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NBD: Maruszczyk Elwood Fretless

#49
J_Bass said:
Thank you!




Hello, thanks!
Well, with the fretted bass I play everything I like, different genres. Things like Rage Against the Machine, The Clash, Dire Straits, Green Day, some Blues, some Jaco, Herbie Hancock, Chic, things like that.

With the fretless I'm playing songs I already know, so that I can focus on the instrument and not on learning the song.

I love playing bass lines, but I also truly believe that the bass is a full grown instrument by now and I am looking forward to explore the fretless as a melodic, solo instrument. I have been listening to a lot of Michael Manring lately and I love the way he makes the instrument sing.

Now, I am focusing on playing correctly all the notes on Spain (Chick Corea) and The Chicken (Jaco). I know these tunes very well and I know how they are suppose to sound, so I am trying to get my fingers on the exact position on the fingerboard. I find that it's not so difficult to get the notes sound "alright", but I am already aware that it will take a long time to get it perfect. It's a difficult instrument, the fretless. Particularly above the 9th fret. The distance of the lines gets smaller very rapidly and if you are doing Continuum, for instance, you do the initial part of the melody on the 9th-11th frets, then, on the part you have to repeat the same melody one octave above, the space between the notes is very different, so it's difficult to get it perfect. This is just an example.

This is my objective for now, get to know the fingerboard, memorize the amount of stretching I have to do on the different parts of the fingerboard (1st-7th fret; 7th-12th, 12th-16th, 17th-21st). Stretching is not a problem for me, I have had classical formation on piano since I was a child, so I am used to it. Because of this, I learned to play the bass using the left hand like on the piano, all the fingers, one finger per fret. The problem is the amount of the stretch doesn't stay the same, I hope you understand what I'm trying to say.

After this I want to focus on some basic Bach and I want to learn So What with Miles solo. I want to learn these two songs, fresh on the fretless, but I need to know the instrument well before that.

With the fretless, when I'm noodling (I do this a lot, ahah), I am discovering a huge variety of tones! The right hand alone is capable of inumerous tones! I am learning how to play smoothly, on the fingerboard, for example. Also trying to get familiar with the natural harmonics and the "false" harmonics". When you do a simple 1/2 note riff like A-C-D-E-D-C-A (A on the 7th fret of the D string, the others on the G string), if you do a false harmonic above the neck pickup and don't move your right hand, the harmonics that resonate along with the "main notes" give a different riff that the main one. If you move the right hand accordingly to the left hand, then the false harmonics stay like the main riff. These are examples, and for most of you this isn't news at all, but I have never been able to do this so easily and so clear with a fretted bass.


So, yes, this is what I am finding fascinating about the fretless, no limits. I am seeing things on the instrument that I wasn't aware with the fretted bass. Even the 1/4 tones are insteresting!


I realized I went to long on the answer, ahah, I'm sorry about that!
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Thank you indeed for the detailed reply. Good you finally have a fretless! :thumbsup:
 
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#50
Do all of their fretless come with the black lines or was that a special request? I truly love that they have the markers above and the black lines. I see that their basic Elwood freless are about 850 euros was the build a lot more than that?

The reason I'm asking is I've been thinking hard about a fretless and nothing I'm coming across in the price range I want to spend is really ticking all the boxes and this definitely does including the nordstrands.
 
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#51
Iofflight said:
Do all of their fretless come with the black lines or was that a special request? I truly love that they have the markers above and the black lines. I see that their basic Elwood freless are about 850 euros was the build a lot more than that?

The reason I'm asking is I've been thinking hard about a fretless and nothing I'm coming across in the price range I want to spend is really ticking all the boxes and this definitely does including the nordstrands.
Click to expand...

Hello, I saw the black lines in a video of Adrien playing an acoustic. So I asked for something similar in mine.

Now that I have been playing the bass for a few weeks, I can tell that the lines are a great help, especially from the 9th fret to the 21st. From playing position you can see them very well. From the 1st to the 7-9th fret, I can't see them, but I can guide myself using the side lines.
Note that the silver side lines were painted by me, because they are black also. I painted over them with a pen. But that side of the board has glaze, so I can wipe them of if I want.


Well, the price of mine was a little different than the beginning price, ahah. The total was 1460 euros. The basic price of the Elwood is 990 euros though, not 850.

Here are the specs, you can build it with less money, of course:

IMG_20180220_073324.png IMG_20180220_073402.png

I later changed from 24 to 21 frets, and asked to add the black lines.

I think you can build it just adding the price of the pickups. All the other extras are cosmetic, I think.
 
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#54
J_Bass said:
Yes, 1460 euros, taxes included. And no shipping costs.


And a very nice strap as gift. And paper work written by hand by Adrien, certificate of authenticity and a nice book/magazine with all the bass and guitar models. Very nice. The standard gig bag is also included.
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That's good to know. I'd have pay more for the exchange rate but not VAT and probably shipping since I'm in the states.
 

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