Birdsong Embrace Fretless

jmceachern36 · #1 02-03-2013, 11:52 AM

Birdsong Embrace fretless w/ case. $750 plus shipping. 32 inch scale. Soapbar pickup. Weighs about 6.2 lbs. Spanish Cedar with Maple neck and Bloodwood board. Handmade in Texas. Cost me $1100 new. Plays like a dream. Nice low action. I'm only selling because I need some cash and I own 2 Embraces. I've played this bass on reggae gigs, blues, jazz and top 40. I think it sounds great for everything. There are dots and lines on the side of the fingerboard where the frets would be. I never played a fretless before this and I was able to adjust to it quickly with the marks on the side. Here's a youtube link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCf4H...=youtube_gdata It's strung with GHS flats. I play my other one at the end to give you an idea what it might sound like with tapes. Feel free to ask questions. Thanks.

jmceachern36 · #2 02-03-2013, 12:05 PM

jmceachern36 · #3 02-04-2013, 07:25 AM

I had a question about fret lines. Here they are. Dots and lines where the frets would be. Makes it really easy to adjust to if you haven't played fretless before.

jmceachern36 · #4 02-08-2013, 10:06 AM

Pre blizzard bump. $750. Professional all hand made bass.

EduardoK · #5 02-08-2013, 02:15 PM

Free bump for a very cool bass and a fine seller. Good luck with the sale, wish I could ....

MarkA · #6 02-08-2013, 05:28 PM

Never seen one before. Looks neat. Hard to tell from the photos, but is the fingerboard radiused or flat? I like that the dots are "on the notes" instead of in between.

jmceachern36 · #7 02-08-2013, 05:34 PM

The fingerboard is flat. It feels great that way. Makes me wonder why fretboards are radiused in the first place. I'm sure someone out there knows.

jmceachern36 · #8 02-09-2013, 06:15 PM

jbossolo · #9 02-09-2013, 08:08 PM

Quote:

The fingerboard is flat. It feels great that way. Makes me wonder why fretboards are radiused in the first place. I'm sure someone out there knows.

Quote:

From Wiki: For guitars, smaller radii (7.25–10") are said to be more comfortable for chord and rhythm playing, while larger radii (12"-16" and up to infinite radius) are more appealing to fast soloing. Conical and compound radius fingerboards try to merge both of these features.

I love my Embrace. Very ergonomic and sounds huge!
That flat board feels amazing. GLWS.

etoncrow · #10 02-10-2013, 09:05 AM

Joe, this would be a great addition to my Birdsong stable. Thinking about it; maybe when my tax return arrives if it is still available. Sold my fretted HY5 to order a fretless HY5 (#62 in walnut on the website production line is mine)

jmceachern36 · #11 02-10-2013, 06:23 PM

MarkA · #12 02-10-2013, 09:16 PM

Sounds, from the clip, like it does a nice quasi-upright feel. Can it do a growly, Jaco-ish or Gary Willis-ish thing, too?

Also, if one so wished, how hard would it be to swap the pickup? Unless I'm missing something, looks like it would be easy.

6.2 pounds, btw -- that's nice!

jmceachern36 · #13 02-11-2013, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkA

Sounds, from the clip, like it does a nice quasi-upright feel. Can it do a growly, Jaco-ish or Gary Willis-ish thing, too?

Also, if one so wished, how hard would it be to swap the pickup? Unless I'm missing something, looks like it would be easy.

6.2 pounds, btw -- that's nice!

Yes, it's just a matter of a little eq. I like the upright sound so I bump up the bass a bit .Those strings are pretty old too. They were on another bass before this one. I also stung it up with chromes and tapes. It was hard to decide what strings to leave on. That's why I have 2. The thing I find really nice is you can get really different sounds depending on how you play. Play toward the neck for the upright sound and then dig in over the pickup for a more punchy sound....Changing the pickup would be a piece of cake. It might be interesting to have a pickup that can be single coil and humbucker.