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Squire Fretless???

S

Snakepit72

Feb 6, 2011
143
0
Doylestown, Pennsylvania
#1
Hi everybody,
As I'm on the cusp of selling my current bass for $750, and am setting my new budget in the $400-$600 range, I was thinking of treating myself adn spending the extra $100-$150 on a used Squire Fretless Jazz Bass. I've never owned a fretless before, and wondering which of you guys has a bass like this, if it's a decent bass for the price or if it's more trouble than it's worth. I was thinking of using this bass primarily as a project or one that I don't mind getting beat up, so I was also wondering if you guys had any suggestions for things I could do to make this bass sound and look even more awesome than it already does? Thanks! :bassist:
 
#2
They are a decent fretless. Ebanol neck. They come stock with rounds on them, which if not swapped to flats right away, will gouge the neck. Be sure any used one you try out does not have this type of damage. Other than that, they are a good first fretless. New they are in the $300 range.
 
#4
tangentmusic said:
They are a decent fretless. Ebanol neck. They come stock with rounds on them, which if not swapped to flats right away, will gouge the neck. Be sure any used one you try out does not have this type of damage. Other than that, they are a good first fretless. New they are in the $300 range.
Click to expand...

The scratches will be purely cosmetic. Played mine heavily with rounds for three years, and the scratches never affected sound or playability.

They're really good basses - definitely a great starter fretless. Mine was my main gigging bass through high school, and performed admirably, without modification or much maintenance. :)

My only complaint was that the neck was a bit temperamental. Sometimes it just wanted to bow a bit, but then, I was using heavier rounds than I got used to setting a bass up with, so that was probably part of it. It was never much of an issue, just a little annoyance.
 
#5
They are decent. I would use one if I was in situation where I needed a bass quick for cheap. Not the greatest, but far better than the price point would suggest. I slightly preferred my old MIM fretless J, but to be fair, I epoxied the neck and did other assorted things to that bass. I greatly prefer my current MIA/warmoth fretless J, but that isn't a fair comparison given the price discrepancy.

Roundwound wear on fretless necks is real but greatly exaggerated. Use whatever string gets you the tone you want and don't sweat the wear.
 
#6
Kael said:
They are decent. I would use one if I was in situation where I needed a bass quick for cheap. Not the greatest, but far better than the price point would suggest. I slightly preferred my old MIM fretless J, but to be fair, I epoxied the neck and did other assorted things to that bass. I greatly prefer my current MIA/warmoth fretless J, but that isn't a fair comparison given the price discrepancy.

Roundwound wear on fretless necks is real but greatly exaggerated. Use whatever string gets you the tone you want and don't sweat the wear.
Click to expand...

Maybe i'm just anal about the neck wear/gouging thing with rounds on a fretless, but really love the sound of flats on one.
mwaaahhh!
 
#7
tangentmusic said:
...really love the sound of flats on one.
mwaaahhh!
Click to expand...

I hear people say this (flats and mwah)and don't really get it. I play fretless about 80% of the time these days and have used both flats and rounds extensively. Sure you can get some mwah with flats, rounds get more. Far more. If you like and are after mwah, flats are not the way to go. On the other hand, if you are after old school thump, I would recommend flats. To each their own I guess.

PS: Epoxying the neck isn't rocket surgery but is a little tedious. You will still get round wound wear with epoxy, but you can buff it out fairly easily with some steel wool. Just make sure you take the neck off first. Magnetic pickups + steel wool dust = probable dead pickups.
 
#9
Not trying to turn you off at all, but from my limited experience, a lined ebanol fretless is something I'd definitely want to try out before committing to. I've bought and returned two and checked out others in stores, including the Squier you're considering, and on every one the fret lines are indented just a little bit compared with the surrounding ebanol material because someone went at it too aggressively with a buffing machine. Not a lot but enough to randomize your tone -- sometimes mwah, sometimes not, depending on where your finger lands.

Have fun with your purchase, though. Hope you find a good one.

-Tom
 

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