ossie Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 (edited) Fender Squire Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz Bass * Save £85 on the retail price * I bought this bass with all good intentions of learning to play a fretless. Unfortunately, I never get time and, as a result, this bass never gets used. I have owned it from new and it has never been gigged or taken outside of the house, as a result, it is like the day I bought it. It has been restrung with Rotosound FM66’s to get a real Joco-esque sound. When I bought it I tried the Mexican Fretless Jazz and to be honest, the Squire left it for dead, I think partly because of the Seymour Duncan Pickups. It is a lovely looking and sounding instrument and a pleasure to play. Seems criminal to have it sitting doing nothing. If you are looking for a decent fretless at a budget price you could do a lot worse than this. They seem to retail for £270.00 so, given the immaculate condition, I will start the bidding at £185 Here’s what Fender say: ‘Disciples of groove will severely dig Squier’s elegantly slinky new Vintage Modified Jazz Bass Fretless, which fuses the warm, expressive voice of an upright with the defined attack of an electric. The no-pickguard, Three-color Sunburst finish is a classic, and the lightweight agathis body is home to a pair of single-coil Duncan Designed™ Jazz Bass pickups. The special one-piece maple neck has a fretless Ebonol fingerboard with white celluloid lines that let you know where you’re at! Other features include a four-saddle chrome bridge, and chrome hardware and machine heads’. I would prefer local pick up, as I am reluctant to post such a lovely instrument, however, if the buyer wants to arrange their own courier, I will ensure that it is well packed, as a guide only; £20-£25 seems about average for a guitar. Please ask if you have any questions. Advertised you know where: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120751991319"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120751991319[/url] Edited July 24, 2011 by ossie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossie Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Bump. Any feedback? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnDeereJack Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I've got one of these too. Great basses for the money IMO. I ended up modding mine so it looks quite different now. Here's a before & after: [attachment=84697:Fretless...arison_e.jpg] Have a bump on me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossie Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Ooooh ! Maybe that's what I should do, looks great. They are great basses. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassdude BE Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Nice, i'm looking for something like this, but i've never been a big fan of Squier products... How's the intonation on this bass? Do you have nay soundsamples by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnDeereJack Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 [quote name='ossie' post='1306435' date='Jul 17 2011, 09:19 AM']Ooooh ! Maybe that's what I should do, looks great. They are great basses. Cheers[/quote] It can get quite expensive, depending on how far you take it of course, but it totally changes the look of the bass for the better (IMHO!) Before the modding I would still play it but not nearly as much as I do now. I was going for the '62RI look so here's what I did: 3 ply tort PG & screws - aftermarket so not much more than £10. Not a direct fit so needed slight alterations to fit around the neck and control plate. Gotoh 301 bridge - £32 new off e-Bay. 1/4" copper tape to make the fake ground strip between the bridge and bridge pup - £2.00 off e-Bay. Black plastic pull-bar & screws and Jazz Bass style knobs - next to nothing off e-Bay. Chrome neck pup cover - less than a tenner new. After I finished all that I decided to get the electrics replaced with better quality units and have the pups wired series/parallel with a push/pull, so I got a tech I know to replace everything with CTS pots & Switchcraft jack and wire the pups for S/P. I found an old .05 PIO cap (allegedly from a 50's Telecaster) on e-Bay and had him fit that as well. All-in-all the modding cost me over £100, including all the work carried out by the tech, but it's definitely improved the look and sound of the bass immeasurably. Cheers, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossie Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 I've sold a couple of bits and was going to try an get hold of a higher spec fretless, but to be honest, you've inspired me. I'll let it run on e-bay for this week and If it doesn't sell, I'm going to mod it like you have. Thanks for the inspiration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossie Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 [quote name='Bassdude BE' post='1307382' date='Jul 18 2011, 04:22 AM']Nice, i'm looking for something like this, but i've never been a big fan of Squier products... How's the intonation on this bass? Do you have nay soundsamples by any chance?[/quote] Hey Bassdude, To be honest, everything, intonation etc is better than the mex fretless' I tried. My main gigging bass is a Mex 62 re-issue jazz which I love now that I've changed the bridge for a Badass, but there's not much in it and 3 X the cost (to have Fender stamped on the end). Obviously would love an American Jazz but out of my league at the mo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnDeereJack Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 [quote name='ossie' post='1307676' date='Jul 18 2011, 12:11 PM']I've sold a couple of bits and was going to try an get hold of a higher spec fretless, but to be honest, you've inspired me. I'll let it run on e-bay for this week and If it doesn't sell, I'm going to mod it like you have. Thanks for the inspiration. [/quote] Glad to be of help Ossie They're great basses and perfect for modding. If you do decide to keep it and do it up make sure you keep us posted with plenty of pics in a build diary. Bassdude - I felt the same about Squier til I actually tried the VM range. Fantastic basses for the money you'll pay. The only issue I had with the VM Fretless was the intonation high up the board but a set-up (which included having the board planed) and a new set of strings sorted that out. The only other budget fretless I could get my hands on was the distressed 'Vintage' Jaco-a-like. Nice bass, played well but not as nice as the Squier. Also I just dont like that 'distressing' fad so I'm happy to say the Squier won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossie Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 BUMP Change of heart, offered a Modded Jazz (already done) so price dropped to sell. Anyone interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ossie Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 BUMP Ends Sunday !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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