I played a few over the years in shops. They’re a great fretless for sure. Super well made.
I play a couple of Maton acoustics and like them plenty.
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Fretless memories from days gone by?
- Thread starter CaribooBass
- Start date
I play a couple of Maton acoustics and like them plenty.
There’s a prevailing perception as to the role and tone of the fretless electric bass. Here’s a little something that highlights the importance of the player over the instrument.
Have never played one, but would be very interested in a fretless Music Man Sabre.
If you didn't know it already, that is an Ampeg AUB-1, which was introduced in July 1966. It was the first production fretless electric bass guitar, pre-dating Fender by a few years. The AUB-1 had many innovations in its design and construction, in addition to being fretless. It was intended to appeal to upright bass players, mostly jazz guys, who wanted something more portable.
I was a hard core DB player, especially back in those days (yup, I’m pretty darn old
), and the AUB-1 had the best electric bass neck I had ever played up to that point in time, far superior to the later Fender offerings. I also had, at that same time, a Baby Bass and a B-15 … never should have sold any of those
That must be a very low serial number, 2 digit even?
I would very much enjoy a whirl on a Fretless L2
I sold my car and purchased this ‘75 Alembic S1 LSB in 1976, along with a carved student Kolstein upright.
Within a year, I had the frets removed at Fiddlers Music on Mack Ave in Detroit. Mainly, I was playing Jazz at the time, and figured that my intonation on the upright would help with the fretless bass guitar. which it did; but, the (non) ergonomics of Alembic design sorely tested that skill set. The frets stayed out for the next decade, and I gigged that as my only bass guitar during that time.
In 1987, and with a real job to support the family, I had the frets replaced at Elderly Instruments in Lansing; and at the time replaced my fretless needs with a Warmoth build, done by Brian Galloup at the Guitar Hospital in Big Rapids. Brian had also done a refin of my $275 trashed 62 Jazz, which I still play.
After three years gigging the Warmoth Jazz as House Bass at a Blues Open Mic Jam, I replaced that bass with a Pedulla Thunder Buzz ET5; which was a wonderful bass. Unfortunately, I lost track of that bass in flipping confusion trying to get a better upright. Whole nother thread about that bass, which has actually resold a couple times here on TB.
There were several others, MIM Jazz, Fernandez 5, an amazing Zon Sonus 4; but, all disappeared in the flip vortex.
Anyhow, around 2010, I acquired my current fretless, a mid 90’s Zon Sonus Special 5. After upgrading that bass to the Pope preamp, it has become my final fretless. It is close to 30 years old now; so, perhaps that qualifies as “yesteryear.” Anyhow, that’s where I landed. Fantastic instrument.
Within a year, I had the frets removed at Fiddlers Music on Mack Ave in Detroit. Mainly, I was playing Jazz at the time, and figured that my intonation on the upright would help with the fretless bass guitar. which it did; but, the (non) ergonomics of Alembic design sorely tested that skill set. The frets stayed out for the next decade, and I gigged that as my only bass guitar during that time.
In 1987, and with a real job to support the family, I had the frets replaced at Elderly Instruments in Lansing; and at the time replaced my fretless needs with a Warmoth build, done by Brian Galloup at the Guitar Hospital in Big Rapids. Brian had also done a refin of my $275 trashed 62 Jazz, which I still play.
After three years gigging the Warmoth Jazz as House Bass at a Blues Open Mic Jam, I replaced that bass with a Pedulla Thunder Buzz ET5; which was a wonderful bass. Unfortunately, I lost track of that bass in flipping confusion trying to get a better upright. Whole nother thread about that bass, which has actually resold a couple times here on TB.
There were several others, MIM Jazz, Fernandez 5, an amazing Zon Sonus 4; but, all disappeared in the flip vortex.
Anyhow, around 2010, I acquired my current fretless, a mid 90’s Zon Sonus Special 5. After upgrading that bass to the Pope preamp, it has become my final fretless. It is close to 30 years old now; so, perhaps that qualifies as “yesteryear.” Anyhow, that’s where I landed. Fantastic instrument.
fwiw Mike Pedulla was making/selling Buzz Basses as early as 1977, possibly '76. They weren't nearly as elegant as what they evolved into by the mid-1980s, but they had the same general body shape and Mike's brilliant fingerboard coating (which itself evolved several times over the course of the company's lifetime).
Thinking back to the late 70s reminds me of a couple other exquisite fretless basses I had the good fortune to try: A Spector NS-2 prototype (!) and a '76 Carl Thompson. Both were super comfortable, amazing sounding...and way more bass than 17-year-old me was capable of handling at the time.
That sounds very plausible; I don't think I ever saw anything other than 4-string basses from Pedulla until the mid-1980s.
I am on the verge of buying a Maton JB 4 fretless much like this one. What are the role of the 2 switches?
I had an Ibanez Musician fretless back in the 80's (the previous owner had converted it from fretted). It's the instrument that really got me going on fretless. It was a great bass: ebony fretboard, active electronics, wonderful neck. A bit on the heavy side. I've owned quite a few fretlesses after that. Was it the best fretless I ever owned? No. Would it still hold up today? Definitely yes.
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