Veillette Archtop Fretless 4-string Bass

What people who play them say about Veillette guitars pretty much says it all. This is a brilliantly designed and beautiful instrument and the work of a master craftsman who has surrounded himself with equally talented builders. This archtop is now my main bass for jazz gigs, and it not only turns heads for its beautiful looks, but draws constant praise for its tone. I have it strung with Chrome flats instead of the tapewounds you usually see it with, and I usually play with a foam mute under the strings by the bridge. This gives it a very solid fundamental and makes the decay a bit more rapid in the upper register, but still allows for a good deal of expression. I'm not big on "mwah" but you could get plenty of that with this bass using different strings and a different set up. I originally had Thomastik Flats on it, but the low tension didn't suit me; others would like it a lot. The bass demands a light touch.

Veillette's tone controls on the bass are very simple and effective, but I found myself wishing for more onboard control over the midrange.

There were some minor issues. The bass arrived with one loose connection; my tech handled this without any problems. Working with Veillette's shop was very positive; however, the gig bag was truly terrible. If you pay $4000 for an instrument, it should have a well-padded gig bag. I immediately replaced it with a better one.