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What was your first fretless bass?

#161
My first and only fretless (so far) is a Squier VM Jazz. I had been playing for about 22 years by the point I got it. I had went to a music store about an hour away to look at amps and cabs. I spent about two hours there BSing with the employee and playing different gear. I tried the Squier and really liked it. I left and my wife called and asked how it was going on my search, i said I didnt find any amp/cabs but i played this fretless i really liked. She asked why i didnt get it and i said i dont know, i wasnt planning on buying a bass. So we hung up, she called the store and said her husband was playing a fretless and she wants to buy it for me for my bday. A couple weeks later she surprised me. I loved that. I know there are significant others buying people alot more rare and expensive gear for presents, but its one of my favorite things she ever got me.

I would love a Stringray fretless next though.
 
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#163
Back in the early 80's, when Elliott Rubinson had moved Thoroughbred Music to Hillsborough AVE in Tampa, one of the two Fender Jazz basses I bought from them was a maple-board '71 which someone had reconfigured as a PJ.

They also had the frets removed and replaced with a dark wood. They'd also replaced the blocks with a nearly black wood, a few shades darker than the lines on the fretboard. Finally, they installed an additional output jack on the bottom edge of the body to go direct to a board. I used it that way once to do a bit of studio work for a dorm mate at USF.

When I bought it, I had Thoroughbred install Alembic pickups and refinish it in a slightly aged looking white. The intervening 40-something years have rendered it an almost banana yellow:

20200416_072204.jpg


20200416_072212.jpg


I've neither looked at it nor played it for about 3-4 years.
 
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#165
21Pastorius12 said:
Hope you don't mind me saying that the finish on the epoxy of your fingerboard looks absolutely beautiful
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Came from the factory that way.

and I bet it feels so smooth!
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It does, but honestly I have kind of mixed feelings about it. The actual wood underneath is ebony, which is pretty hard and I think maybe doesn't really need the coating. On the other hand, I don't worry about rounds (well, pressurewounds) chewing up the fingerboard.
 
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#167
MAJOR METAL said:
What was your first fretless bass? And, how long were you playing bass by the time you lost the frets?
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My first fretless was a Univox "beatle bass", sort of a violin looking fake Hofner that was unlined fretless.
It was the first bass I played.
I learned fretless before I ever played a fretted bass.
 
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#169
First fretless bass was the first bass I ever performed with.

Some backstory... had decided to pick up guitar going to college and had maybe a year or so under my belt. Went to a summer party and a friend says "Hey... you play guitar, right?". Answered with as much disqualification as possible, and his response was along the lines of "You'll be fine, you're playing bass for my band, we have a show in two weeks."

Now I didn't actually have a bass. Or an amp. Or any idea how to do anything useful beyond strumming a few open chords on an acoustic guitar. So, some favors were called in and I ended up with a Fender-ish fretless 5 string with a combo (I think SWR Workingman's 15) and two weeks to learn a bunch of post-punk math core songs.

After an incredibly patient two weeks of getting mentored while learning the songs, show day came. House party, lots of friends and acquaintances. Super chill vibe with folks cooking and hanging out as we would usually do. Nerves upon nerves upon nerves, and I managed to absentmindedly down a half dozen beers on a more or less empty stomach. Feeling ok socializing... this won't be so bad.

Show time comes. Down to the basement and plug up like it was a practice. Turn around and the world gets heavy and swimmy. I'm accidentally wasted and about to play freshly learned, complicated songs on a fretless bass in front of people with very little experience playing bass or drinking beer.

It was a disaster.

I learned a lot of things:
  • Just go and do... the people in front of you want you to succeed.
  • You're far more capable than you believe... honest effort today earns honest rewards tomorrow.
  • You can create an intimate space where you can connect with an audience without pretense. Set expectations, be real, and put out your best effort. Your friends will still like you even if you suck at your instrument.
  • If you do suck, put in the work to stop sucking. It may not be just you. The chemistry may be wrong, your songs may suck (even if well performed), or you may not be reaching the right audience. Figure it out. Study those who are successful and don't suck. Take your blinders off and remove any ego.
  • The hang is important. Talent gets you through the door, but soft skills keep you in the room. Nobody wants to work with someone who is wasted or an *******.
  • Don't agree to play shows on a borrowed fretless base playing post-punk math core songs with two weeks prep time and only a year(ish) guitar experience under your belt while accidentally seeing double.
  • Or do. It was a really formative experience early that helped out a lot more later on.

EDIT: I have not returned to a fretless bass since that experience 25ish years ago.
 
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#171
Queue said:
I always chuckle when I hear/see someone speak of a "Fretless Precision" bass. Leo was so high on the fact that the frets allowed for precision (when compared to playing upright bass) that he named his creation the Precision Bass!

Don't flame me, I see the want and need for a fretless P bass, it just makes me giggle a bit.
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A classic oxymoron! This thread, binging YouTube, and playing some fretless basses at my local music store are really making me want my first fretless.
 
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#172
Dabndug said:
View attachment 5182678
I bought my Maton JB4 in '82 as a foray into fretless. Lightweight, with quality hardware and pickups and a super-comfortable shallow neck profile. Circuitry is passive VVT, with a mystery switch. It sounds brilliant and is easy to play - its an absolute gem. Currently my go-to practice bass.
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Have you ever figured out what the mystery switch does?
 
#177
The first fretless I bought was a Hohner PJ FL, all black.
That was in 1987. I'd been playing bass off and on for about 3 years then.
In the meantime I practiced some synthesizer, fiddle and acoustic & electric guitar.

About 2 years before I bought the PJ, I was offered an Ibanez Musician MC-940 Fretless.
Back then I felt the Musician was a bit much to pick up, considering my abilities.
The Hohner had a lined phenowood fretboard, which made it appear bit easier to learn.
It was handed to me by the lady of a music shop where I wanted to have a listen to an Ampeg B100 practice amp. I had no ambition to play fretless, but liked it so much that I got the amp and the fretless.
 
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#179
I started taking lessons/playing BG in 7th grade. Learned from a great uptight player that taught BG on the 70's.
At the end of 9th grade, the school band director told me to sign up for orchestra for my second year of high school. So my first fretless was the school system's blond Kay.
 

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