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I'm Thinking of a Fretless

#21
Phoenix1 said:
I'm a P bass player for 50+ years and am thinking of buying my first fretless. The Player fretless looks good, but I wonder if something more would make me happier. The Jaco model will obviously mot make me play like him, but are there advantages to spending more money? A few Ibbies look pretty good too>
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How picky are you about the quality / ergonomics of the basses you play?

I'd echo the comment of others to buy a used fretless to give it a go. Then if you're diggin' it sell it and upgrade to the one you want (Tony Franklin?).

And by all means get a 2 pickup bass. With fretless there seems to be two tones that really work. One is the neck pickup tone - full, warm, deep. Sort of like a P bass but with less upper edge due to having no frets. But there is an upper midrange focused tone that comes only from having a pickup closer to the bridge. That burpy Jaco sound. It is great to have both voices available as sometimes the music just calls for one or the other.

I'll put in a plug for the Ibanez GWB35 (Ibanez Gary Willis Signature GWB35 Fretless Bass Guitar - Black Flat). It is a great playing & sounding bass at a fair price. I bought one used before deciding I wanted to jump back into fretless with both feet. Would have kept it but I just can't play a 5 due to arthritis issues. If they made a 4 string version I would have stayed with it. Yes, it is a single pickup bass but the pickup is shifted closer to the bridge to bring out more of the midrange and it works.

I also played and almost bought the Portamento (Ibanez Bass Workshop SRF700 Fretless Bass Guitar - Brown Burst Flat) but at the time struggled with no lines. Looking back I think maybe I should have just done it.

I ended up building and loving a fretless Warmoth J with a lined fingerboard. Ironically, I'm in the process of swapping the neck to unlined for the cooler look and added challenge.
 
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#22
Oh yeah, don't wig out about intonation when you try one out at a shop. Not everyone or every factory sets bridges correctly so it may be off a few cents. Don't worry, it's as easy as on a fretted bass. Slap a line of painter tape at the center octave and adjust the bridge to that line. Remove the tape. Painters tape won't leave any residue on your wood. Have fun looking.
 
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#23
Phoenix1 said:
I'm a P bass player for 50+ years and am thinking of buying my first fretless. The Player fretless looks good, but I wonder if something more would make me happier. The Jaco model will obviously mot make me play like him, but are there advantages to spending more money? A few Ibbies look pretty good too>
Click to expand...

If you want the most seamless transition to fretless, get a Squier or Fender P fretless since you are familiar with a P neck/feel.
 
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#24
Unlined looks way cooler — but you wouldn't catch me trying to add that complexity into my life. I have two lined fretless basses — including a coveted Rob Allen that appears almost exclusively lined out of his shop. Better to sound good than to look good, IMHO. Almost no learning curve with lines.
 
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#25
Try as many as you can. IMHumbleO fretless instruments can be even more sensitive to how they feel and what you can pull out of them then a fretted instrument. They can be very expressive instruments especially if you connect with the right one. It could be anything from a $100 Rogue to a $2k+ used Pedulla.
 
#26
filmtex said:
I wanted to try a fretless a few years ago but really didn't have the budget for one. Spotted a Squier Vintage Modified fretless Precision for what amounted to chump change and ordered it sight unseen. I've had a blast with it. Build quality was very good, and it plays easily. And it always gets good reviews from fellow players when I use it, most commenting on how good it sounds. Just my 2 cents. YMMV.
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I have always wanted to check out the Squier Vintage Modified Fretless basses. They seem well made and the price is great, especially for a first fretless (my only quibble is that I don't like lined fretless fingerboards). Unfortunately, being a lefty has put the kibosh on ever purchasing one.
 
#30
Phoenix1 said:
I'm a P bass player for 50+ years and am thinking of buying my first fretless.
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:thumbsup:

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JIO said:
If you want the most seamless transition to fretless, get a Squier or Fender P fretless since you are familiar with a P neck/feel.
Click to expand...
 
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#32
Phoenix1 said:
I'm a P bass player for 50+ years and am thinking of buying my first fretless. The Player fretless looks good, but I wonder if something more would make me happier. The Jaco model will obviously mot make me play like him, but are there advantages to spending more money? A few Ibbies look pretty good too>
Click to expand...

I have 2 of the Fender jaco artists and just got a Tony Franklin P bass yesterday. I don't have these basses anymore, but I had a FL G&L L2000 for 20 years (it was what I taught myself FL playing on) and 3 different Carvin FLs. And few others here and there that I can't remember.

I'd say the main thing you want to try to get is either an unlined fingerboard or if it's lined, get one that has a hard finish over the board itself.
Meaning, try to avoid a bare wood lined fingerboard (with the inserts in slots cut in the board). I won't go into all the nightmare you can have with that here. It will just start a big argument besides :). So just, that's my personal experience and advice and I'll leave it at that for now.

However, the main drawback of these two options is availability. Both are rare as hens teeth, especially in a budget bass, and often you have to go custom order for a ton of money and 6 month wait, or you have to go used and try to sift through to find one that's exactly what you want, which takes forever and fails very frequently.

But, I'll talk about the two readily available options I do have experience with:

On the Fender jaco artist, what the $1800 buys you is the fingerboard. It's lined, but it's also got a hard but thin poly finish on the board, which is what you want on a lined FL. And it's the most well done lined FL you can probably get for $1800. Otherwise, it's basically just a '62 jazz bass with this superbly well done fingerboard on it. But that neck/fingerboard is what the money really buys you.

On the Tony Franklin, what the $1700 buys you is a 70's P/J with an unlined ebony fingerboard on it. It's a true P bass with a bridge PU and an actual unlined ebony fingerboard. Now, I only just got mine yesterday, but I've had a number of unlined FL basses over the years and the Tony Franklin so far seems as well done as any of the others I've owned. And so far, no surprises.

For you the TF would probably be a good option, since you've already been playing Precision basses for quite a while. This wouldn't be a big learning curve other than just getting used to no frets.

The drawback on both of course, even though availability is good, is the cost. But then again, to really get a fingerboard that doesn't evetually over the long-term end up driving you up the wall, you kinda sorta have to look at spending around $1500. Or waiting around forever for a bass you want to come along on Reverb or wherever with an unlined board on it. I recommend the former if possible.

Or you could go DIY and build a Warmoth or something like that for about half that. The drawback being you'd have to build it yourself and the resale would be virtually nil...

Anyway, those are my initial thoughts....

L
 
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#35
I have owned and sold two fretless basses. One was a G and L ASAT bass, and the other was a Fender CIJ Jazz. Were they amazing instruments? Not really.

The G and L was impressive in its quality and build, but I think the weak spot was the electronics. They have three knobs and three dip switches. I am of the school that the more switches and knobs between the pickups only seems to make it harder to get a good sound. But that is just me.

The Fender was fun to noodle around, but I found myself just trying to play regular fretted bass lines on it because...a fretless sound or style doesn't fit all types of music.

I am not well-travelled in fretless basses, and I don't have a wide experience with them. But the Squier Jaco was really cool fun to play. The fingerboard is some weird material that makes it brighter I think. Back when I worked at a music store, we had a Schecter SB1 fretless. That was a great playing bass for around 4-500.

My take is that unless you are going to make fretless your main gig, go with something cheap to get your feet wet. Don't sweat the lines either.
 
#36
I like the neck profile on the Player Ps. Wide neck with a modern c shape is a real winner for me. My only concern is that pickup might not be vibrant enough to give you the fretless tone you are dreaming of ... but I'm sure of you play Ps you will like the feel of it, and you can upgrade the pickup.
 

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