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Cheap fretless 4...

#5
Panda Licker said:
Unlined is harder to find when it comes to cheap fretless basses

I'd recomend a Carvin kit to you. If you follow the instructions, you'll be spending 350 dollars on a bass that plays like a million bucks
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That's actually very untrue. Unlined basses are ALL over the place, because it's more effort for the manufacturer to put in lines ;). When I went looking for a cheap fretless, I was looking for a lined and that narrowed down my choices very significantly.

Those Brice fretlesses are nice quality. You could also check out the Warwick Rockbass fretlesses, too. Carvin kits are fine, but I'm not a fan of the body shapes or electronics, but those are both IMO and completely subjective.
 
#6
I'll put my vote in for Dean...300 dollars - nice bass for the price. Yes, the fingerboard is rosewood, but it's beautiful. I can't seem to put mine down, even though my fretted basses cost me 3-4 times as much. It's also very light (and thus very resonant) - between 7 and 8 pounds. Here's a couple of pictures:

DeanFretless009.jpg

DeanFretless007.jpg
 
#11
Philbiker said:
I had an unlined Dean Edge 5 that's in my avatar. Fantastic bass. I've replaced it with a 6 string from Rondo because I wanted the high "C" for chords. That's a good bass, too, but not as good as the Dean.
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I recently placed an order with Carvin for a fretless, but because of some $$ consideration, I decided to go with something alittle cheaper. I realized I wouldn't play fretless as much and can't justify spending $1000+ on one. I was considering Dean, but I've only played the older passive's. How is the electronics on an active Dean fretless?
 
#12
Wow that dean sure is good looking!

I might jump into that one, it would cost me about 500$ sine i live in sweden and probably will buy it from germany..

also, i have never played a fretless... i dont know if will get a chance to try one either, no good music shops around sorry...
 
#13
fourstringdrums said:
I recently placed an order with Carvin for a fretless, but because of some $$ consideration, I decided to go with something alittle cheaper. I realized I wouldn't play fretless as much and can't justify spending $1000+ on one. I was considering Dean, but I've only played the older passive's. How is the electronics on an active Dean fretless?
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I don't know. Mine was passive and I loved the sound of it. I only ever tried a fretted Dean Edge with the active EQ and I did not like it at all compared to my passive one. Very "brittle" sounding.

If you're not completely averse to lines, there's lots to choose from at www.rondomusic.com .
 
#14
Philbiker said:
I don't know. Mine was passive and I loved the sound of it. I only ever tried a fretted Dean Edge with the active EQ and I did not like it at all compared to my passive one. Very "brittle" sounding.

If you're not completely averse to lines, there's lots to choose from at www.rondomusic.com .
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I've been looking at Rondo but only the Brice basses interest me, and unfortunately, the only righty handed fretless they have is the natural 6..still tempting though *lol* :)
 
#15
I'm intrested in playing a fretless as well, but my $$ -situation is not at it's peak right now, and I want to buy a good fretted one before I buy a fretless. I have a fretted Squier J-Bass and I thought that I could de-fret it once I get a new fretted one, but not entirely sure how to do it, so we'll see how that project ends up..
 
#16
fourstringdrums said:
I recently placed an order with Carvin for a fretless, but because of some $$ consideration, I decided to go with something alittle cheaper. I realized I wouldn't play fretless as much and can't justify spending $1000+ on one. I was considering Dean, but I've only played the older passive's. How is the electronics on an active Dean fretless?
Click to expand...

The Dean's pickups are still passive (if I'm not messing this up), but the preamp is active (9 volt). I'm actually impressed - mine is whisper quiet..no pot noise...records wonderfully (sound clips are in the "let's hear your fretless" thread in this forum)

Controls are volume, pan, bass boost/cut, and treble boost/cut. Very wide range of tones - listen to the clip of "gel" on the other thread...I was able to dial in a complete classic rock tone vice the more jazzy fretless tone I use playing gypsy jazz.

Hope this helps.

Jay
 
#17
vicenzajay said:
The Dean's pickups are still passive (if I'm not messing this up), but the preamp is active (9 volt). I'm actually impressed - mine is whisper quiet..no pot noise...records wonderfully (sound clips are in the "let's hear your fretless" thread in this forum)

Controls are volume, pan, bass boost/cut, and treble boost/cut. Very wide range of tones - listen to the clip of "gel" on the other thread...I was able to dial in a complete classic rock tone vice the more jazzy fretless tone I use playing gypsy jazz.

Hope this helps.

Jay
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Wow, i really like how the dean bass sounds!!

But now i have to make a desicion, a new amp(i really need one) or a fretless bass..
 

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