NBD Wishbass headless fretless project

[jbybj]

This was a bass blank, unrouted, unfinished, no hardware, with an oversized maple body, that was custom ordered by a fella in my area. The original owner purchased the gold ABM headless tuner bridge, and electronics. Apparently he lost interest and never started the project. So I took it on, used my own elderly EMG Precision pup, and bought the matching gold ABM string anchors. Today, with the final adjustment to the nut, and the installation of new LaBella Gold Flats, I’m calling it done.

if you are interested in the process,
Wishbass headless fretless project

 

[Killing Floor]

Fun project. How does it play?

 

[Oren Hudson]

Different looking, but I like it. Same thing my wife said when we first met.

 

[jbybj]

Fun project. How does it play?

It’s delightful. One Wishbass feature is the absence of a truss rod. He says they sound better without one. I think it also fits his method of making his instruments quickly, to reduce cost. So how do you keep a neck from excessive flexing under string tension without a truss rod? Make it huge. This neck is 1” from front to back. I’ve had a bunch of Wishbasses and have always found the fat necks really comfortable. It’s easy to play with a very relaxed, low tension, left hand, while maintaining accuracy.

Based on some Talkbass advice, I cut the nut very low, almost flush with the fingerboard.

Then there is the Lobe body style. A typical Fender body puts the front strap button at the 12th fret. This Lobe has the front strap button at the 10th fret, so everything is shifted a little closer to my center of gravity.
All this combines to produce a really facile, natural feel under my left hand.

I spent over an hour today jamming and noodling, and didn’t really think about the action. I was having fun with microtones, and vibrato, and then making it sound as “fretted” as I could. I got lost in the tones, the playability was just there.

 

[jbybj]

Now it’s really finished, unlike my pedalboard.

Maybe if I played fretless exclusively, I could rely on muscle memory, but since it only makes up about 5-10% of my bass playing, the LED markers are huge for me. Instant intonation tool.

 

[funky_chavalo]

Man this is incredible! Your skills are clear and it was real fun to follow the initial thread and now see this to completion. I see you’re from LA, I am too! I’ve got a Wishbass coming in, wonder if I could hire you to work on mine when it arrives?

 

[jbybj]

Man this is incredible! Your skills are clear and it was real fun to follow the initial thread and now see this to completion. I see you’re from LA, I am too! I’ve got a Wishbass coming in, wonder if I could hire you to work on mine when it arrives?

Thanks, I get a lot of satisfaction working on my Wishbasses.
Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to take on outside projects.
I would be more than happy to meet up, (I appreciate your avatar) and share my thoughts, offer tips on working on it yourself. Even though I think that’s one of the big strengths of Wishbasses, I understand that not everyone has the skills, tools, space, or interest in putting sandpaper to wood. I can highly recommend Fren Asken, a local luthier. He has transformed numerous WB fingerboards for me. He is an awesome fella and a skilled craftsman. He is also familiar with the Wishbass aesthetic.
https://www.askenguitars.com/

Enjoy you new Wishbass!

 

[funky_chavalo]

Thanks, I get a lot of satisfaction working on my Wishbasses.
Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to take on outside projects.
I would be more than happy to meet up, (I appreciate your avatar) and share my thoughts, offer tips on working on it yourself. Even though I think that’s one of the big strengths of Wishbasses, I understand that not everyone has the skills, tools, space, or interest in putting sandpaper to wood. I can highly recommend Fren Asken, a local luthier. He has transformed numerous WB fingerboards for me. He is an awesome fella and a skilled craftsman. He is also familiar with the Wishbass aesthetic.
https://www.askenguitars.com/

Enjoy you new Wishbass!

Hey thanks for the kind response! I’ve been away from the inter webs for a month or so now so it took me a while to reply. I’ll send you a DM in the morning