Beedster

....but apart form that I'd say go for it 😆

To add my extra (small) thoughts to what I think are several pretty conclusive opinions above, here's some more reasons why you shouldn't defret 1. Fretted necks are forgiving on the wood. Wood moves over time and wood wears over time. Poor alignment or uneven surface of a board is generally masked by frets but brutally exposed on a fretless. After the defret you may find that you have to have the board smoothed, which is expensive anyway but more so with a maple neck as you will also have to have it refinished 2. Maple fretless necks are lush - I have three - but they wear very quickly and need to be looked after, for example they do not like heavy handed players. They have low resale value/desirability by comparison with rosewood/ebanol/ebony in part for that reason, which is probably why I've been able to pick up three quite cheaply 3. You may have to have your neck refinished anyway depending on how much damage is done to the existing finish during the defret. That is expensive 4. You will almost certainly need to cut a new nut for your neck once its fretless (I have never found an odd the shelf nut that I was able to install unmodified on a fretless neck). This is not a big job of course but the costs are all adding up 5. If as you say you're keeping the bass for sentimental reasons, turning into an instrument that might be crap or that you might not like very much or might not be able to play - after all you say you fancy giving fretless a go - seems a bit counterintuitive 👍

Mate, apart from the fact that we’d all miss you and your contributions, you do realise that BC is like Hotel California; you can check out any time you want but you can never leave 👍

Yep, the problem with web discussions is that it's all two easy for people who - were they in a bar or at a gig with a beer in their hand would get on famously and have a good chinwag - to get quite worked up about stuff (I've been there too many times). Here's a round for y'all 👍

It was really good to see you back, shame it's going to be an 'albeit briefly'

So, I just installed a set of Thumpers I've had hanging around for a few years and they're, well, very very thumpy. Now that seems fair enough given their title, but I'm a little surprised by an almost complete absence of top end to the point that the tone control makes a difference but it's pretty subtle. Is that normal for these - which I can't believe is the case but I'm prepared to be put right - or do I have a gremlin in the works?

Very well put mate 👍 Personally when I see equipment demo'd in the usual fashion, slap or technical funk in one or other form - I find it a turn off, and over and above it all too ofetn being an ego trip for the person doing the demo (understanadle biut not necessary), it's not letting me know how the gear is going to sound when I play the rock/blues/soul stuff I tend to play.

Agree, but the debate does show what a bloody minefield vintage Fenders are, hope no-one's fallen out over it 👍

I think it’s part of the appeal

Such an entertaining video (as are their others). I've had a couple of disagreements with Alex over the years, largely - well entirely - my fault, but we should all be bloody grateful that Alex and BF are out there doing what they're doing, and that they're doing with such class and without compromise. I've often wondered why they didn't get into combos given how highly rated their cabs are, but I'm guessing they've identified the direction of travel with this unit. Well done guys 👍

In my experience when equipment does fail it's rarely in the comfort of a home practice

This was my other semi-Enfield (Fender neck)

It was a very useful experience owning it, being able to - to all intents - swap between basses mid song at the flip of a switch gave me a real appreciation for how the different tones sit and reinforced my thinking around the tone I love, essentially Precision. The fact that on the Fusion (the bass in the post above), the neck pocket is Fender fit was very useful as I was also able to try a lot of different necks, which further cemented my preference for all things Precision (the wider the nut the better). The basses themselves have Simms Custom Shop written all over them, that is, pure class at every level - design, engineering, finish, functionality, and tone.

My ex, it was a stunning instrument, I sold it simply because I tended to use the Precision option only and already had a Precision fretless (and at the time sadly and unexpectedly found myself with funeral costs to pay). Not for the first time, if the option presented I'd probably buy it back given the flexibility would work well in my current band project 🤔

Glorious design and engineering, and the quad PUPs and switching between P, J, and MM are a great concept. Sadly I suspect the reality commercially was that given the option, most bassists prefer to have three separate basses than three basses in one.

Until you had to carry it to the van