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The Fretless Club

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#442
My I join the Club?

After three years of being fretless, I made the best move to return:

A Dingwall Z 5str fretless
 

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#445
powerbass said:
I am a professional woodworker and took up bass playing 2 years ago. I tried playing a fender Jazz but didn't like the way it felt - it was too neck heavy, so I decided to make my own. I made the semi acoustic bass (on the right) as a travel bass - it is incredibly light weight even the neck is made from cedar, and originally it didn't have electronics. I use super light gauge bright flats on it - the regular gauge strings stress the neck too much. It has the most incredible mwah out of all the basses I have made or played. So I decided to put in a Ghost/piezo system using a cheap bridge w/a push/pull, dark/bright volume knob. This bass sounds best played w/a very light touch - every note along the neck has great mwah and sustain. The design inspiration came from a Benavente hollow body. He makes beautiful basses.
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Any chance of hearing sound clips ? That looks like a very interesting bass.
 
#447
Capt. Arrrg; I was going to buy one of those Michael Kelly Dragonfly fretless 4 but have since decided on the Godin A4 fretless. Im still thinking bout the dragonfly for a back up.
How do they Play and sound when pluged in?
 
#448
PowerBass; Good job are you planing to manufacture and sale them?
I am orig from Bklyn New York and knew Stuart Spector and Ned Steinberger back in the early mid 70's when they were just two guys that built stuff for peoples homes and got together with people a few beers and jamming.
They built their own guitars and it just took off from there. I would stop by and they would say hey man try this out and tell us what you think.
Man I had their first fretless bass made of birds eye maple it was like twosolid pieces of wood; maybe three the neck was part of the body. Only problem was when the neck warped could not be fixed.
Let us know if your going to be putting any of your basses up on the market
Best to ya man and good work
Steel
 
#451
thanks for the encouragement and feedback. I have fun making basses, it is a challenging/rewarding process - every instrument has it's own voice and each bass is a work in progress. I have torn ea one apart many times and reshaped the body or neck. The headless started out solid poplar w/a Jazz style headstock and painted black, the fretless neck was a cheapo so I added graphite bars a new truss rod, ebony FB and epoxy. I didn't like the sound - it didn't sing, to it so I tore it apart and ran the body through a planer, chambered it and added curly, spalted maple on the front and cherry on the back and turned it into a headless fretted. It sounds and plays much better. I may decide to sell basses someday. I'm a perfectionist. When I iron out the bugs I may sell some. Here is a pic of the last bass I made which is an EUB. Someday I will own the real deal double bass. This is my upright training bass. 34" scale, super light weight, fits into a regular bass gig bag, knocks down in seconds, all fittings are metal/metal. I'm still getting the hang on posting pics so bear w/me if the image is crappy.
 
#452
OK, this started its life as a Fender Jazz Bass Special, made in Japan in 1987. I loved the neck and my (ex)wife bought it for me for Christmas- which was a great surprise becasue I managed the store she got it from! Anyway, I replaced the bridge with a Schaller roller bridge, I put Duncan 1/4 Pounders in it, eventually put a Duncan Steve Bailey pre-amp, replaced one of the machines with a Hip-Shot, replaced the rosewood with a big hunk of ebony, and then had a new body made.

My fretless...

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And a full body shot...

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jte
 
#453
I had a Japanes Jazz base I brought around 1982. At first I did not like because the wood was much light in weight then the American Jazz, but the thing I loved was that it was a reissue of fenders late 50's Jazz. I did not have one volum and two tones. Each pick up had its own volum and tone control. I would love to have a fretless Jazz like that but with the active passive switch that some basses have now.
I plan on having warmouth make me one in the near future but for now Im actualy going to the city tomorrow to try out a Godin A4 fretless.
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They were big in the late 80's early 90's but I never played on one. But from what I read they might have the sound Im looking for.
Steel
 
#456
WesW said:
Hmmmm. . . manage a store in Central Il? I'm from Pekin/Peoria. . . (usually - by way of Afghanistan currently).
:)

Nice bass btw. :)
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Yep- I managed Guitar World in Normal from 1977- 1988. Didn't get to Peoria much in those days, but later I was in Sister Groove (unitl 2003) and we played a bit at Mulligans, and some gigs on the Riverfront (Mama-palooza maybe?), stuff like that.

jte
 
#459
Yup - me again. :)

She is doing wonderful - thanks for asking. She's turned 2 in Feb. and the pace-maker is doing great - and she is walking, talking, and doing everything a 2 year old should. . . or shouldn't, depending on how you look at it! :) She's very busy - and I've managed to talk to her about every week or so since I've been 'over here'. :)

Thanks!
 
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