Anyone know why Fender never went back to offering an all-maple (maple fingerboard) fretless ?
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Fretless Precision
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
As far as why a fretless precision, it's just a different sound and feel from a fretless Jazz. Some of us love it. As Dr Cheese says, a Jazz bridge pickup is only one fretless tone out of many, not THE fretless tone. It's by far my least favorite, as a matter of fact, and I play fretless pretty much exclusively. Everyone should chase the tone that's in their head. For some, that tone is a fretless Precision. For others, it's a Jazz bridge pickup. For others it's a fretless Stingray. Why does it matter what anyone else prefers?
Probably because maple is so soft that you have to coat the fingerboard or it will be destroyed pretty quickly. I love fretless maple fingerboards, but the properties of the wood are not the most suitable, without the help of a coating.
This is stupid and shallow, but I hate the way modern fender tuners look from face on, with the small tapered posts. The classic Kluson style tuners looks so much better.
Fernando Saunders on fretless maple board P bass
and John doing some nice banjo work
Fernando sings on this one with more fretless P bass
Sorry 'nother one, I just dig Fernando's fretless P tone on this album
and John doing some nice banjo work
Fernando sings on this one with more fretless P bass
Sorry 'nother one, I just dig Fernando's fretless P tone on this album
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Leo Fender didn’t play bass.
Sounds ok, but i think the fretless is more for a j-type, soupbar and humbucker. Who knows, maybe i am wrong.
It must really grind your gears when someone uses a JAZZ bass on a rock, country, funk, pop or reggae gig
Had a fretless Pbass in the seventies (black with maple neck). Used it for about a year or so - gigs and recording sessions. It was fun but ultimately I preferred the fretted Pbass .
You are not wrong; you just like what you like.
This one makes me smile. The neck lived on a Jazz Bass for 40 years, but was happy to slide into this MIM P. It already had the tortoise and knobs, I just had to add the tug bar.
That is one good looking bass!
Thanks, It distracts people so that they don't notice how funny lookin' I am
I dig the sound of a fretless P or J with both pups up full. The J bridge pup solo'ed was great for Jaco, but it's far too nasal to tickle my tympani the way I like best.
I LOVE fretless Ps. Well, I love the way they sound, not so much the way they look or feel. So I built a fretless Jazz with P pickup and controls. Poifect!
Digging that first track with there rosewood fretless. Excellent tone.
I agree with Dr. Cheese. There isn't one standard fretless tone. Like Inara and others, I also don't prefer the bridge pickup jazz bass tone. It sounds nice at home and with a flanger or chorus, but doesn't work in my rock band at all. I prefer a thicker sound that offers more support. I always use nickel round wounds, DR Sunbeams are my current favorite. Flats just don't give me enough of that singing quality that I like and I don't like the way that they feel when I glissando from note to note. When my fingerboard gets worn, I have it dressed. It just goes with the territory.
