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Fretless P advice.

#21
The parts thing is a great options. I briefly had a tony franklin. They are great basses but really noisy. The J pickup is wound to Tony's specifications and they are really noisy. The P pickup is quiet as quiet can be. If you play in just the P position probably the best fretless p on the market. I just could not take the humming from the J pickup. It is as loud as when you have one jazz pickup all the way up the other off.
 
#23
inthebassclef said:
The parts thing is a great options. I briefly had a tony franklin. They are great basses but really noisy. The J pickup is wound to Tony's specifications and they are really noisy. The P pickup is quiet as quiet can be. If you play in just the P position probably the best fretless p on the market. I just could not take the humming from the J pickup. It is as loud as when you have one jazz pickup all the way up the other off.
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This is good to know. I have a fretless MIM Jazz and I cannot stand the hum on the soloed pups (but I love the sound of each of them soloed).

Also, it's useful to mention here that I think I'm a dedicated passive guy.

Does the SB-2 hum? I need to go play one.
 
#25
Have you considered building your own? Check out ebay. You can design and assemble your own custom bass using standard sized parts of any quality (from bargain basement used cheap to top of the line boutique expensive). The beauty of it is that you decide what your budget is, where you want to splurge and where you want to conserve. You don't have to be a skilled luthier, either, if you stick to universally sized parts (i.e. "fits Fender"...). Not only that, you can pick out your own color scheme and make your bass YOUR BASS. Good luck and happy hunting. P.S. A fretless RIC 4003 isn't a bad choice if you have the moolah.
 
#26
This may sound insane, but you may also want to check out some of the japanese copies (lawsuit) basses. I bought a $103.00 Hohner P/J fretless at Building 19 a few years ago with the idea of using it for parts and when I got it home and plugged it in (just to see if the electronics worked) I almost fell over. It sounds better than both of my Fenders. There are some great basses out there hiding under assumed names. Don't be snobbish and let the writing on a headstock keep you from owning a killer bass.
 
#28
Hello all, as to not waste space on a new thread, I have a similar question as the TC. I am looking to start playing fretless basses and I have my sights set on at a Squier VM P fretless (due to rave reviews on the VM series). I was wondering what pickups I should use for them. I currently play in an indie/alternative rock band, and I want a stand up-bass tone except with a little bit more note definition.
 
#29
Churros007 said:
Hello all, as to not waste space on a new thread, I have a similar question as the TC. I am looking to start playing fretless basses and I have my sights set on at a Squier VM P fretless (due to rave reviews on the VM series). I was wondering what pickups I should use for them. I currently play in an indie/alternative rock band, and I want a stand up-bass tone except with a little bit more note definition.
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I'd start with the stock pickups - from what I've heard of them, they're not too bad. In my experience, the biggest variable to get the tone that you are looking for is the strings - try LaBella Black Tapewounds. I used them on my G&L fretless and they give me a nice organic, woody tone.
 
#30
Here's a shot of my Fender P with a Warmoth fretless neck.

FenderStandardPrecisionFSRfretless.jpg


I eventually put a fretted maple f/b neck on it and donated it to be auctioned at a benefit for a fellow musician.
 
#31
Fretless Fender P Basses became quite popular for a while with the release of 'Frampton Comes Alive', with that 'pearl, maple, black guard' (if I remember correctly) P pictured inside the album foldout or whatever.
 
#33
Churros007 said:
Hello all, as to not waste space on a new thread, I have a similar question as the TC. I am looking to start playing fretless basses and I have my sights set on at a Squier VM P fretless (due to rave reviews on the VM series). I was wondering what pickups I should use for them. I currently play in an indie/alternative rock band, and I want a stand up-bass tone except with a little bit more note definition.
Click to expand...

Read a little deeper on the VM series and whatever you do, do not buy one sight unseen. I bought one sight unseen based on the glowing reviews and it was a nightmare, I try to ensure nobody else has to go through the same hassles I did. After getting it I found lots of bad reviews. The necks are not sanded with a radius after they install the plastic strips for fretlines, so the plastic is all raised over the fretboard causing fretbuzz. This makes a good setup totally impossible, I like many, had to re-radius my neck which you may or may not be comfortable with. Apparently there are examples that come smooth from Fender but I have played about ten of them and every single one has the issue. My local music stores stopped carrying them a while ago, I would assume for this reason. There was a "worst bass you've played" thread a while ago and the VM fretless was one of the most mentioned basses.



strost said:
This is good to know. I have a fretless MIM Jazz and I cannot stand the hum on the soloed pups (but I love the sound of each of them soloed).

Also, it's useful to mention here that I think I'm a dedicated passive guy.

Does the SB-2 hum? I need to go play one.
Click to expand...


Are you shielding your basses? The difference in noise is negligible on my jazzes.
 
#35
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