ezbass

Some folks here are happy with just one bass, whilst others have collections that will leave you wide eyed with wonder (it certainly works on me). For my part, I have 4 basses, one Rob Allen MB2 and three Maruszczyks (a P type, a J type and a fretless MM type). This year I made a conscious decision to play predominantly fretless and my Maruszczyk fretless has been my main stay, go to bass since then. As mentioned above, BC is a dangerous place for Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS) - BEWARE! 😂

And use the ball ends for spacers.

Good fun and well played again. However, this time I only guessed 2 (90 & 96). This is probably down to my long held view that the 90s was where music went to die (certainly post 91 anyway), YMMV.

Now we can look forward to a continuation thread from @donslow. Look at me being Mr Passive/Aggresive. Certainly not my intention - just hopeful.

I have to agree on the 2+2 headstock, that on a Mullarkey would be pukka (and probably look too much like a Supro).

Given that Sereks are as rare as rocking horse poo second hand and not exactly cheap, has anyone given Wilcock basses a look? https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass?_=pf&pf_v_manufacturer=Wilcock Basses&pf_v_manufacturer=Wilcock&pf_t_scale_length=30" https://www.wilcocklondon.com

That is my thinking too. I was vaguely aware of it before IIRC, but it had slipped from memory (no bad thing).

I still think I like the original the best.

Nordy Big Singles for you then, my good man. When I had them on an Ibby, the first time I dug in, I wondered who was getting gnarly - it was me.

I had one too, played great but ultimately a bit 'beige' tonewise. It would definitely fit right in with any genre and do a sterling job, but I ultimately felt it lacked character; I should've bought 'Ray or Sterling 5, but I had fiver GAS and that was the best and affordable, available on the day (impatient b'stard syndrome). Looking back, I should've replaced the bridge p/up with an MM type and then maybe the preamp. For the 5501, I would go for for Nordy Big Singles as they have real character and should drop straight in. Of course, your needs may well differ. However, if you get the right upgrades, I reckon that could easily be a 'Bass For Life'©.

The pickups in the CVs are pretty darn good. The ones in my 50s CV were better than those fitted to a Fender T I was trying when I bought mine. That said, I did eventually replace them with DiMarzios, but then again I pretty much replaced everything except the neck (inveterate tinkerer syndrome). The G&L Tributes seem to be really good VFM and still have that direct link to Leo for added je ne sais quoi.

There is another...

Headstock notwithstanding (it’s just wrong), I like that.

I had an EBS many years ago but stopped using it after reading that one of my biggest influences had stopped using a comp and I followed sheep-like as the EBS wasn’t really part of my tone and was quite subtle (I was younger then and influenced by ‘must haves‘ and my heroes). Now that I’m older (and hopefully wiser) I’m more reliant on my own ears and opinions. Recently, I have started recording at home (like many others) and I sent something I had worked on to a couple friends who’s opinions, in this new area for me, I value (one runs an FOH company and has been recording for decades). One of the suggestions I received were specific compressor settings for the bass track (I had already added some by ear) which really added ‘something’ and has now got me looking at gear and this thread. The settings were: 6:1 with 50ms attack, -6db threshold. Hopefully, the GAS will pass, but I doubt it 😂.

There is always a certain amount of feel betwixt board and markers due to different shrinkage rates, my Rob Allen even has tiny, almost imperceptible ridges (which he mentions on his website), but that’s awful!

My band is having the same discussion. One of our number has access to a large outside space and we're hoping to utilise it.

Yes he does. From 6:45 onwards

I like the all black, the flight case is too generic for me.

I like all the bass line/story sharing that's coming from the great and good of the low end , but Guy's output is my favourite. It certainly has the best sound IMO.

The recent Yamaha Sessioncake deal was pretty spectacular.

An easy one for me, BK's playing on that album is amazing. Great cover by @GarethFlatlands as BK's style isn't easy to replicate.

Well played, that man. I got 7/10 straight off the bat, 84 and 89 eluded me completely and although I recognised 88, my old man’s brain couldn’t come up with the title. 👏👏👏

As @Hellzero says, listen to other players and their approaches to to fretless. 18 months or so ago, I started posting fretless tracks on FB under the #fretlessfriday. You are no doubt aware of these players, but it doesn’t hurt to list them in case they’ve slipped off of your fretless radar. Some of the players in my play list were: Tony Franklin, Bakithi Kumalo, Tony Levin, Larry Klein (sounds like he playing fretless even when he picks up a fretted bass), Alan Spenner, John Giblin, Boz Burrell (so subtle that you hardly know it’s fretless) and I also had the usual suspects in my list, already mentioned in folks’ posts above. I may have to go back and listen to them all again in the coming days myself.