Trying to understand this bass...

[paganmachine]

Ok, this instrument is not making a lot of sense to me. Fine, half fretted, half fretless, we've seen a few before... but this particular one has two frets at the end; wouldn't those completely affect the fretless part of that fingerboard? I'm probably missing something here, but I just can't quite understand how this could work. Thanks, and sorry for a possibly dumb question haha

 

[paganmachine]

 

[HaphAsSard]

It should work fine if the penultimate fret is just high enough, relative to the fretless board, to let all the preceding notes (until the one-before the first fretted one) ring. Setting up the action may be trickier than with conventional instruments.

 

[Smurf-o-Deth]

Looks like a variation on a slap plate, that would be my guess.

 

[BismarckHerring]

Fretted/Less Basses | Brown's Guitar Factory

Hard to tell from the pictures, but I think the fretless part of the fingerboard is level with the frets, or almost level. In that case, the two frets at the end wouldn’t present a problem.

I’m not sure they serve a real function, seems mostly decorative to me.

Edit: found a good picture.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

As was said above, I’m pretty sure the fretless part of the board is level with the fretted part. The frets at the end would be to give the strings some “clank” when slapping.

 

[paganmachine]

As was said above, I’m pretty sure the fretless part of the board is level with the fretted part. The frets at the end would be to give the strings some “clank” when slapping.

Thank you so much; mystery solved!

 

[brianrost]

Those prices on the Brown's basses are, um, interesting.

 

[jTrolt]

Yes, those are simply to give it the expected slap tone. As a stretch, this not only inserts that familiar tonality, it may also act as a preservative measure to reduce wear on the fretless neck, considering they'll take the brunt of the impact.

 

[paganmachine]

Yes, those are simply to give it the expected slap tone. As a stretch, this not only inserts that familiar tonality, it may also act as a preservative measure to reduce wear on the fretless neck, considering they'll take the brunt of the impact.

Got! Thank you so much for the explanation

 

[Slevage]

Slap sound is “typical” with the upper frets.

Slap sound is different on a fully fretless fingerboard.

 

[mikewalker]

Those prices on the Brown's basses are, um, interesting.

Yeah.. I'm thinking .. hmm Australian Dollars? Singapore Dollars? .. nope, I have a look and those are Minnesota dollars

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

Huh…
I was thinking that maybe the lower part of the neck is where the money comes from, and the fretless part is where you can earn a little something that goes in the tip jar.

 

[GreyBeard]

Interesting bass

 

[BuddhaFingas]

Odd choice of pickups.

 

[Killing Floor]

Must be legit. He has a picture of Lee Sklar pointing at one on the website.
The Kahler on every model is a statement.