I’m thinking about upgrading/change fretless basses, and wanted to get some opinions from you fine TBers. I’ve had a MIJ Fender Jazz fretless for a couple of years now, basically stock but for Fender noiseless pickups and a Hipshot vintage bridge. I’ve had flats on it since I got it, and for the most part dug it for its old-school thumpy tone.
But now I’m learning towards more of a round wound tone – think all the bass stuff on Pearl Jam’s Ten album. So, I tried a set of DR Sunbeams on it, and while I really wanted to like the sound, I didn’t – it was almost too growly, and the bass had this weird buzz/borderline distortion thing going on. It was well beyond ‘mwah’; and to make sure it wasn’t just a string height thing, I raised the action quite a bit and it was still there. So I put the flats back on it (and put the Sunbeams another bass and really dig them on that one) and put the action back to where it was. Yes, I know if I took it to a shop they could probably figure out what’s going on, but see the next paragraph…
There are also a couple of playability things about the Fender that I’d like to not have on another fretless. First, this bass has a ’62 neck profile with a 7.25” radius – my two other main basses have 12” and 14”, and while I can go back and forth pretty easily, I do prefer the flatter boards. Second, when I play over the pickups, because the action is low on the fretless my fingers grab the exposed pole pieces on the pickups from time to time. That doesn’t happen on my Modulus, G&L, or Peavey, because nothing sticks out to grab your fingertips.
Some of the options I’m considering are G&L MJ-4/5 or L-2000/2500 (I have an M-2000, and love it, but think I want a bit more variation in tone for a fretless), or Carvin Vanquish, Bromberg or Icon – or possibly LB-70 if I went 5-string, since I prefer 17mm spacing on a 5er. I’d also consider a Modulus VJ fretless, but those are getting hard to find. Any thoughts or experiences with any of these in fretless form? Any other ‘you should definitely try this’ suggestions for a solid, fairly-sonically-versatile fretless option under, say, $1,700?
But now I’m learning towards more of a round wound tone – think all the bass stuff on Pearl Jam’s Ten album. So, I tried a set of DR Sunbeams on it, and while I really wanted to like the sound, I didn’t – it was almost too growly, and the bass had this weird buzz/borderline distortion thing going on. It was well beyond ‘mwah’; and to make sure it wasn’t just a string height thing, I raised the action quite a bit and it was still there. So I put the flats back on it (and put the Sunbeams another bass and really dig them on that one) and put the action back to where it was. Yes, I know if I took it to a shop they could probably figure out what’s going on, but see the next paragraph…
There are also a couple of playability things about the Fender that I’d like to not have on another fretless. First, this bass has a ’62 neck profile with a 7.25” radius – my two other main basses have 12” and 14”, and while I can go back and forth pretty easily, I do prefer the flatter boards. Second, when I play over the pickups, because the action is low on the fretless my fingers grab the exposed pole pieces on the pickups from time to time. That doesn’t happen on my Modulus, G&L, or Peavey, because nothing sticks out to grab your fingertips.
Some of the options I’m considering are G&L MJ-4/5 or L-2000/2500 (I have an M-2000, and love it, but think I want a bit more variation in tone for a fretless), or Carvin Vanquish, Bromberg or Icon – or possibly LB-70 if I went 5-string, since I prefer 17mm spacing on a 5er. I’d also consider a Modulus VJ fretless, but those are getting hard to find. Any thoughts or experiences with any of these in fretless form? Any other ‘you should definitely try this’ suggestions for a solid, fairly-sonically-versatile fretless option under, say, $1,700?
