A few months ago I got my Fender PJ fretless rosewood fingerboard redressed and decided I could save money if I switched to flatwounds. So I got Thomastik Jazz Flats. I love them. But I kinda missed the roundwound sound. So I was going to put a fretless ebony fingerboard/maple shaft on my Fender fretted Jazz bass. My luthier suggested Warmoth as a good company to get necks from. But once the neck showed up, I got cold feet. My Fender fretted is semi-vintage, from the 70s, and I didn't want to screw it up. Plus I like having a fretted bass around, even though I'm mostly a fretless guy. A DuckDuckGo search led me to this Talkbass Warmoth Owners Club, and you guys inspired me to try a custom build. That Warmoth bass is still a few weeks from being completed. It's going to be a five-string fretless, Wenge neck and body, Bocote fingerboard, with piezo bridge saddles and midi control. Complicated, and my luthier, John Brown's Guitar Factory in Inver Grove Heights, MN, is super meticulous, i.e., slow. The Bocote fingerboard will also be vulnerable to roundwound wear, so, while I was waiting for the five-string to be assembled, I decided I would still like a bass that could handle roundwounds. Today I got that bass build back. John and his colleague Adam did a fantastic job!:
Body: Warmoth Z, Walnut + Figured Walnut top (not sure if it wouldn't have been better to go with just plain walnut on top too)
Neck: Moses Graphite, lined fretless
Radius: 7.25"
String-spacing at bridge: 3/4"
Tuners: Hipshot + Detuner on the E
Bridge: 2TEK
Pickups: Delano MC4 FE/J-M2
Preamp: John East Uni-Pre (V/Bl, T/B, M/M)
Switches: Active/Passive and Series/Parallel/Split Coil for each pickup (might get rid of Parallel for more Split Coil options).
Strings: Kalium Nickel Roundwound (BH-102, 076, 057, 041)
Dominant colors: Brown, Chrome, Black
In the photos the body doesn't appear as brown as it is, except at the end of the long neck shot. The photos introduce an orange hue that isn't there. This is my first bass porn shoot, so forgive the ignorance about lighting, aperture, etc.--I just used a Canon point-n-shoot.
The basic design concept was to build a fretless that could handle roundwounds with minimal wear and lots of sustain, hence the graphite neck, walnut body, and 2TEK bridge. I'm a long-standing Fenderer so I wanted a graphite neck with a decent radius, and only Moses seemed to offer that, so that explains why I didn't go with a different graphite brand.
I just played it for an hour this afternoon. It's pretty much what I hoped it would be. Some initial impressions:
1.) It's my first lined fretless and I'm digging it. The lines help with double and triple stops, finger-picking, and upper register intonation. Plus they make me see the fingerboard differently than an unlined fretless. I like that visual variety. Not better or worse, just different.
2.) It's as close to a fretted sound as a fretless can get, I think, with all the advantages of fretless (glissando, vibrato) and none of the disadvantages of fretted (fret buzz). I mostly use flat- or tapewounds on fretless fingerboards now, so it's cool to get the bright, roundwound sound for variety.
3.) It's also my first coffeetable/driftwood bass. I love the look just as much as I love coffee and lakes. After decades of playing standard Fender basses (a fretless PJ and a fretted J, both white/cream finishes), I'm enjoying the new look of the Walnut Z body and totally black graphite neck.
4.) There is no four.
5.) It's super heavy when I pick it up, but once it's strapped on, I don't notice it. I have a big frame so that helps.
Anyway, thanks to everyone here who unknowingly helped give me ideas. I couldn't have done it without you!
I'll post pics of the five-string Warmoth build as soon as it's done.
I'm expecting my Hipshot KickAss bridge on Friday - looks like a great take on the BA.
