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Fretless P advice.

strost

strost

Oct 2, 2008
960
1,908
Madison, WI
#1
Hi All,

So I am gassing for a fretless P (or PJ). I loves me my G&L JB and am looking hard at G&L SB-1 and LB-100 but I'm open to other suggestions.

So, other than Tony Franklins and Precisions from the 70s , what should I look at? (looking to stay under $1500)

If it matters, I'd play flats and am mostly looking for that old school phat funk/soul sound.

Thanks!
Steve
 
#4
Not sure on Precision fretless. However two players who used fretless in the setting you mention are Boz Burrell (Bad Company - on tracks like Feel Like Making Love and I Can't Get Enough of your Love) and Pino Palladino with Paul Young (Wherever I Lay my Hat is my home and others) - he can be seen playing with Paul Young on the Live Aid DVD.

Boz Burrell is seen in TV footage playing a natural P bass with a fretless unlined maple board. Pino plays a 2 band pre EB Stingray. I'm not sure if a fretless non maple board would make much difference to a P with flats - it may lower high frequencies? A 3 band fretless Ray with appropriate skill will give you the Pino sound and old school funk straight out of the box with the addition of being able to play it with a non fretless and slap sound (Pino does this on the Live Aid DVD through a Trace Elliott rig).

Best of luck with your quest for a decent fretless. I got my fretless Ray on EBay for a good price and it's superb.
 
#5
It looks like you're looking for something high end, but I once had a Yamaha rbx260f that sounded great. It was just a p pickup, not the pj that most rbx's have. Great neck and a great sound for $80 off craigslist. Worth considering.
 
#6
I have a parts bass '75 rosewood and a '77 parts bass maple, both great basses! My '75 in action!
JOHNNYSMOKEBuffaloNYwaterfront8-19-13102.jpg
 
#8
I've seen Tony Franklin Fenders at decent prices occasionally.

I have owned a few Carvins fretlesses and they are awesome. They now make a P-P/J in a fretless that is well below your budget, even tricked out . I have a Carvin B25 fretless on order as I've finally decided that the neck of that bass is my favorite of he Carvins. But alas, no P/J config available on that one... :(
 
#9
Cool whatever makes you happy! I don't consider myself a fretless player, played upright in college ('80-'83) for a few semesters. Didn't touch another fretless bass until about '09. It is a wonderful sonic option. I use it on our Bad Co. tunes and a few others. I'm no Jaco and don't care to be, Boz is my benchmark.
 
#10
If you don't mind going the way of a parts bass, have the skills and patients to wait for the right prices/pieces you can build a hell of a bass on the cheap.

My '72 necked fretless came in pretty cheap at just over 600 for the whole bass.
It did take a couple years of parts hording though.
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#12
GAAAAAAASSSSSSS!
I just realized via Google images that G&L offered a fretless version of the L1000

I had a bass player let me fool around on a fretted one a couple years ago and the thing is still stuck in my head!
 
#14
Definitely worth taking your time and shopping the TB classifieds. I have a USA G&L L2000 with a fretless neck that was added after the fact (it was made by a custom shop in AZ). I have just over $500 into it. Although the body is a bit beat up, it sounds great! Strung with black tapewound strings.....
 
#17
bherman said:
Definitely worth taking your time and shopping the TB classifieds. I have a USA G&L L2000 with a fretless neck that was added after the fact (it was made by a custom shop in AZ). I have just over $500 into it. Although the body is a bit beat up, it sounds great! Strung with black tapewound strings.....
Click to expand...

Glad you're enjoying it! I was the previous owner and I prefer a jazz width neck for fretless. Having said that, G&L makes fantastic instruments and my fretted SB-1 is my favorite P-Bass I've ever played. A fretless version would be pretty sweet, although I also love my fretless Gamma Alpha. The Gamma, however, isn't in the same class as the G&L in either build quality or price, but still sounds and plays fantastically.
 

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