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Any Weir Anarchist Fretless owners?

Le Daniele

Le Daniele

Jul 31, 2013
39
83
California, US
#1
Hi all, I’ve been thinking about getting one of these, does anybody have any experience with the Weir Fretless Anarchist in regards of:

* Sound.
* Build/Hardware Quality.
* Electronics.
* Wood suggestions.
* String choice.
* Setup difficulty (I usually like to do setups by myself).
* Would this be a good choice for a fretless newcomer?

I’m mainly interested on this little bass because of the looks, the travel size and the minimalism around features I don’t really need, but there’s not a lot of info or demos around.

Any other fretless/short scale reccomendations around the same budget? (1500-2000 usd).
 
Last edited:
#3
Le Daniele said:
Hi all, I’ve been thinking about getting one of these, does anybody have any experience with the Weir Fretless Anarchist in regards of:

* Sound.
* Build/Hardware Quality.
* Electronics.
* Wood suggestions.
* String choice.
* Setup difficulty (I usually like to do setups by myself).
* Would this be a good choice for a fretless newcomer?

I’m mainly interested on this little bass because of the looks, the travel size and the minimalism around features I don’t really need, but there’s not a lot of info or demos around.

Any other fretless/short scale reccomendations around the same budget? (1500-2000 usd).
Click to expand...
Never played a Weir, but I think I'd want an adjustable bridge on any bass I bought.
 
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#4
Carl Hillman said:
Never played a Weir, but I think I'd want an adjustable bridge on any bass I bought.
Click to expand...
On my Poorboy guitar the bridge is sort of floating. The wood and the metal pieces are angled ramps which are anchored by string tension. It sounds weird but it works well. My Poorboy guitar is one of my best intonated guitars. The system does mean you should change strings one at a time.
 
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#6
Le Daniele said:
...that means you can’t adjust action, right? (And intonation, but that won’t matter because it’s a fretless?)
Click to expand...

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only adjustments to string height you could do would be a little with the truss rod and maybe fiddling with shims in the neck pocket.

I guess, if you never put different gauge strings on it, and promptly change the ones that are on there when they start to lose it, you wouldn't need to do a whole lot of adjusting.

In theory you don't need perfectly intonated strings to play a fretless, but if you use a lined fingerboard and they drift, it might set off your OCD. (not to mention you'd want the notes in the same vertical place string-to-string.)
 
#7
Carl Hillman said:
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only adjustments to string height you could do would be a little with the truss rod and maybe fiddling with shims in the neck pocket.

I guess, if you never put different gauge strings on it, and promptly change the ones that are on there when they start to lose it, you wouldn't need to do a whole lot of adjusting.

In theory you don't need perfectly intonated strings to play a fretless, but if you use a lined fingerboard and they drift, it might set off your OCD. (not to mention you'd want the notes in the same vertical place string-to-string.)
Click to expand...
Lucky for me I've owned a few Wishbasses.
That saddle is sandable. Anyone with access to a belt sander could make new saddles. Pain in the ass? Yes. But a tad more adjustment than listed previously.
Also, nuts can be filed etc. Not much of a difference there either but it's amazing what a new/adjusted nut can do for performance.
 
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#8
AE95E41B-D4C4-4F0E-872C-9C13657E8F32.jpeg

I love the look and concept of these things. I’d get plenty of use out of a fretless one I reckon.
 
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#13
Does anyone know what the actual scale length and string spacing is?
Has anyone tried tapewound strings with one of these?
How well does the headless tuners system work?
Does anyone have a photo of the back of the neck at the nut, where the strings actually end?
I am very curious. I think these are really cool looking and I like a lot of the ideas that are explored on this bass, in particular the pickup and the bridge and lack of knobs and switches!
 
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#14
I dug up this thread and I have the same questions that were not answered yet. Maybe couple years later there are more owners around here.
What is the string spacing and nut width? Can't find this information anywhere online.

Best regards
Markus
 

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