What was your first fretless bass?

[maxschrek]

I started playing bass in '82 and by '85 I had purchased my first fretless, a black 1979 Fender Precision, which I stupidly sold about five years later. I had gotten a fretless Carvin LB50 in a trade and decided I liked it better than the PBass, unfortunately. I eventually flipped it and replaced it a few years later with a MM Stingray blank plank and have since added a couple more to the toolbox as well as replacing my '79 P with a '78.
I can't imagine not having one at this point even though I still play fretted bass more.

 

[edot3021]

An old Wishbass. It wasn't mine, but our Guitarist/PedalSteel/Engineer. I played for maybe a year off shows and I think my intonation got pretty ok. I always thought about buying one, but never did. It was a fun simple bass.

 

[LowWay]

I started playing bass in 1985, and got my first fretless earlier this year almost 38 years later. A semi-hollow 30" custom Bordwell with a piezo bridge, Nordstrand big rigs and a Richter pre-amp. It is my most expensive bass to date, and arguably best sounding. Clearly beautiful. But the one I play least well.

I did briefly own a beautiful Rob Allen mouse, but didn't bond with it and mostly used it to inform this bordwell build.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I swithed from Keyboards and guitar to bass in 1998. I didn't pick. up a fretless until last year. This is when I made the decision to pretty much play Stingray basses. The revelation came that muscle memory would ease some of my fear and intimidation . I took to it like a duck to water.

 

[growlypants]

I *try* to play a Tony Franklin fretless Precision, but, so far at least, I prefer the fretted...

 

[jdjk7]

What was your first fretless bass? And, how long were you playing bass by the time you lost the frets?

My first fretless was a Carvin BK4, one of the kit basses. By the time I bought it in 2018 or so, I had been playing bass for 4 or 5 years. I bought it for $250 from a local joint. It was my main bass for a good 3 or so years, but I did indeed move on to a fretted Precision (and, subsequently, moved on from the fretted Precision to a weirder, also fretted model...)
I could probably bring the fretless out for appropriate situations, but I'm always a "one bass at a time" kind of guy.

 

[PBFACTOR]

1990 ish i had a Black Kubicki ExFactor defretted. No pics of it. Recorded an album with it in 1994. Didn't play fretless again until this year.

 

[Relsom]

I played URB in my high school orchestra, and used the school's bass, but the first fretless I owned was a mid '70s natural P-Bass with a fretless Maple fingerboard that I bought brand new. I didn't bond all that well with it so I returned it to the dealer. No more fretless for several years until that same dealer got in a brand new Godin L.R. Baggs Acousibass. That one satisfied my fretless needs for several years.

 

[MonetBass]

Since I started on DB at 10, technically I've always been a fretless player. But my first EB was fretted, and I didn't get my first fretless EB until 30+ years after I started this journey, which was a Squier VM Jazz. It sounded OK, so I upgraded the pickups to some MIM Fender Jazz pickups. But I sold that and bought a Cort Artisan B4FL and quickly replaced the MK1 pickups with MK4CBCs and a NTMB+F preamp. While it sounded great, I still couldn't bond with the sound. So I sold that and assembled a FSO Jazz fretless with a Warmoth body and neck. Now I'm loving it!

 

[dalkowski]

My first and only. Late 80s score from Mr. Music In Boston. An el cheapo way to get the Andy Metcalfe sound I was enamored with at the time. I've recorded with it, but perhaps not in the way it was intended. Light as a feather.

 

[Chowie]

My first fretless was a blue Squier P that I ripped all the frets from and filled the lines with bondo.

 

[thisheregiraffe]

My first fretless was a Fender Player Jazz Fretless (in Polar White). It was a decent instrument and definitely got me hooked on playing fretless. But it has since been sold and I've assembled two fretless basses with parts from Warmoth that I like much better than the Fender.

 

[Pauly 4001]

I started playing bass in 1971 or so and got my first fretless in about 1990.
It was a Hohner Professional PJ with a lined fretless Ebanol (or cheap alternative) fingerboard and plywood body.
It was kinda crummy but got me started.
Not mine or lined:

 

[WillyW]

my first was a Hohner "the jack" that I defretted...

probably playing bass "seriously" for about a year but had dabbled for years prior.

string selection for double ball end basses sucks so I almost gave up on fretless

 

[lowfreqgeek]

My first fretless was a defretted 80's Ibanez Roadstar 5 string. I started in about 1987 on a fretted EBO and got the Ibanez sometime around 1996. I've been playing fretless every since.

 

[Richard Lindsey]

It was an Orlando J Bass copy with PUs that looked sort of like mini-humbuckers, which I bought from one of my brothers. I'd been playing bass off and on for about 7-8 years by that time but hadn't owned a bass, being mostly a guitarist at that stage. I played it as a fretted instrument for 4-5 years but eventually got curious and tried to do a homemade defret, filling the fret slots with liquid wood. That didn't go well, so I stuck it in the closet for a couple of years.

Eventually, after getting a fretted bass, I decided to replace the neck on the Orlando with a beautiful Warmoth neck capped by a thick lined fretless ebony fingerboard. But that neck was too good for the pedestrian body, so I replaced the body with a Warmoth alder PJ body, adding a Badass bridge, new PUs and electronics and knobs, and new tuners. By then, the only thing left of the original Orlando was a string retainer on the headstock! But it amused me to think of it as the same bass.

 

[39-Bassist]

My Carvin LB70...Loved that bass...stupid to sell.
Played bass 10yrs before that fretless.

 

[coy garcia]

I played fretted for many years before I noticed how good the bass sounded on my Bad company records. That's when my fretless journey began. Started with a 66' ampeg aub I got off ebay(couldn't really play it). 15-20 yrs later I replaced the neck on my fenderstein and that's when the real woodshed began. Few yrs later Bruce Johnson loans me his 98' Aub, then he starts building me a shorty. Then I have a custom fretless neck made for my '73P, then I have my 60's Japanese bass converted....I've been only fretless only for many yrs now no matter the style I'm playing. I love the feel of vibrating strings over a smooth fretboard and the warm tone. Pics in order but 4st fretless single passive pu basses are what I plan to play the rest of my days.

 

[basspraiser]

I started on upright bass years ago, so it wasn't that much trouble to make the transition to fretless bass guitar. I briefly had a Godin A5 fretless before my Rick Turner 'Renaissance' arrived. It was one he had built for the 2013 NAMM show to show off gloss finish on quilt maple figure. I got it straight from Rick... one of my most prized possessions. View attachment 5181582 View attachment 5181583

I also have ( and really like) a Turner ren 5 fretless... Not as fancy as yours but it does sound great!

To answer the OPs question.....A Lakland 4402 fretless.... Loved it.... Them went to a Lakland 5594 fretless and got hooked.

I now have 3 fretless basses (Not counting my EUB or double bass) and another that I may be having made

I had been playing quite a while when I got my first one

Don't be scared....don't be concerned.... Just get one and practice.... Practice... Practice...

I find them easier to play in some aspects and more freeing to play...

 

[Thumpin6string]

My first was a parts built Jazz bass. Unknown body, Mighty Mite maple neck that I de-fretted, Schaller gold roller bridge, Schaller gold tuners, Bartolini Hi-A pickups and an EMG pre running at 18V. I painted it pearl white, coated the neck with an ultra-hard urethane and added a pearl pickguard.