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Fretless Bass Suggestions

#41
You can buy a fretless cheaper than a fretted of the same make/model simply because there is less demand. I’m with others that you shouldn’t dive in with an expensive bass when you can buy a decent fretless for relatively cheap. One of the biggest downsides to low cost basses is shoddy fret work, but that is not a thing with a fretless, although you don’t want a fretless neck with dips & dives.
 
#42
Michael Jewels said:
Another vote for the Ibanez SRF 700 Portamento.

Two magnetic pickups and unique piezos.

The magnetics will give you reasonable Fender-like tones, but the bridge has plastic saddles, which give it a smoother, less harsh tone which imitates an upright fairly well.

They’re about $1,000 new, but I feel they are well worth it.

I’ve had mine four years and still love it.

Here’s mine.
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One of my favorite Fretless basses in the market that can get you to Jaco territory right out of the box!
 
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#43
dabbler said:
Different strokes for different folks, but as a casual fretless player (although I did play upright for 2 years in Jr hi) I'd like to share a different perspective.

Your hands already "know" where the notes are better than you think. All you need is a reference point to place them to start. People do have preferences though, and that's OK, all I'm saying is don't make something , like lines or markers a requirement (nor rule them out) until you've tried it.

My first fretless bass was not only a blank fretboard but the dots on the side were in the same place as they are on a fretted bass. It took me a little time to see that something was not as I expected it to be (as most fretlesses without lines have the side dots where lines would be) but once I realized that, I was surprised how well my hands hit the notes.

If you're reading music (not everybody does, but I have to from time to time) you won't bet playing with your eyes glued to the neck anyway, dots lines or whatever, so the muscle memory is something you should be developing anyway, IMO.

Again, don't rule anything out... until you've tried it. And I agree, starting on a value fretless first will help you decide what you really want when it's time to buy your forever bass. But the decision is all yours. Do what satisfies you.
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I get your point of view and to be fair I have trouble playing a fretted bass without position markers on the fretboard as well. All of my fretless basses have a blank fingerboard which I thought would be harder but I actually found what you said to be true. My hands basically knew where the notes were. It still blows my mind that a manufacturer would fail to move the side dots to the actual fretting position. Such a unfortunate oversight.
 
#44
I'm surprised no one has mentioned a G&L L-2000. I have the 5 string L-2500 fretless and it is not only super playable, but can cover a huge array of tones - from almost upright to early Pearl Jam with a few flips of switches and turning knobs (and depending on what strings you have on it). And it's built like a tank.

Plus G&Ls are essentially production-custom; If you order one from a dealer you pick alder/ash, body color, neck finish, fretboard wood, nut width, radius, lines or no lines, etc. Both of the new G&Ls I ordered (several years apart) showed up within 6-7 weeks, and cost the same or slightly less than on off-the-rack Fender comparable. The L-2500 fretless I found as a used case queen...

If you want a jazz bass, order a G&L JB fretless in your choice of color/board/etc. I have a fretted one and it's killer.

Highly recommended.
 
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#47
If you decide to give unlined a try, I highly recommend looking into a G&L L2000 fretless (if you can find one). I was looking for a Ray fretless when I stumbled into mine. Super versatile. GREAT neck.
 
#48
Fretlii.jpg


I also have a fretless P. The Jack Bruce is my favourite followed somewhat closely by the defretted Ibanez. The Starbass is nice but too many strings for the narrow neck IMO. So in order of preference - Jack, Ibby, P, Star
 
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#49
If you're willing to spend Fender Pro kinds of money on a jazz bass, that's certainly an option. The Pro II in the Dark Night color is pretty sweet. Personally, though, I'd be looking at Lakland and Sandberg. Thomann has a Sandberg California II fretless in stock now. (They also have a Dark Knight Fender Pro II.)

If you're going higher I can't imagine that an EBMM fretless is anything but awesome, but right now they might be hard to find.

I jumped in to fretless about a month ago, and bought a Sire V9—been very happy with it. Ebony board, lined but pretty subtle lines, classic jazz bass sound. About $1000 less than the options I just gave. Learning to play fretless has been pretty fun and frankly for right now I'm glad there are lines. Ask me again in a year, though, maybe I won't want them anymore.
 
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#50
I've owned fretless Pedulla and F Bass basses. I also defretted a vintage Fender or two a long time ago. But about two years ago I bought an alder body from MJT and coupled it with an All Parts fretless neck with a lined ebony fingerboard. For a little more than $1000, I got a pretty good fretless bass, better than most production fretless basses. I'm not going to say it plays as well as the Pedulla or the F Bass, but it's pretty good. I'm still tweaking it and it gets a little better every time. I don't love the neck profile, and I'm currently look for someone to build me a neck that matches my CS '60 J Bass.

I'm still experimenting with pickups. I started with Nordstrand NJ4 pickup with Alnico 3 magnets. I like them, but they're a little too polite. I just got a set of Nordstrand NJ4SE pickups. I've wanted to try them forever, so I'm anxious to get them installed.

Finally, I still need to seal the fingerboard with pure tung oil. I did that on the F Bass, and it made a real difference. It hardened the fingerboard, but wasn't as obvious sounding as a coated fingerboard like Pedulla used. That oil takes a month to fully cure, and I've been hesitant to put it down for that long.

So if you don't mind investing a little time, it's not a bad way to go.
 
#51
When I was 8 years old, my parents encouraged me to pay a fretless. It was very short scale - about 11 and a half inches. It was tuned a fair bit higher than the instruments I play now. There were a lot of kids that played this instrument. Some of us were decent at it.

If 8 year olds can play fretless instruments without lines (violins), any adult can learn to play a fretless bass with a 30 or 34 inch scale. It's not that hard. You don't need the lines - you have the dots on the side of the neck, which you can actually see - you won't miss the lines on the part of the instrument you have to hunch over to see. And for cryin' out loud, at least try rounds on a fretless once in your life. They may not be your thing, but if they are, do you want to go all your life without finding that out?

A lot of people have fears about fretless. Fingerboard wear is not the scourge some think it is, and you can play without lines much better than you might think. You will have to practice. Oh, shoot I wasn't supposed to say that. Disregard that comment.

Don't let your fears drive your decisions - take a chance, live a little.
 
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#52
Swamp_Ronin said:
Been playing for 20 years, and after playing a few in the store, have decided I’d love a fretless.
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You sound like me; I've been playing for ~2 decades before I got my hands on a fretless. For years I enjoyed the fretless sound in all kinds of music, though I couldn't lay my hands on one since I'm a left-handed player and, as you can imagine, finding a lefthanded fretless in any store for a test-play is tough luck in my case.

Well, last year I decided to buy me a used unlined fretless to see how it goes; risky move, since it would be significantly harder to resell it in case I didn't like it (or couldn't play it) enough, but it turned out great for me and somehow the fretless bass was the kind of bass that I've always wanted but didn't know it!

Anyway, I can't add any meaningful advice in this post of mine, but I'll echo the folk above that said that fretless bass is addicting. Good luck! :thumbsup:
 
#53
One more piece of advice. Don't buy a fretless bass that doesn't have a bridge pickup - a pickup near the bridge is a bog part of getting some tasty upper mids happening - the best of the mwah lives up there.
 
#54
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2021 American Pro II Jazz fretless

Swamp_Ronin said:
Hi all!

Been playing for 20 years, and after playing a few in the store, have decided I’d love a fretless. I like all kinds of basses, but have always been a Jazz Bass guy. I’m looking for something lined, 4 string preferably, either a stingray or a jazz. Fretless stingrays are very hard to find, and very expensive even used.

I’ve found a new Pro II jazz bass for $1400, which seems like an ok price for a new one, and I like the necks on those. I would also like a used Standard if I could find one.

Any thoughts are appreciated!
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#55
I don't have a particular instrument recommendation — just want to add to the choir of those who have dared to play fretless after many years of playing fretted (in my case, more than 3 decades): It's not that difficult, and it offers so much tonal expression and fun, and even if you might find out it's not really your thing, it will surely have had positive impact on your fretting technique on fretted bass. I got a Sire V7 a few years ago (< 500 bucks), which has certainly been a good deal into new territory for me. Nowadays, I guess I would prefer a passive-only model such as the V5.
 
#59
Gorn said:
It’s easy to be terrible at fretless.
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drumvsbass said:
So much truth in one phrase...
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All that said, the fact that Les Claypool exists means it's pretty much game on. Is he terrible at fretless? I don't know.

Microtonalism will be the next big movement in music as a direct reaction to overuse of autotune on the diatonic set, but strangely to achieve convincing results even more autotune will be applied to micromanage the microtonal end result. Eventually music will be refined down to a core essence of a bassist playing just a low G on the E string on a fretless (those who know, know):thumbsup::cool:
 
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