Fretless Bass! Which type is the best? [POLL]

[Bob_Ross]

I'm going with "Other" because I can't decide whether the best (for me) is a soapbar, or a piezo. Or both!
Right now I own two fretless basses: A Rob Allen MB-2 with the piezo bridge, and a Warmoth with a single Bartolini soapbar (Actually ist's a quad-coil humbucker in a MusicMan-sized shell, so I don't know what to call it. But I'm sticking with "soapbar".) Those two basses compliment one another wonderfully, as each excels at doing exactly what the other doesn't do well. And if I could only own one fretless bass I think I'd go for an F Bass AC-6, which has both a piezo bridge and a soapbar.

So, yeah... Both.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I've seen several posts around mentioning that a fretless Rickenbacker with flats will do the "sounds like a DB" trick.

I used to own a fretless Rickenbacker 3001. If by "DB" you mean Dookie Bomb then yes, that's exactly what it sounded like.

 

[cheechi]

I genuinely did try to help. I think rethinking your approach is the best way to get what you want.

frets or fretless are a feature of the neck. Pick which you like best between a P and J neck, buy that fretless. then put it on bodies with different pup configs and see what you like best. you may ultimately have wasted some time/money/effort in getting the neck I suggest as you may find a different neck ultimately you like better, but this is the best way to start.

 

[AltGrendel]

I used to own a fretless Rickenbacker 3001. If by "DB" you mean Dookie Bomb then yes, that's exactly what it sounded like.

Nope, all references were for 4001/4003s. Guess you lucked out.

 

[basspraiser]

This is a tough one for me to decide....because I have this:

and this:

LOVE them both....

I also have a fretless Turner but that is in a class all by itself....

 

[basspraiser]

Ive literally never seen or heard a Ric fretless "in the wild", they are rare birds!
One of the best fretless I've played recently, I'm shocked to say, is the Squier VM Fretless Jazz with ebanol lined fretboard. It's an absurdly good bass for the price. Tinkerers might want to upgrade the pups or electronics, but it's pretty convincing mwah right out of the box.

agreed....have not played one in a while...but played one when they first came out and was very impressed - especially for the price.

 

[Emanuel Apascaritei]

I vote for Others. Actually Nikola Adamovic is building me an Adamovic Eclipse fretless 5 strings right now. I´d go for a modern fretless myself but with flatwound strings. Here are some pictures of how I like a fretless:

 

[40Hz]

Guys, I'm looking for personal opinions. Not some magical objective answer that works for everything. Obviously that doesn't exist.

So what is your personal favorite?

Favorite? Whatever fretless bass is currently in my collection, subject to change without notice. Right now it's a Godin with a piezo bridge and onboard preamp.

 

[basspraiser]

Ive literally never seen or heard a Ric fretless "in the wild", they are rare birds!
One of the best fretless I've played recently, I'm shocked to say, is the Squier VM Fretless Jazz with ebanol lined fretboard. It's an absurdly good bass for the price. Tinkerers might want to upgrade the pups or electronics, but it's pretty convincing mwah right out of the box.

A buddy of mine has one....he bought it in 1970/71. Used it to play strip club jazz when he was a teenager. its still in very nice shape.

Neck is very straight and true.

Too bad he lives in Florida or I would be borrowing it frequently.

 

[morgansterne]

to get the best fretless tone, the pickups should be very far away from my strings, preferably installed in someone else's bass who is actually good at playing fretless.

 

[kopio]

I personally love the sound of a fretless jazz bass (thanks Jaco), but I have to say Marcus Miller's MusicMan fretless on Afrodeezia sounds pretty amazing. Then again...any bass Marcus plays sounds pretty amazing...

 

[micguy]

I built a bass recently with a J neck pickup, and a MM in the sweet spot. It had this obnoxious mid range that just didn't work for me at all. The I started to think about what I really like in a fretless. Hmmmm.......I bought a fretless neck, put it on, and voila...I donated my other fretless (6that I'd had for 35 years. Truth be told, though, I only use half the MM pickup, though, so I'm not sure if that's really a "Stingray" vote or not - the wiring is rather..different to what a Ray has.

 

[FrenchBassQC]

Jazz all the way...

 

[Ballin'bass]

I genuinely did try to help. I think rethinking your approach is the best way to get what you want.

frets or fretless are a feature of the neck. Pick which you like best between a P and J neck, buy that fretless. then put it on bodies with different pup configs and see what you like best. you may ultimately have wasted some time/money/effort in getting the neck I suggest as you may find a different neck ultimately you like better, but this is the best way to start.

sorry, I didn't mean to be harsh. To clarify, I already have a fretless and I love it. I'm just trying to get a feel for what others perceive as "THE fretless tone".

I built a bass recently with a J neck pickup, and a MM in the sweet spot. It had this obnoxious mid range that just didn't work for me at all. The I started to think about what I really like in a fretless. Hmmmm.......I bought a fretless neck, put it on, and voila...I donated my other fretless (6that I'd had for 35 years. Truth be told, though, I only use half the MM pickup, though, so I'm not sure if that's really a "Stingray" vote or not - the wiring is rather..different to what a Ray has.

I had the inclination to do that with my Modulus Quantum 4 Turbo, either defret and convert it, or somehow find a fretless quantum 4 neck and swap it out (more likely the former). The pickup placement is really mid rangey but it would be ideal for a FL. But it would cost far too much money for my humble pocket book. I have been spending way too much on basses and need to start recouping some of that money rather than losing more. But... Something tells me this bass would be heaven if it was fretless

Modulus Quantum 4 Turbo

• Ballin'bass
• Aug 21, 2015
• modulus q4 quantum turbo

1996 Modulus Quantum 4 Turbo w/Nordstrand big split pickups, John East U-retro deluxe preamp...

 

[ShirazBop]

Love my converted Fretless P with a dual humbucker in the J position. I had a Jaco Artist series Fender J that was sublime sounding as well, but not as saturated sounding as my converted P. This picture has a fretted neck on her that has since been sold. The original maple board had been de-fretted and epoxy filled by Pyramid Guitars of Detroit back in the late 70's
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[cheechi]

what others perceive as "THE fretless tone".

The Jaco tone is more or less 'THE fretless tone'.

 

[rob2966]

My only fretless bass is a Rob Allen MB-2 5 string, piezo pickup only. Nylon wrapped strings, does a nice job of faking the DB tones.

If I was to buy something a bit more "standard" in the fretless realm, I would probably look for a nice Pedulla Pentabuzz.

Later
Rob

 

[josiah goldfish]

Soapbar or P pickup in the bridge position, except I build fretlesses with the bridge pickup slightly towards the neck to achieve a slightly different sound.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Piezo all the way. All three of my fretless basses are piezo loaded basses.
Rob Allen Mouse
Takamine B10
Upright Bass.

 

[brianrost]

Other: piezo