The best fretless bass

[Cory rich40]

I have only owned Fender fretless basses and they didn't fully click with me. The Tony Franklin had a week G string. Had it fixed once and it went back to the same problem again. It also had a few dead spots that annoyed me. I was less than impressed with a Fender fretless jazz bass. I am almost 100 percent sure a fretless stingray would do it but at the moment I'm not ready to fork out $4000 for that BFR model. Here are my option.

1. The Sire fretless with the single coil and humbucker pickups. Looks like it could come the closest to a stingray tone out of my other options.
2. Ibanez Portamento. My biggest concern is quality control issues.
3. Warwick corvette rock bass. No experience with Warwick whatsoever. Again I've read of quality issues.
4. Possibly the best option. Pay a Luthier to defret my USA musicman SUB bass.
I'm definitely wanting an active bass. What is my best option here?

 

[ardgedee]

I'm definitely wanting an active bass.

Any bass can become an active bass. Focus on something that plays well, you can swap in a preamp as you see fit. Usually an electronics mod will be reversible if you decide to sell it, unlike a defret job, and will cost less.

 

[Cory rich40]

Others I forgot was the anniversary Ibanez Gary Willis signature fretless bass and Ibanez Steve Grigorio bass. Please excuse the spelling. I'm sure I spelled his name wrong

 

[Docduval]

Can't go wrong with a Warwick. Their mid focused pickups are great for fretless. As far as qc issues on Ibanez or Warwick, those are a thing of the past and are no more prevalent than any other mass produced bass brand.

 

[JRA]

I'm definitely wanting an active bass. What is my best option here?

mine are from parts, so that's my current hot recommendation! but if i owned a fretted ax that floated my boat (for me it's all about the neck), i'd have it defretted and i'd rock a great fretless.


my active ax cost me $831, all in. it's a great player, one of my favorites:



if i didn't have the time or inclination to assemble one the way i wanted it, i'd probably be looking at ibanez axes: lots of great, affordable fretless options.

good luck with your choice(s)!

 

[billiard]

Alembic

 

[john_g]

Alembic

Cant afford a BFR MM? Get an Alembic.

 

[Clipped]

Sold my G&L fretless for this SX. No regrets.

 

[mikeswals]

Look around for a G&L fretless, they are really great at speaking since they have such a pronounced midrange, much like a Musicman. And G&L's are a bargain on the used market. I miss the one I had. These have way more mids than a Warwick.

 

[RSBBass]

The best fretless I ever played was a Warwick Thumb. I haven't played are Corvette but if they are anything like the one I played you should be happy.

 

[DanAdams]

Either buy a used bass, or see a therapist.
Whatever you are seeking is inside you and your fingers, not a piece of wood and metal.
This may come across as flippant... but you just said that a four thousand dollar bass would 100% solve this very minor dilemma.
That is bonkers.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Used fretless G&L Kilotons are worth a look. You might like that MFD close to the bridge.

 

[InstantEctobass]

What do you call "dead spot"? If by that you mean around the C and C# on the 5th and 6th frets of the G string, that's absolutely inherent to maple that resonates around these frequencies. I haven't seen a bass with a maple neck that doesn't have that issue, even a Rickenbacker and its "glued is better" neck.

 

[ardgedee]

Your list of interests range seem to range from trad Fender bass shapes to some of Ibanez's more out-there designs. Are there any specific attributes you want, in addition to active electronics? Because at the moment it sounds basically like anything would fill the bill in some way.

 

[yodedude2]

...
4. Possibly the best option. Pay a Luthier to defret my USA musicman SUB bass.
... What is my best option here?

have you considered option 5?

5. find a fretless musicman neck and install it on your sub body. keep the original neck 'for the good times' ~

 

[Dana R Gregory]

Ibanez SRH505F fretless is a joy to play. No problems at all. Sweetwater set it up and I literally played it out of the box and have yet to adjust anything. It retails for $899 and at 7.5 lbs it's definitely worth a look.

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

I played a used Ibanez fretless (I think it was a Portamento) and was so impressed I went back the next day but it had sold! I've owned a fretless Stingray and was frankly unimpressed. Same with Fender and Squier. My forever fretless is my Marleaux Diva. The Gary Willis keeps whispering to me, though...

BBB

 

[Danny O Danny]

I can relate. I've owned a few different fretless basses over the years. In my opinion, active electronics with a 3-band EQ are a must on a fretless (need to be able to boost the mids). Ebony fretboard is the best option, IMO, but not an absolute must. The bridge pickup needs to have some beef, not a single coil. So the de facto fretless Jazz basses don't do it for me. I didn't care for the Tony Franklin either (sound-wise or quality-wise).

I used to have an Ibanez Portamento (SRF700) and it was great. Very good quality. Loved the neck. A very comfortable and ergonomic bass. The panga panga fingerboard held up extremely well under roundwounds--much better than I expected. I never used the piezo or the neck pickup, and I upgraded the bridge pickup to a Bartolini MK4CBC-T soapbar, which was a drop-in replacement for $130.00. That made a big difference. I eventually replaced the Ibanez with a Sandberg Booster fretless that cost $1,500.00 more and honestly didn't sound or play any better (but wasn't any worse).

The Ibanez Willis basses are fantastic. If they made a 4-string version that's probably what I'd play.

I've also owned two Sire fretless basses, a V7 and a Z7. Great basses for the money. Hard-coated fingerboards, which I don't like as much as bare ebony or rosewood (I think they tend to thin out the sound). The Sire necks feel great. The Z7 had a really pronounced dead spot around the 5th fret G string. It did come pretty close to a Stingray sound. I really disliked the controls on the Sires; cumbersome and cluttered.

I've got some USA SUBs too, a Sterling, along with two Stingrays. I've decided the Sterling is the perfect candidate to convert to fretless, since it pretty much ticks all my boxes. I'm looking for a luthier now to do the job. My first choice would be to have the rosewood fingerboard removed and replaced with ebony, but that may not be affordable. So removing the frets and keeping the rosewood board may be the way I go, at least initially.

Of course, this is all my opinion, YMMV, etc.

 

[Cory rich40]

Cant afford a BFR MM? Get an Alembic.

It's not that I can't afford it. Just not willing right now

 

[L-u-A-R]

I own an Ibanez SRH505F, was (is) my 1st (and only) fretless, I like it, piezo pickups are interesting.
Much as I like it, it's quite particular. I've tried it with pressure wounds, flats and tapes. Stuck with tapes in the end to lean into the 'woodiness' of it.
It remains quite particular. It definitely does not have the tone you are looking.

Now, I more recently got to try an SRD905 (fretted bigger brother), it made me wish I'd saved a bit more and got the fretless SRD905F.
It's an active with Nordstrand Big Break pickups and piezo in the bridge. Comfortable and versatile.

I've also tried the Steve Di Giorgio signature, SDGB1. The setup in store was awful (hopefully that will keep buyers away for a long time).
It comes strung with rounds and has Nordstrand Big Single pickups, vari-mid EQ, also versatile. I liked the passive operation as well.
Ebonol fretboard is really nice - the SDGB1 is a fretless that somehow had some fretted character to my ears.
If it doesn't sell and eventually gets reduced a bit (years, which happens sometimes), I'll be very tempted.