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curious. Why does Fender sell the Jaco Pastorius bass with flatwound strings?

#81
packhowitzer said:
Thanks for the response. I certainly knew it was a thing. I've just never seen photos of what it looks like (although I guess if it's an audible issue, it won't matter too much what it looks like - you'll just know when you play it). There are a few worn fingerboard threads I've found here, but none of the ones I saw showed definitive damage. most were just "is this ok" type threads. Thanks again.
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with rounds you see visible marks almost right away... it takes many many years of full time playing, at least with a hard wood fingerboard, to become an audible problem in my personal experience. But the visible marks are not a problem at all from rounds on a fingerboard.

The bass I mentioned this happening on had an ebony fingerboard, unfinished. Not coated. My carvin has a coated board (and came with rounds) and will last forever... it has already lasted many many years with zero issues.

oh, and you're very welcome! I make a big effort to be helpful and accurate, and not presume to think that there is only one way to do things... although there are certainly standard ways, preferred ways, and nonstandard solutions to things.
 
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#82
dkelley said:
with rounds you see visible marks almost right away... it takes many many years of full time playing, at least with a hard wood fingerboard, to become an audible problem in my personal experience. But the visible marks are not a problem at all from rounds on a fingerboard.

The bass I mentioned this happening on had an ebony fingerboard, unfinished. Not coated. My carvin has a coated board (and came with rounds) and will last forever... it has already lasted many many years with zero issues.
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My fretless also sports and ebony board. It doesn't seem heavily finished (it's not glossy anyway...), but it might have some sort of conditioning on it from the factory. I play about 60 gigs a year with it as well as rehearsals and practice etc.. I'm not particularly heavy handed with it, but I definitely dig in when appropriate. I bought this bass at the end of 2016, so it's seen about 300 gigs by now. I know there are lots of variables at play, but I just haven't seen a lot of evidence of wear on mine. I'm of course in no way discounting the experience of others. And I'll also add that I value your perspective and input. I just want to know what to look for should the day ever arrive. But the story you shared about actually being able to hear issues certainly puts it into perspective.
 
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#83
dkelley said:
You have proven that you entirely do not understand the basic steps of setting intonation on an electric bass, something that has been standard practice for all bassists for several decades.
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And you have proven you just don't know the fretless bass, or your experience on it is limited or you simply haven't gotten to a competent level on it yet. Setting the intonation on the fretted bass is, of course, crucial and must be done any time you make a change on the instrument like a string change. But the player does not intonate the fretted bass (per se) - the FB is a fixed-pitch instrument like the guitar. Totally different animal.

But on the fretless bass, you, the player, are responsible for the intonation of the notes on that instrument. Every note, every time, for the full duration of the note. If the intonation is off on the fretless bass, that's on you, not the bass. it is your responsibility to correct it, not the bass's.

You don't fiddle with the bass to treat your intonation problems as a player on the fretless. We went over all this the last time too.

L
 
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#85
luciens said:
And you have proven you just don't know the fretless bass, or your experience on it is limited or you simply haven't gotten to a competent level on it yet. Setting the intonation on the fretted bass is, of course, crucial and must be done any time you make a change on the instrument like a string change. But the player does not intonate the fretted bass (per se) - the FB is a fixed-pitch instrument like the guitar. Totally different animal.

But on the fretless bass, you, the player, are responsible for the intonation of the notes on that instrument. Every note, every time, for the full duration of the note. If the intonation is off on the fretless bass, that's on you, not the bass. it is your responsibility to correct it, not the bass's.

You don't fiddle with the bass to treat your intonation problems as a player on the fretless. We went over all this the last time too.

L
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Luciens, Please stop embarrassing yourself! I was a full time professional fretless bassist. You have proven to be incapable of having rational discussions without assuming anybody who disagrees with you is incapable of doing what you do. Blocked.
 
#86
wysiwyg248 said:
The original 1991 Jaco Pastorius Signature Bass was offered with Roto Sounds RD66. I own number 001 and never used flats, although I don't play it as much as I used to -got a second Fender fretless- it has marks but nothing bad (first pic below). The second fretless has more playing time and noticeable marks, but again, nothing horrible. I guess this depends on your touch and use of vibrato, note the second one does not have freatboard markings -dots-.
View attachment 4553826 View attachment 4553828
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#1, baby!
Here's the original ad from 1990:
40D95FF3-CF2B-4566-9EA9-A2C9D8EE1E5F.jpeg
 
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#87
packhowitzer said:
My fretless also sports and ebony board. It doesn't seem heavily finished (it's not glossy anyway...), but it might have some sort of conditioning on it from the factory. I play about 60 gigs a year with it as well as rehearsals and practice etc.. I'm not particularly heavy handed with it, but I definitely dig in when appropriate. I bought this bass at the end of 2016, so it's seen about 300 gigs by now. I know there are lots of variables at play, but I just haven't seen a lot of evidence of wear on mine. I'm of course in no way discounting the experience of others. And I'll also add that I value your perspective and input. I just want to know what to look for should the day ever arrive. But the story you shared about actually being able to hear issues certainly puts it into perspective.
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this is great information
 
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#90
trickyric said:
I like this "limited, only 100 made. Will never be repeated".. how many times have they put out a Jaco bass since then?
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This might refer to a set of CS basses that nixdad was a part of the production of (if I'm remembering right?). These were CS basses masterminded by Kevin Kaufmann and not the regular Artist ones that are currently still in production.

A couple of these showed up for sale on Reverb a while back which perked up my ears, because they were $8000 or $10,000 or something like that for a copy in England or Germany or somewhere. I dont know if they're still around.

I was drooling over one of them, even tho I didn't have anywhere near the cash to get it, because it just looked like a work of art. Looked just like my basses but they were a special run CS version. Nixdad gave me the history of it in that thread.

But I believe it was a limited 100 unit run...

I think that thread is still in the TB archives somewhere...

L
 
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#93
packhowitzer said:
My fretless also sports and ebony board. It doesn't seem heavily finished (it's not glossy anyway...), but it might have some sort of conditioning on it from the factory. I play about 60 gigs a year with it as well as rehearsals and practice etc.. I'm not particularly heavy handed with it, but I definitely dig in when appropriate. I bought this bass at the end of 2016, so it's seen about 300 gigs by now. I know there are lots of variables at play, but I just haven't seen a lot of evidence of wear on mine. I'm of course in no way discounting the experience of others. And I'll also add that I value your perspective and input. I just want to know what to look for should the day ever arrive. But the story you shared about actually being able to hear issues certainly puts it into perspective.
Click to expand...

For an ebony board, rounds are fine. It's only on softer woods like Rosewood where rounds can actually be an issue, tho it's still a pretty long term one even with Rosewood boards.

I'm only OCD about my Jacos because of the thinness of the finish, not being equipped with my tools anymore to properly dress the board and refinish it should that become necessary, and that it seems to have a more useful tone for what I do with the original Fender flats.

I know I could run rounds on them for many years, but I'm preferring flats for other reasons.

BTW, I noticed that Fender puts the same flats on their American Professional II fretless models also. But those do have unfinished Rosewood fingerboards on them, so I'd definitely try to avoid rounds on that particular bass....

L
 
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#98
luciens said:
You betcha... :) Don't underestimate the humble SVM fretless JB. The Ebonol board gives it a very unique, velvety sound. I played one some years ago in a GC I believe and it sounded amazing for like $200....

L
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Yup, that's when I got mine, back in da day, the first run of 'em. They came with Fender rounds. I put Rotosound Swing Bass 66s on it and Boom!
:)
 
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#100
luciens said:
This might refer to a set of CS basses that nixdad was a part of the production of (if I'm remembering right?). These were CS basses masterminded by Kevin Kaufmann and not the regular Artist ones that are currently still in production.

A couple of these showed up for sale on Reverb a while back which perked up my ears, because they were $8000 or $10,000 or something like that for a copy in England or Germany or somewhere. I dont know if they're still around.

I was drooling over one of them, even tho I didn't have anywhere near the cash to get it, because it just looked like a work of art. Looked just like my basses but they were a special run CS version. Nixdad gave me the history of it in that thread.

But I believe it was a limited 100 unit run...

I think that thread is still in the TB archives somewhere...

L
Click to expand...

You are correct, I run into nixdad on this forum, who gave me the background and history on this series.
I was aware of these from an ad I saw at Bass Player back in '91 and saw 001 in eBay in the early 2000's but lost the listing. Since I exchanged notes with the seller, I contacted him like a year later and bought it from him.
 
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