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Help me choose a fretless

#22
jdaunt said:
As a lockdown project i pulled the frets out of my Ibanez TMB100 that i never play anymore, and love it! But my work was pretty shoddy, so i’m looking to upgrade to a “real” fretless. Looking at the Squier Classic Vibe 60s fretless Jazz or the Fender Player Fretless Jazz Pau Ferro. Prefer the Polar White color option of the Fender, but wonder if the MIM is really worth the $300 more than the Squier-which i’ve read very good things about.
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Man, the best bass for the least amount of money I own is a parts bass. I put together a P bass that weighs under 8 pounds, has a DiMarzio PAF era pickup, Hipshot Ultralite tuners, an Emerson wiring harness, and plays like a dream. All I did was bolt it together and solder the pickups. (Eventually I invested in a good setup for it.)

I have well under $500 in the whole project. ($425 if I recall.)

I bought the body, pickups, guard, and neck used here on TalkBass. Tuners and wiring harness were new.

The best part is that it was FUN!!! Not to mention it's exactly how I wanted it. My best friend is a guitar teacher with a few beginner bass students. He teaches on it. He has offered me a LOT more money than I have in it to buy the bass. Everyone who plays it makes me an offer on it.

Start hunting in our Parts and Accessories For Sale forum. Your vision for a jdaunt Signature model fretless will become clear soon.
 
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#23
jdaunt said:
As a lockdown project i pulled the frets out of my Ibanez TMB100 that i never play anymore, and love it! But my work was pretty shoddy, so i’m looking to upgrade to a “real” fretless. Looking at the Squier Classic Vibe 60s fretless Jazz or the Fender Player Fretless Jazz Pau Ferro. Prefer the Polar White color option of the Fender, but wonder if the MIM is really worth the $300 more than the Squier-which i’ve read very good things about.
Click to expand...

if you like the TMB100, an alternative could be to get the job finished properly. If it's not a lacquered fingerboard it would not cost much to sort the fret slots with filler/veneer and get the fingerboard planed and the nut cut low...
I've had that done for well under $100 and love the results.
 
#25
SteveCS said:
There is a whole bunch of Squier CV fretless basses out there (Jazzes and Precisions) with really bad ebanol fingerboards - with deeply rippled surfaces and raised lines - so I would recommend try before you buy with those, and maybe be prepared to add a few $$ to the overall cost to get the fingerboard properly levelled...
Click to expand...

The current Squier Classic Vibe ‘60s Jazz Bass has an "Indian Laurel" real wood fingerboard. I set one up with LaBella flats and EMG pickups, and was impressed with the bass. Fit and finish, and pickup shielding, were both very, very good for a $400 instrument.
 
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#26
The Ibanez basses shared in this thread look awesome...and I find myself tempted as well. I suspect the SRF705 sounds and plays great. I want to see if I can find one to try at my local shop. I have an FBASS AC6 and I love it, but with the ebony bridge and body chambers it does not have as much of the compressed sound of a solid body with metal bridge.
 
#29
Thanks for all the input everybody! I ended up going with the MIM, although i was quite intrigued by the Ibanez that was brought up here, but decided to stick with what i know a bit better (had an American Standard Jazz until about a year ago). Supposed to be delivered Monday, can’t wait to get it, put the new GHS Pressurewounds i also ordered on and have some fretless fun!
 

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