All correct, yes. Guilty here of viewing events thru my own personal lens—for while I was playing the nyc punk clubs at 17 my bandleaders were some 10 years my senior. They the creators, me just a kid playing bass!
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Do Fretless Exist without a Burst Finish?
- Thread starter lyralain
- Start date
It’s finally my time to show off my main bass! I just love everything about it, and I painted the pickguard myself. It’s a short scale but they’re available in long scale too, the fingerboard comes in both lined and unlined (and optional dot inlay), and it’s only about AU$650. So if you don’t mind waiting a few months for your order (and shipping) I’d say it’s worth a look
OMG you win the thread I love this
I'd love it pallet swapped for a blue or sea foam but the pink is nice too. But what makes the pink especially gorgeous is your work on the pickguard to compliment it.
What bass is it, where'd you grab it?
Edit: is it this very bass? How'd you go about ordering?
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Yes! That one is indeed exactly my bass! Just shoot them a message on insta and they’ll give you full details on how to put in your order. I’m pretty sure they often ship to the US (and I’m assuming that’s where you are) so it shouldn’t be a hassle.
As for your sea foam colour preference, might I direct you to my other lovely fretless bass? I defretted this one myself, it’s an Ibanez TMB30
Okay, don’t give a damn about bass colors, I have my basses in my fav colors and finished.
I saw the boomer reference and thought, screw that, and tuned out. Now I see that the title has changed. So was the title an auto-correct gone awry? Or did the OP catch enough heat and thought it best to change it to the current title?
Curious, for some reason I can’t explain.
I saw the boomer reference and thought, screw that, and tuned out. Now I see that the title has changed. So was the title an auto-correct gone awry? Or did the OP catch enough heat and thought it best to change it to the current title?
Curious, for some reason I can’t explain.
Alright it's done!
Sauce is
• 4 tbsp maple syrup, white wine vinegar, soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• juice of 2 limes
• a grated knob of ginger & 2-4 garlic cloves depending on size
• chili flakes to taste (which I forgot oops)
just simmer that to thicken it for 10-15 min, alongside cooking the other stuff.
For the tofu, just coat a block of cubed smoked tofu* in 30g corn starch then fry it in a neutral oil, I re-used some canola. Cook it on high heat for 6-8 min. Also cook some broccoli or other veg on the side, I only give it a 2 min al dente steam.
Mix the sauce, tofu & broccoli, serve over rice, garnish with sesame seeds & maybe some green onion. Delicious!
*If you don't have access to smoked tofu, get a block of extra or super firm & press the water from it, cut it into slices & marinade it in 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp vinegar & some drops of Liquid Smoke. Bake that for 40 min at 350ºf, flipping halfway through. Cool, cube, and batter+fry as above.
I understand the confusion, but would encourage you to not go there.
This. Also, the answer to the question is in the OP.
Fantastic dish, just ate some veggie pizza and im still hugry!
I can’t tell if you did it on purpose, but either way, your description of the tofu sounds a lot like a classic sunburst lol! Nice work!!!
Looks like bits of broken up old Fender bass in 3TSB. So now you eat your victims? One way to keep the numbers down, I suppose.
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Even now with the title change my answer is the same.
Frequency bias is a bummer, fretless basses have as many different finish choices as fretted basses. The few that you may have seen or been exposed to are not the only basses in the world. If you actually look to find out more you will. If you base your thoughts only on what you've been exposed to then your knowledge will be limited.
Frequency bias is a bummer, fretless basses have as many different finish choices as fretted basses. The few that you may have seen or been exposed to are not the only basses in the world. If you actually look to find out more you will. If you base your thoughts only on what you've been exposed to then your knowledge will be limited.
This sentiment has been brought up so many times in this thread despite me having done plenty of looking on Guitar Center, Reverb, Thomann & local FB Marketplace / music group while turning up nothing that appealed to me and seeing oh-so many sunbursts and brown bursts in the process. It's what lead to this threads creation.
It was never a lack of looking, just a lack of many alternatives being in circulation coupled with not knowing where to look for the ones that do exist. Thankfully, instead of saying "you just need to look!" people have directed me to both Sire & a custom builder that may have the bass for me.
In terms of historical accuracy, the “Baby Boomer” years are generally considered the post WWII 1946 - 1964. That applies to people being born, not when instruments were produced. I was born somewhere in the middle of that period.
The “standard” sunburst finish was developed during the 1950’s, appearing at Fender around 1955. The players at the time for whom the finish was developed were not Baby Boomers; and the person who developed the finish, Leo Fender, was not a Baby Boomer. I don’t know when Hofner started producing their “violin finish;” but, it was probably about the same time.
The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in 1964; and that was my first exposure to a sunburst finish. It was on a fretted Hofner. Paul McCartney, who is not a Baby Boomer, was playing it.
My sense is that Fender produced maybe 40% of their instruments through the latter half of the 50’s and into the 60’s with the sunburst finish. So, that finish was prevalent in the market; and can be seen in the footage from Woodstock in 1969, when Baby Boomers began to appear on the stage.
Back then, there was no internet, and a player pretty much had choice of whatever the instruments were in the local shops. Unless one had the instrument refinished. I had a Rick 4001 refinished from FireGlo to violin burst by Tom Barney in the early 70’s; mainly because that finish was a standard for the NYC jazz guitar players; so, that’s what he offered. None of them were Baby Boomers.
My early bass finishes in order were red, white, clear (as in Lucite), FireGlo (refin’d sunburst then sold), and natural. I had the natural finished Alembic defretted in 1977, and played it that way for 10 years. Subsequent basses have run the spectrum, including three burst basses - a ‘65 P that I found in local want ads and flipped, a Sadowsky Metro 5, and most recently a 2007 Fender Jazz Deluxe 5. So, Disclaimer: I do happen to have one burst bass ATM. Though I would have preferred had it been black.
John Suhr, who revitalized Fender’s instruments in the early 80’s, is probably a Baby Boomer. He included sunburst in the lineup, but very much re-emphasized a bunch of earlier Fender custom colors, including one of my favs - vintage Shoreline Gold.
It is true that two iconic bass guitars were sunburst: Jamerson’s P Bass and Jaco’s J Bass. Jamerson was not a Baby Boomer. Jaco was a Baby Boomer. Both were really big influences on the bass playing community; and that popularity has been a big influence on instrument production.
My own fretless instruments have been: natural, natural, white, black, purple, black, natural; and my current fretless bass is natural. I’m pretty sure that fretless basses are available in finishes other than sunburst.
I tend to choose my instruments for their playing qualities; and if I have a problem with the finish, I send the instrument to Pat Wilkins, who will put whatever finish I want on the instrument at reasonable cost. The man is a treasure to the bass community. But, I will also say that one has to temper choices to refin, based somewhat on the adjacent collector value.
Bottom line is that color is way down the list of concerns when considering a new / used instrument. Resources are available to choose different paint jobs, if appropriate. My $0.019.
The “standard” sunburst finish was developed during the 1950’s, appearing at Fender around 1955. The players at the time for whom the finish was developed were not Baby Boomers; and the person who developed the finish, Leo Fender, was not a Baby Boomer. I don’t know when Hofner started producing their “violin finish;” but, it was probably about the same time.
The Beatles appeared on Ed Sullivan in 1964; and that was my first exposure to a sunburst finish. It was on a fretted Hofner. Paul McCartney, who is not a Baby Boomer, was playing it.
My sense is that Fender produced maybe 40% of their instruments through the latter half of the 50’s and into the 60’s with the sunburst finish. So, that finish was prevalent in the market; and can be seen in the footage from Woodstock in 1969, when Baby Boomers began to appear on the stage.
Back then, there was no internet, and a player pretty much had choice of whatever the instruments were in the local shops. Unless one had the instrument refinished. I had a Rick 4001 refinished from FireGlo to violin burst by Tom Barney in the early 70’s; mainly because that finish was a standard for the NYC jazz guitar players; so, that’s what he offered. None of them were Baby Boomers.
My early bass finishes in order were red, white, clear (as in Lucite), FireGlo (refin’d sunburst then sold), and natural. I had the natural finished Alembic defretted in 1977, and played it that way for 10 years. Subsequent basses have run the spectrum, including three burst basses - a ‘65 P that I found in local want ads and flipped, a Sadowsky Metro 5, and most recently a 2007 Fender Jazz Deluxe 5. So, Disclaimer: I do happen to have one burst bass ATM. Though I would have preferred had it been black.
John Suhr, who revitalized Fender’s instruments in the early 80’s, is probably a Baby Boomer. He included sunburst in the lineup, but very much re-emphasized a bunch of earlier Fender custom colors, including one of my favs - vintage Shoreline Gold.
It is true that two iconic bass guitars were sunburst: Jamerson’s P Bass and Jaco’s J Bass. Jamerson was not a Baby Boomer. Jaco was a Baby Boomer. Both were really big influences on the bass playing community; and that popularity has been a big influence on instrument production.
My own fretless instruments have been: natural, natural, white, black, purple, black, natural; and my current fretless bass is natural. I’m pretty sure that fretless basses are available in finishes other than sunburst.
I tend to choose my instruments for their playing qualities; and if I have a problem with the finish, I send the instrument to Pat Wilkins, who will put whatever finish I want on the instrument at reasonable cost. The man is a treasure to the bass community. But, I will also say that one has to temper choices to refin, based somewhat on the adjacent collector value.
Bottom line is that color is way down the list of concerns when considering a new / used instrument. Resources are available to choose different paint jobs, if appropriate. My $0.019.
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Everyone has different tastes, and that is ok. Ignoring what the moderators had edited out (since it was edited and should no longer be considered part of the equation), we can see that the OP wants to know about fretless basses that are not, in OP's opinion, "boring." Yes you can have any bass refinished, but no, not everyone has that $$. I've tried refinishing... that can be difficult if you're not experienced too. I will say, for some people color matters a bunch. Color of the bass can inspire them, and thus making them a better player.
Therefore.... if anyone knows of a fretless that comes stock with a finish that's appealing to "modern" tastes, then post it please. Clearly fretless inspires OP, and OP wants a modern finish. So as a community if you know something to help with this inspiration please share!
