Best bass for first fretless conversion?

[Portphilia]

Hey all. For my college audition in the fall I'm going to play a piece by Bach and I've been practicing it and deciding I can't get it to sound the way I want on a fretted bass, so I'm going to bring a fretless with me as well. I've had my eye on the Jaco Sig bass for years since I'm a Jaco fanatic, but the price tag is still a little intimidating for me to pull the trigger on that one yet, so I thought... why not try making my own fretless bass? So what do you guys think would be a good bass to try out a fretless conversion? I've never done it, but I have a good idea of what needs to be done and I have a book that goes through it as well. I want to get that "natural" bass look, so I'm considering the Fender models that don't have the CNC holes when you take the pickguard off (for example, the Geddy sig bass). Should I just go for a Squier in case I somehow ruin the bass?

 

[Geroi Asfalta]

Get a squier affinity jazz. I bought one just for the purpose of refining my defretting technique. there's no CNC hole or extra routing so you can go jaco for about $175.

 

[floatingaxe]

Get a squier affinity jazz. I bought one just for the purpose of refining my defretting technique. there's no CNC hole or extra routing so you can go jaco for about $175.

I agree, that's a good bass to start with. I have one, although it's still fretted, and it's surprisingly good for the price.
For defretting you need to plan for dropping the action a lot from where it is before the defret. Some basses might not allow you to go low enough. I'm not near my Affinity so I can't judge that right now.
Also you will want to coat the fretboard with something. Many people like epoxy or superglue, but their both hard to work with. I like true oil (i.e. gunstock oil) because it's easy to work with and still pretty hard.

Good luck and enjoy the project.

 

[macmanlou]

The Squier Affinity Jazz would be a great choice for your project, but the Squier VM Jazz fretless is only $125 more.

 

[SalmonCubes]

The Squier Affinity Jazz would be a great choice for your project, but the Squier VM Jazz fretless is only $125 more.

+1 for the Squier VM Fretless Jazz.

 

[Portphilia]

Ah, but then I don't get the satisfaction of my own fretless project. (; But honestly thanks for the opinions; I'll most likely end up getting the Squier affin, and use that as my project bass.

 

[Portphilia]

Also, the Deluxe Active Squier has a pretty nice looking finish! Invalid Link Removed

 

[maxiegrant]

If you want the Jaco sound, the Squier VM Freteless does a really nice imitation.

I've been playing nothing but my Squier for about six weeks now. It just has amazing tone.

Of course, if you just hafta do it yourself, I imagine one of the fretted Squiers will work just as well.

 

[BassChuck]

There are so many fretless basses on eBay that are really cheap. Why not get one and see how you like it. Probably you can sell it close to what you paid, and move on to whatever seems best for you. Fretless is a committment of time that some people are not ready to take on. A piece by Bach likely will put you to the test, and that's a good thing.

 

[mystic38]

+1

buy used, sell used... consider the lost ebay fees as basically renting the gear for a few months

There are so many fretless basses on eBay that are really cheap. Why not get one and see how you like it. Probably you can sell it close to what you paid, and move on to whatever seems best for you. Fretless is a committment of time that some people are not ready to take on. A piece by Bach likely will put you to the test, and that's a good thing.

 

[MD]

What maxg, BC and mystic said.
Too many factory fretlesses (fretlie?) out there. For an audition where you want the best tone possible, why risk a bad defret? If you end up with buzzing or dead spots, you're screwed.