Jerry_B

They're good basses!

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1324376863' post='1473476'] I am a huge fan of Westone basses. I think they are superb quality and unbeatable value for money. The shame of it is that most of them are too heavy for me to wear now I have done a number on my lumbar. I had a wonderful Thunder 1A that I would often pick up in preference to my Fenders.[/quote] I still have a Westone Spectrum DX that I bought from a second-hand shop in 1988. It's still an excellent bass with a huge tone - if only it didn't suffer from neck dive! 99% of basses I've owned has been less than 200 quid, with exception of my T-40. That includes a MIJ Fender Jazz (90 quid + a chunk more to make it playable). I also agree that BB414s are very underrated basses. My only fault with them is the lack of blending option with the pups, but overall they really are great basses.

But as only snobs are the only people who are going to care what name is on the headstock, why pander to them? My old knackered-looking Maya fretless has become my 'go to' bass now because to me it's simply nicer to play than the more 'refined' Fender Jazz fretless I have. All it needed was some better pups, but once that was easily sorted. At the end of the day it boils down to what you yourself like playing in terms of feel and tone. If you get that from a famous brand name, fine - if you get it from some other make, that's fine too. No-one in the audience will give a monkey's unless the tone is crappy

I have some Hammers in my Jazz fretless - definitely worth it!

'Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!' If it's nice to play and you like how it sounds, a tiny transfer on the headstock which isn't all that visible over 20 feet shouldn't matter.

I need a tiny screw to keep mine working properly...

I use a Boss CEB-3 with my fretless basses. It's a nice bit of kit that has a good range of possible tones.

Yeah - get another T-40!

I think it'd be great in Fender made some of the MIJ designs more widely available - for example, non-Aerodyne P/J Jazzes. In general Fender seems to ignore the P/J with the cheaper wing of their range, which is a shame IMHO. I also wish they'd start doing unlined fretless Pbasses or Jazzes again, that aren't some 'special' artist range.

Ever heard of Lightning Bolt? I think you're more into the vocals/thrashier side of things, but you might like 'em I say this as they're just two blokes - a bassist (with a ton of noise making kit) and a drummer.

The quick way is to just learn where the dots are along the top of the neck. These may be on the fret on an unlined and between the fret on a lined. Either way, it's very easy to get the knack of the unlined version of things. I still say to stick with it - unlined, that is

It sounds to me that what's actually going on might be a common fear when first playing the fretless. It seems to crop up once in a while in threads. That is, that fretless seems like it will be hard to do and take a long time to get the hang of. I'm sure this may be what partly fuels the lined fretless market. It's actually not at all difficult, and IMHO a lined one wouldn't make your life easier if you really wanted to go over to playing an unlined fretless. I've always thought it better to jump in feet first, not worry about it, and after not too long your brain, hands and fingers will start to synch up for fretless playing. It won't take all that long to do, believe me.

IMHO, by the time you'd got it done, you could have had a few more tries on it as an unlined neck, and probably got your head around playing it 'mastering' it wouldn't happen for a while anyway, lined or unlined.

[quote name='deej' timestamp='1317291648' post='1389031'] There are no words to describe this.. [/quote] You don't like it? Always makes me laugh - and I really do like the sound of that bass!

+1 That's what I'd do, if that was me. I'd recommend a Wizard Hammer for the bridge - although Wizard also do a P/J set.

Are you sure yourself that there's a need for new pickups? I mean, it doesn't matter what other people think if you like the tone you're getting out of it.

Might be worth a try. That's my preferred guage anyway

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Q7XFFy_j0[/media]

[quote name='PauBass' timestamp='1317127381' post='1387041'] Yeah, I like that one!...Is he using an old Fender Bassman? [/quote] Not sure. Awhile back on another thread somewhere someone posted some details of the kit he uses. Another candidate: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jMQzvRvDws[/media]

Well, perhaps try some [i]new [/i]flats? And maybe some other guages? Failing that, maybe the action is too low WRT the pickups? There may be some magnetic problems there.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTVKFsSDoaU[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCkFDj_Xo0[/media]

For starters... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaxV3c5Hc0I[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCzB5F2zDHQ[/media]

Maybe try some flatwounds...?

Never use it live? He must be mad.

That said, some punk covers bands consider them to be punk, in my experience (i.e. the ones that asked me to join). Ditto for The Jam. I'm not sure why!