Fretless bass options

[Ezmar]

I would say not man. I think saving up for a nice new bass is almost always a better idea than trying to upgrade a cheap or crappy one.

I had a thought; My older brother had a crappy starter bass that he defretted, but gutted the electronics. So if I put that neck on my bass.... I'd essentially have a functional fretless bass for the price of however we decide to finish the neck!

Hopefully the neck fits.

And I'll still get a nicer one later on, obviously.

 

[Davo-London]

I have a CIJ Jaco Fender Jazz. I sent the neck to be epoxy coated and this bass really has that Jaco tone. It is a truly wonderful bass.

Otherwise, how about a fretless ABG? Godin A4 for example.

Cheers
Davo

 

[Figjam]

Always P/J
Always rounds
Always active tone circuit
Always a finished/coated fingerboard
Always a hard wood for the fingerboard.

Just my preferences

Quite similiar to mine.

 

[low2groove]

After building bases for years now I believe this is the way to get the greatest MWAH out of a fretless.

 

[kevteop]

If you want to do the michael manring solo bass thing you'll want to make sure you get a fretless with a coated fretboard so you can use roundwound strings. That's a major factor IMO.

I played only fretless basses for a few years, always with roundwounds, never had a coated board, it was never a big deal.

Rounds won't chew up a good rosewood or ebony board particularly quickly. There are things you can do to make matters worse (heavy-handed left hand technique / moving the string side-to-side for vibrato) but even so you'll get loads of wear out of a wooden board before you need to get it shot.

I would say ebony tends to give a much more open sound though with a more obvious bloom as the note decays. Rosewood can muffle things a little bit (the pau ferro boards on Stingrays particularly).

As for recommendations, the Yamaha BB1100S makes a really good and cheap fretless bass. The Godin A4/5 sounds beautiful. Pedulla if you can afford one.

 

[low2groove]

The coated fretboard definitely changes the sound.
coating gives you more of a zing and less of a dull woody tone. especially if you're looking for more of that MWAH sound which I am.
I use my fretless mostly for soloing and maybe for 20 percent of the songs in a progressive jazz band.
its not the main bass I use.

 

[Stephent28]

An old Magnum by Ovation from the early 80's.
Probably near impossible to find but they sound more like an upright than any fretless I have played. If a used one turned up, it would probably be in your price range.

One of the best "unknown" basses in the fretless world.

 

[madmachinist]

used german warwick corvette fls can be had for $500-700 .

the thumb fl is availabe used for $800-$1200.

mm stingray fls are great, i wish they had an ebony board ,
at least i've never seen one .

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I have a CIJ Jaco Fender Jazz. I sent the neck to be epoxy coated and this bass really has that Jaco tone. It is a truly wonderful bass.

Otherwise, how about a fretless ABG? Godin A4 for example.

Cheers
Davo

Do you mean a'62 jazz repro? The Jaco sig is made in America regardless if it is Artist or Custom Shop. Unless they made a different one prior to the 2000's

I have a fretless Jaco (epoxy by HG Thor) that I recently got from another TB'er and it is pretty awesome. Plays amazing, although the pickups don't sound that close to Jaco in my opinion.


OP if you are a poor college student I would definitely check out Carvin. You can get Carvin's fretless neck coated from factory, I believe they use super glue, I cannot remember the name, like pedulla though not epoxy. I believe that makes it an option 50 (not in catalog and cannot be returned but they will do it) but I am not sure you'd have to contact Carvin. They had a fretless BB on their site for the last couple months that would be perfect for you but somebody bought it since I last check their site a week or so ago.

 

[SteveC]

If you want mwah, get a fretless Roscoe with a diamondwood board and rounds...

 

[steve f]

used german warwick corvette fls can be had for $500-700 .

the thumb fl is availabe used for $800-$1200.

mm stingray fls are great, i wish they had an ebony board ,
at least i've never seen one .

There are a few special edition EBMM fretless rays with ebony boards - eg Dargie Delight II, not sure about others...

 

[macguyver16]

I have an Ibanez Soundgear Fretless that plays well, and is my main bass (lol actually it's my only bass). It looks nice, sounds good, but requires a battery in order for it to jive. Im not sure if they produce them anymore (since they were made in Japan, and since the tsunami a lot of the models were ended). Anyway, just give it a look or play, you shouldnt be disappointed.

 

[goes to 11]

So I have decided that I will have a fretless. I'm going to be a little choosy, but what I want is names. What are some 4 string fretless basses that I can get for $1500 or under? Ideally I want a really nice one, like a Zon or something, but that's way out of my price range now.

So just names, I guess, and what they sort of sound like? I'm kind of just doing research right now, looking at my options.

Thanks.

I have had Warrior & Roscoe fretlesses. I am considering buying a Warwick corvette bass with 2 humbuckers. They're not very expensive so I wont lose if I dont like it. I've enver played one so we'll see. Without question Roscoes "diamond wood" fretboard is SUPERB.

 

[SteveC]

I have had a few fretless basses. Hard to beat a Roscoe with a diamondwood board - unless you want a more "upright" sound. Then its Rob Allen without a doubt - although you can get "in the neighborhood" with a Roscoe with a little experimenting with EQ, hand placement, PLAYING STYLE, etc.

If Roscoe is a little too expensive, I'd go Lakland. Probably my 2nd favorite bass.