Almost Fretless

[James Brown (jrbrown)]

I wrote to you about having my Alembic d-fretted in a seperate email/post. But here's my newest wild idea. Is it possible to install fretwire so small that I get the best of both worlds? Intonation accuracy from the frets and the sound from the wood? I want a lined fretless anyway--just make the lines out of fretwire that's maybe 1/4 the height of normal frets? Have you ever experimented with this concept?

[mica]

Sure! We've installed mandolin frets and they work great. Of course, they wear out awfully fast. I heard about this idea in an articale about Lee Sklar. He said that practically everything you heard him play on recording and thought was fretless was actually a bass with mandolin frets.  
 
Maybe David could chime in with his experience with mandolin frets - he got some wire from us to fit in another bass.