I think two of the best regarded are Wal and Pedulla. EB Music Man fretless is also a great option I think. But I've owned fret less basses by Fender an Ibanez that were just fine. A lot depends on your comfort, technique, and the sound you're looking for.
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Which luthiers are known for their fretless?
- Thread starter yanlin1985
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- fretless
Maton make a gorgeous fretless bass.
JBIV and JBV.
Made in OZ. Reissued mid 80s or 90s.
Beautiful instruments.
JBIV and JBV.
Made in OZ. Reissued mid 80s or 90s.
Beautiful instruments.
I play pretty much nothing but fretless. Everyone else has covered Zon and Pedulla. I think at least one of those guys is going to be hanging it up soon, if not both, which is a damn shame. GREAT basses. My #1 is a Steinberger, but they've been gone for almost 25 years now.
Kiesel make a good one, and the only 19mm spaced 5-string fretless I've found, so I might be getting one of those in the future. They're just a few miles from where I live. Status Graphite makes a tremendous fretless. Ernie Ball MusicMan, of course. The Fender Tony Franklin is a beast. And if any or all of these are too pricey for your tastes, Ibanez makes great fretlesses. The real sleeper is what I use for gigs (I don't take out the Steinberger these days!); the Cort B4FL. You can get one for under $600 and they're just great.
If you're dead broke, go find an older Squier fretless with the ebonol fingerboard. I see them for about $199 all the time and it's a perfectly giggable bass that looks great and sounds fine.
Kiesel make a good one, and the only 19mm spaced 5-string fretless I've found, so I might be getting one of those in the future. They're just a few miles from where I live. Status Graphite makes a tremendous fretless. Ernie Ball MusicMan, of course. The Fender Tony Franklin is a beast. And if any or all of these are too pricey for your tastes, Ibanez makes great fretlesses. The real sleeper is what I use for gigs (I don't take out the Steinberger these days!); the Cort B4FL. You can get one for under $600 and they're just great.
If you're dead broke, go find an older Squier fretless with the ebonol fingerboard. I see them for about $199 all the time and it's a perfectly giggable bass that looks great and sounds fine.
I've been making fretless since 1982. This one is from 1985.
Roscoe
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Roscoe
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Roscoe
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Roscoe
Andrew Drake. Small shop. Everything is still hand made. Exceptional attention to detail. Is always available for advice and consultation. A disabled veteran and just a great human being.
Koog
Koog
I'm certainly not a luthier but it seems to me that a fretless should be a little easier to build than a fretted. Especially an unlined fretless. No fretwork to deal with and less man hours.
Believe it or not a fretless is not easier to build. You just have to spend your time and attention on different details. The time you spend getting frets in and levelled on a fretted will be spent on working the fingerboard for a fretless. Irregularities in a fretted board won't matter because you just level the fret tops but a fretless board needs to be true over the whole surface.
Since we're all posting pics of our favorite fretless basses:
Also Pedulla buzz and StingRay, mainly due to the players from the era making them widely heard.
I'd say Roger Sadowsky is up there with the best. Don't own a fretless but a friend of mine does and it plays by itself. Also Kevin Kaufman should be worth mentioning, if he was good for Jaco......
Love having a nice big single sink. Not fretless, though, this one has "sort of frets"!
