hey guys, i've recently gotten into reggae crossover rock music and I am trying to find a good fretless p-bass. I'm leaning towards the less expensive gary willis ibanez, but can you guys put in your input. I have only been playing for three years and need help from professionals.
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fretless p-bass
- Thread starter aFrknPuertoRica
- Start date
Hi Victor,
I am unclear on exactly what you mean by "P Bass." To me, a P Bass is a Fender Precision bass (or something in the same style by a different company), not an Ibanez Gary Willis.
Most Fender-style fretless basses tend to be Jazz style, not Precision. However, there are some out there. At the low end is the SX: Link Removed
And closer to your $1000 limit is the Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Also remember that you can buy a fretted P bass and either have it defretted or purchase a replacement fretless neck.
Good luck!
I am unclear on exactly what you mean by "P Bass." To me, a P Bass is a Fender Precision bass (or something in the same style by a different company), not an Ibanez Gary Willis.
Most Fender-style fretless basses tend to be Jazz style, not Precision. However, there are some out there. At the low end is the SX: Link Removed
And closer to your $1000 limit is the Lakland Skyline Bob Glaub: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Also remember that you can buy a fretted P bass and either have it defretted or purchase a replacement fretless neck.
Good luck!
That's exactly what I did: a Fender MIM Standard FSR P, $450; Warmoth fretless neck (including nut, finish and shipping), $292; Basslines Quarter Pound, $60; Schaller tuners and string tree (including shipping), $75 and a set of Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats, $81 for a total of $958.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19652150@N02/2068468907/
It's the only bass I'm playing these days: looks killer, sounds killer, plays killer. I love it.
Note that you can order a lined fretless fingerboard as well.
Getting the SX, would all you'd need to change is the neck (I'm sure its pretty fragile) and the pickups? If so, I'd jump alllll over that lol
Hi Mr Sore Fingerz, I am the one who made the "my SX fretless has a delicate neck" comment in a different thread. Since I made that post, I have made some truss rod adjustments that helped a lot, so I retracted that statement.
My other fretless has a 5 piece neck with 2 truss rods and steel bars. Perhaps I was making an unfair comparison!
Setup is very delicate on a fretless. In order to get that "mwah" sound, you have to set the action just right.
IMHO, the pickups on my SX J are slightly above average (at any price). There are many people who swap pickups, but there are also many people who keep them stock. For what it's worth, a lot of people will tell you that keeping the stock pickups and upgrading the wiring harness (or installing an active preamp) is a bigger improvement than swapping the PU's.
I have a (fretted) SX P coming in the mail today, once it arrives, I will let you know what I think of the P pickup. I would imagine it is also good quality, and also that the neck, being beefier, is a little stiffer.
Ishibashi was selling a natural ash P w unlined maple fingerboard last year before Fender told them they couldn't sell new Fender Japan instruments outside their market area. Broke my heart, and made me determined to build my own.
Thank you. I love it...as noted above, I saw one at Ishibashi's website and fell head over heels for the look. Yes, it's a maple unlined fingerboard. Plays like a dream, sounds so cool even I sound good on it.
Curious, is the maple fingerboard finished or not, and if so, did it come that way from Warmoth or did you do it yourself/have it done elsewhere?
I grew up watching Freebo play that P-bass. ( Boston 1970's)
He was big influence In me getting a fretless P-bass.
Indeed, It sounded great.
This was pre-Jaco, fat, round, upright, tone.
Search eBay... fretless Precisions from the mid 90's pop up from time to time for under a grand. I miss my old one, one of the best basses I've ever played.
Yeah, definitely finished! Being realistic about my own abilities, I had Warmoth do it...gloss all over the neck & fingerboard. I'm keeping an eye on it to see how it marks up. I'm not anal about such things, but it sure is pretty.
I think I said I have it strung with flats.
