FS: Must See Fretless: Unique, Exotic, Stunning: Schuyler Sound Works #3

dystopiate · #1 03-06-2011, 02:22 PM

Exquisite. I have two fretlesses that barely get any time. I'm putting them both up but if the other sells first, I'm keeping this.

The details:

LaBella Black Nylon Tapewounds
34 inch scale 4 string Fretless Bass
Cocobolo FB
Wenge/Purple-Heart/Wenge 3-piece Neck
Paduak/Wenge/Paduak/Walnut/Paduak/Wenge/Paduak 7-piece Body
Gotoh Tuners/Black 2+2 keys, (Headstock shape TBD)
Schaller straplocks/Black
Gotoh bridge/Black
Side Dots and corner lines (unlined on the surface of FB)
Aguilar OBP-1,
Vol/Blend/Treble/Bass Knob layout
Ebony Knobs
Bone nut
Pinwheel Truss Rod
DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups

$799 OBO

MORE PICS BELOW!

dystopiate · #2 03-06-2011, 02:24 PM

etoncrow · #3 03-08-2011, 11:22 AM

I love a fretless and that one is a beauty. Is neck dive an issue?

dystopiate · #4 03-08-2011, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by etoncrow

I love a fretless and that one is a beauty. Is neck dive an issue?

No neckdive issues at all. It is really well crafted. I wish I had a reason to hold onto it!

Dee-man · #5 03-10-2011, 11:00 AM

I gotta stop cruising TB cuz I see stuff like this and can't control myself. That is a beauty. What can you tell us about the maker? What is width at nut and spacing at bridge? Weight? How would you describe/compare tone? Any sound clips? Can you post a pic of neck from side-view (showing dots and neck profile)? Thx, DM

dystopiate · #6 03-10-2011, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dee-man

I gotta stop cruising TB cuz I see stuff like this and can't control myself. That is a beauty. What can you tell us about the maker? What is width at nut and spacing at bridge? Weight? How would you describe/compare tone? Any sound clips? Can you post a pic of neck from side-view (showing dots and neck profile)? Thx, DM

That's how I wound up buying this bass! The maker is actually a TBer (Schuyler). He's a woodworker and originally made this bass for J-Raj.

The nut width feels a bit like an old P, so probably around 1.75". The spacing at the bridge is definitely the typical 19mm. It's 10 lbs.

I don't have any sound clips, but with the tapewounds, it has a nice mock-upright tone, but can also go from super thick and bottom heavy to nasally. You get a nice variety of sounds from lots of mwah to a much tighter, controlled fundamental by moving the fingers from the neck towards the bridge. It's a tone monster.

Here are some pics.... I have the strings very close to the board, so I had some trouble getting a shot with daylight between them, but the truss rod and saddles work perfectly, so it can be setup to your preferences.

Let me know if you want more/different pictures. I'm not great with the camera, but can keep snapping until I get what you need!

Dee-man · #7 03-10-2011, 05:15 PM

Thx very much for the info. The neck may be too wide for my small hands and the bass too heavy for my aging body, but it's a beauty. Let me mull it over some more, and good luck either way. DM

dystopiate · #8 03-11-2011, 12:03 PM

I have small hands as well and even sold an AMAZING 30th Anniversary Stingray b/c I couldn't get used to the width. Strangely, it feels good to me to have a wider width on a fretless.

As for the weight, that's what playing sitting is for!

**j-raj** · #9 03-15-2011, 10:20 AM

I can tell you tons about it... I designed it and my buddy Schuyler built it for me back in 2004.

You got all of the detail correct:

Quote:

LaBella Black Nylon Tapewounds
34 inch scale 4 string Fretless Bass
Cocobolo FB
Wenge/Purple-Heart/Wenge 3-piece Neck
Paduak/Wenge/Paduak/Walnut/Paduak/Wenge/Paduak 7-piece Body
Gotoh Tuners/Black 2+2 keys
Schaller straplocks/Black
Gotoh bridge/Black
Side Dots and corner lines (unlined on the surface of FB)
Aguilar OBP-1,
Vol/Blend/Treble/Bass Knob layout
Ebony Knobs
Bone nut
Pinwheel Truss Rod
DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickup

I had the side dots done (by Jake Sharp, a killer hollow body gtr builder) a year or so after the bass was completed.

Ben Bernales was experiencing some health related issues and he had helped me (along with a bunch of tb'ers) to replace a bass that was stolen, when I was just playing for a living and going through a divorce... I donated the bass to him, to sell to help him with health bills.

The bass weighs a good amount, but it is solid and sounds great.

If any only has any questions about it, feel free to PM me, I'd like to help any way I can.

dystopiate · #10 03-15-2011, 10:46 AM

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize it had such a story! I purchased it from Ben when his medical expenses were piling up. I'm starting to feel like I should do something better with this bass than sell it.

lakedmb · #11 03-15-2011, 10:50 AM

Love the style, especially the headstock.

**j-raj** · #12 03-15-2011, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dystopiate

Thanks for the info. I didn't realize it had such a story! I purchased it from Ben when his medical expenses were piling up. I'm starting to feel like I should do something better with this bass than sell it.

It's a special bass, it really was something that Sky and I were thinking about for a little while. Initially the headstock was going to be reversed from what it looks like now, but then we toyed with flipping it over and it just worked. The top horn was going to be larger and rounded, but one day while I was drawing and revising the shape of it in front of Sky, I had my hand resting on the oversized drawing paper and Sky said "wait, keep your hand right there". He traced the inside of where my hand was resting on the top horn and that is how we came up with the top edge of the top horn.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakedmb

Love the style, especially the headstock.

Thanks, see my comments above.