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WOW, fretless!

D

Doich

Sep 28, 2007
29
0
#1
Yesterday evening I played a fretless bass (it was a white Fender custom,4 strings,with the Jazz shape and passive P\J pickups),and I fell in love with it!!!
It had roundwound strings mounted,and I absolutely liked EVERYTHING about it.

Now I'm really GASing for a fretless 4 stringer,and I'd need some suggestions...

Considering that I have a budget of around 900 bucks,what basses should I try?

Thanks in advance!!!
 
#2
I don't have a ton of experience with high end fretless basses, but I can very highly recommend a Squier Vintage Modified Fretless (kinda a Jaco bass and under $300 with a great Ebanol fretboard), MIM Fender P's (way under $500 new) and my favorite by far... a EBMM SR4 with Regular Slinky rounds. The latter can be bought for under $900 used.

I had a similar experience to you. Every fretless I picked up seemed to have flats which i disliked. But rounds on a fretless? WOW!

Doich said:
Yesterday evening I played a fretless bass (it was a white Fender custom,4 strings,with the Jazz shape and passive P\J pickups),and I fell in love with it!!!
It had roundwound strings mounted,and I absolutely liked EVERYTHING about it.

Now I'm really GASing for a fretless 4 stringer,and I'd need some suggestions...

Considering that I have a budget of around 900 bucks,what basses should I try?

Thanks in advance!!!
Click to expand...
 
#5
Thanks for your useful replies,I must say that my eye fell on the Cort B4FL... [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Any opinion about it?

Any other bass I should check? Excuse all my questions, but I'm a guitarist and bass is really growing on me...
 
#6
A word of caution, regular strings on a Rosewood/Ebony type fretboard fretless will get lines dug into that board quickly. Maple fretless boards are much harder to the wear, but way harder to find. Consider flat wound strings - I use GHS Chromes or Gound Wound strings. Regular flats are a little dull for me, but server their purpose very well.
I currently have an old fretless that I love my tapewound strings for a PauL McCartney sound.
 
#8
iriegnome said:
A word of caution, regular strings on a Rosewood/Ebony type fretboard fretless will get lines dug into that board quickly. Maple fretless boards are much harder to the wear, but way harder to find. Consider flat wound strings - I use GHS Chromes or Gound Wound strings. Regular flats are a little dull for me, but server their purpose very well.
I currently have an old fretless that I love my tapewound strings for a PauL McCartney sound.
Click to expand...

Ummmmmm, I don't think so. Uncoated maple is very soft and not suited for use with roundwounds, neither is rosewood. Ebony can handle it, which is why it has been a fingerboard of choice on fretless stringed instruments like upright basses, cellos, violins, etc.

Flats are much more mild on the fingerboard, but lack the same zing.
 
#9
I have rounds on my Thumb fretlesses (ebony fingerboards). No big wear issues yet. If you use proper classical vibrato, rolling your finger, and don't grind the string up and down into the board, I think it would be years before you'd even need the FB dressed...and even then, so what? You have it dressed, and you're good for years of round wound growl once again.

Get a bolt-on Thumb, and you can even swap the neck out, after a decade or so.
 
#10
I don't know that I've seen an uncoated maple fingerboard. Generally they are finished, even if it's with nearly invisible satin.

Otherwise the fingerboard would be quickly discolored from finger marks.

I presently own a Jazz Standard fretless with TI Jazz Flats and have a P on the bench waiting for a Warmoth maple fingerboard fretless neck. The Warmoth will have the fingerboard coated along with the rest of the neck, and the bass will get TI JFs like the other.

TIs don't have the dullness associated with less expensive flats, so they are well worth the expense for a fretless.
 
#13
Thanks everybody!

I'll check out the Squier's and the Warwick's... I'd also like to try those Clement basses,but I live in Italy and honestly I don't know if I'll find 'em here (I don't like ebay,because I must try the instrument before buying it).
 
#15
Have a look on Ebay & see if you can find a Fretless Westone.

I have a Thunder III fretless - the final issue with 2 x humbuckers.

It is beautifully built and has a maple/walnut thru' neck with ash body. The unlined fingerboard is ebony.

It has vol/push/pull/in/out phase.
Passive treble roll-off.
Active tone control with bass/treble boost.

Switch for dual-coil/coil tap.

Passive/active switch.

It's an incredibly versatile bass, and it cost me $300.00.

These are well worth looking for. The 1st issue of the Thunder III has PJ configuration, but the 'buckers really growl.

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#16
That Westone Looks the Biz!!!! I'd thoroughly reccomend the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz( JACO model) IIRC IT has an ebanol fingerboard( man made- urethane or sumthin) but IT IS very hard & resistant to roundwound string marks! Can't say for how long it'll stay 'unmarked' as it's in the shop! But I A/B'd a few jazz basses last week & IMO it stood up real well against the MIA Jazz(S1 switching model), the Jaguar & was FAR better than the BIG BLOCK P-bass. All IMHO of course. Seemed the Seymour Duncan designed p-ups were very nice. GREAT for the $$$
 
#18
I don't like the lines on the Squier VM Jaco bass, but the sound is great. Hard to beat the value there especially for a 1st fretless. I use flats on all my fretless basses. The growl is somewhat diminished compared to roundwounds but the big thump is there. No string noise either. The half rounds are a good compromise to retain some growl without mangling up the fingerboard. Kudos to "iriegnome" for best handle yet....LOL.
 

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