, myself... by far the best i have ever seen someone play a fretless guitar... i think you're onto something here, man. lofi is pretty popular at the moment... as you said; make some tracks. cheers man
🙏 thanks man!
Nice idea! Can you please make a video about jazz improvisation?
I did a few but I can do more! 💙
This video makes me smile!
thanks mate !
Nice. Maybe finish it with superglue. Takes a lot of sanding and wetsanding but you can get it highgloss
lol, just might
I did that about a year ago... played with for about a half year and... got it fretted back again)))
Wild!!
Nice video, man... 😊
Guy, I've got a question. How often one should find a guitar on the streets? I'm curious coz I'm 30 y.o. and not found any yet
Come to israel
Cool! 👍
💙 thanks man
This is awesome
🤘💙
I love the paprika glue! Great playing too!
Lolz ❤️😊🤘
What's the most extreme thing you've done to A guitar? and what happened..?
A neck pickup and new knobs for tone + volume :)
Broke it in half. Tried to do a guitar spin, it went flying away and basically exploded on impact. Thank God it didn't hit anyone, stupid teenage years.
I've defreted an acoustic bass making it fretless.
With my archtop I changed all the electronics (caps, pickups, etc,) tuners, tailpiece, redrilled the holes for the tailpiece because it was slightly off center, moved the strap button, and sanded the body with micro mesh to bring down the shine level. I run thomastic nylon rope core strings on this currently which sound really cool.
I have a solid body with HH pickup config that I wired a 5 way switch into and two concentric pots so I could split the bridge into a single coil and control the tone and volume of each pickup independently.
Recently I 3d printed a bridge and nut for this old Eko flat top acoustic with a floating bridge that I have black nylon strings on. Sounds really unique and beautiful. It's my 80$ beater guitar.
My main amp is a polytone baby taurus in a custom cab with a 12 inch eminence wheelhouse. Polytones sound so beautiful! Makes me feel like I'm Jim Hall.
Love working on guitars.
Martin acoustic. Changed the saddle and nut to bone. Had to do much more shaping of them than I expected. I then shaved them down to reduced the string height and have really easy action.
Then... I added Fishman electronics. Pretty intense the first time I used a drill on my nice guitar. I had to drill a tiny hole in the bridge and make the end hole bigger for the plug-in. Really happy with the results.
I decided that my ultra cheap Squire five string deluxe bass needed an “ashtray” felt mute, (to get that Carol Kaye Motown sound) so I made one out of a piece of copper I found, and I then decided it needed cool position markers so I drilled holes and put in some antique white shell buttons. I’ve tended to be inspired to hack my instruments usually around 1am.
Paprika glue?!?!?! 😂
I like your way of thinking! 😁👍
Lol, it was so random! I was like ok, let's try!
Great vid! Subbed channel.here’s my question. I tried to buy aftermarket Necks. 1 is oak wood and the other is maple. The maple has a shiny polish on it. I notice the oak slides better and the maple is more sticky and slower. It grips fingers. Does the polyurethane epoxy resins stick at all or is the original oak faster on slide? Might add that on my Fretless guitars.
Check my patented fretboard invention! Let’s collabo. I added groove slots 🎰🎸to bend all strings over fretcorner to add extra x notes to pulloffs as FretCorner plucks note. Infinite vibrato sustain as well. I invented a jig to cut str8 lines with a Dremel.
Pat meetheny last train home cover with this guitar for next video pls
I gonna Wait for it :)
Oh wow!! Truth!! I didn't see it. Yas
בהחלט! מתבקש!!
Well done mate :)
❤️
Sounds like an Indian Veena or Sitar
You should get in touch with Boaz Elkayam in the Golan. He’s a world class luthier and does some wild things with guitars. Genius. Also, he’s a great dude and he has some super strong coffee 😉. Chanukah Sameach.
Oh man, ill look him up 👌
תותח
❤️
So cool!
Thanks brother! How are ya?
@@RotemSivanGuitar Doing great! Almost done with the curriculum. Love the sound of this guitar! Would be great to hear you play it more. Also, have you thought about live streaming? I think you can reach more audience if you do it, maybe on twitch, just a thought.
Sounds a bit like steel pan?
lolz - kinda ya
Were they 12-48 gauge?
Please, go uplouding videos to see your development and grow on the fretless guitar!
Will do!
@@RotemSivanGuitar Nice! It will be specially hopeful for people (like me that want to get into this world) to know your development as a F R E T L E S S guitarist.
"Spicy." was already taken so ill just say I'm so happy that I found this channel through Paul
😊thanks Daniel! Happy to have you here
Now you can play some Beatles songs that require it
Grrreat job !!!
What brand is the guitar?
Gibson Howard Roberts
@@RotemSivanGuitarAre you referring to your main workhorse ? 'Cause I'm talking about the guitar you defretted in this vid ...
Tha tone remember me to Pat Metheny
Don't bend it haha just slide from now on... i mean thats what i do, im scared of ruining the neck finish XD do you noticed the lack of sustain on thinner strings? i think this is why nylon guitars are best for fretless... the strings are thicker... but then i never played one ! i like how you mixed paprika haha thats the way it should be done imo ! haha
Lol :)
yes fretless guitar used since early seventys in turkish music.. take a look
Yep, its great.
Man i checked yu on Paul David channel i cudnt hesitate to subscribe man yure cool i wish to learn alot here😊
Thanks Billy! 🙏 good to have you
hot paprika guitar? don't touch your eyes after playing haha
Gotta get those hot licks in
tone secrets to Metheny revealed 😊
Lol, Kinda!
ממש מגניב
🤘
Awesome tuning fork: ua-cam.com/video/v5C0cCvd6eI/v-deo.html
Lol 🤘🎸🤘
You should fill the frets slots or your neck will bend
Oh. Truth
Pat Metheney Mahavishnu Orchestra :)
Kinda ya
That guitar is very populer in turkish music
Yea, some amazing stuff there
I've wondered for a while why your main red Gibson has so many unusual things attached to it. Especially the bit in between your pickups.
I just love exploring the sounds lol🤘
The bit between the pickups is to cover a sound hole to avoid feedback.
@@ClaudioMartella sound hole? I’d imagine those kind of guitar would have F holes, but not a sound hole like an acoustic guitar?
@@maxlove8894 You'd think, but i don't see no f-holes :). This is a pretty thick guitar, in terms of chamber -- as opposed to more standard hollow-budy guitars with f-holes, but we're discussing a grey zone here. Anyway, here's his guitar: reverb.com/uk/p/gibson-howard-roberts-custom-1973-1981
@@ClaudioMartella that is one of the most bizarre looking guitars I’ve seen aha. It’s sort of like fender acousticsonic series but better
Paprika? Eureka!
Yasss!
You forgot the pinch of salt
Pat Metheny wants to know your location
plz listen Telvin Trio and Erkan OĞUR he is master of fretless guitar
Ok, thanks!
0:29 Isreal ? is this real ?
Yep. Lol. Typo