I want a fretless, input needed

[Dan Knowlton]

Not worth the trouble. If you're intent on a new bass anyway, get one that was born a fretless.

I disagree here - it is relatively inexpensive to get one changed from fretted to fretless and I would much rather find a bass I liked (feel and tone) and change it than search for a much rarer fretless.

To convert it to fretless all the luthier does is pull the frets, fill them in and level the fingerboard and cut the nut slots down a bit lower. The last one I got done was much less than $200.

Dan K.

 

[bassteban]

IME, a defret can alter the tone quite a bit; potentially changing from * the tone* to *tone* or worse. Cases in point: I bought the P in my avatar as a defret(meh tone), refretted it & got great tone. I defretted a Washburn AB-20; went from *meh* to *I really like it*.
Lastly(for now)if a defret costs more than the original price of the bass, IMO it's better to find an already fretless ax. My 20 more cents.

 

[mike1762]

I was doing some studio work and needed a fretless for just this 1 song. I didn't really want to spend a bunch of money on it, but I didn't want a log with strings either. I wound up getting a Schecter Stiletto. It was comfortable, reasonably priced, and got the job done. Be careful about spending too much money on something that deviates significantly from what you are used to (as with fretted vs fretless). It's going to be weird initially. Therefore, before you spend a bunch of money be sure it holds it's appeal after the novelty wears off.

 

[NWB]

Another vote here for Fender MIJ used or the current MIM model is a good buy for the money also.

Warmoth build is another option which would allow you to build on with the MM pup you're used to. Another option is Clement bass. I just had a fretless built with a MM pup and although a 4 string from him might push the limits of your budget, you'd have a fine bass.

Yessir. Same thing here. Clement. A really great bass for not too much $$$. Also, I found the transition to playing fretless to be quite easy. I wish I had done it years ago. It's heaps of fun to do and I quite recommend it.

 

[LAPetrarca]

I hardly think it is the best fretless made. But it is an extremely good value, I have one and love it.

+1

I brought mine to my Tech to have a look at after I got it. He commented on how far Squier has come recently in their quality. He said my VM Fretless Jazz (a Squier in general) is on par with MIM Jazz basses now.....and for alot less money.

He said the MIM's and the Indonesian builds are using the same body parts as well as the same equipment and machinery to build their basses. The biggest difference is that the MIM's and Indonesian builds use whatever materials are delivered to the loading dock to build guitars (or basses) whereas Fender MIA's are pre-sorted and selected in the field prior to delivery.

All in all, it means you may have to kiss a few more frogs before you find a Prince but, in terms of build quility, they're getting VERY good!

I'm lovin' mine...ALOT!