Dread Bass Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I've always had a love/hate relationship with fretless basses and being left handed i have always had to buy what i could get my hands on. Had a 5 sting MM, a Rick Turner Elctroline, a jazz copy and a Schecter 6 string fretless. None of them have been right for me. I had been looking at Jon Letts work for a while. I liked his style and he was local. I have massive respect for anyone who can build a bass from scratch and enjoy the process of planning custom basses so when i saw the offer for a 6 string handmade bass for £400 i had to go for it. Throughout the process Jon has been awesome to deal with always open to ideas and very knowledgeable. The spec of the bass is: 6 string fretless single cut Spalted Beech top Mahogany body Mahogany/ shedua neck ebony fingerboard with no radius ebony tone block, bridge, pickups, ramp (upcharge) Looks Well i went with a singlecut which i know not everyone like but i love! to me the bass as an influence from fodera and a bit of Carl Thompson. I love it but appreciate others will not. Build quality Build quality is great, very well finished. The neck join is quite Fodera like. Almost everything is hand made. The pickups, bridge and knobs all hand made. No issues at all. The finish is oil which helps with its open sound i think. Personally i like a heavier finish because i am clumsy but this feel natural. The bass is LIGHT! I dont have scales in the house but it is a lot lighter than my other 6 strings, I would guess 6-7 pounds. Playability The action is great but can still come down a bit more I am going to take the bass back to Jon who will do this but the bass is already amazingly easy to play. There is plently of Mwah. The bass balances great and because its so light its a pleasure to wear. Sound The bass sounds spot on I went with a passive setup and all my other main basses are active there is not the range of sounds that you would get from an active but plugged into my Sansamp this thing sings. The bass sounds great unplugged and very similar plugged in. Its a very woody natural tone, it doesn't sound forced or over processed like some fretless bass does. Conclusion All in i paid £475 for the bass as part of Jons summer build diary where Jon built 3 basses at cost price. I love the idea of supporting a local bass builder and i struggle to understand why anyone would buy an off the shelf bass when you could get something built for you. But each to their own. I guess the question is: is this bass worth £475? the answer is a yes without question. Would i pay full price for this bass (I am guessing at £900ish)? the answer is yes without question. I am planning a 5 string inspired by Matthew Garrisons/Janek Gwidalas Foderas next. Check the web site out here: http://www.lettsbasses.co.uk/root/jlettsbassesmain.html Any questions let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giblett123 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 I have one and I have to agree, will write a full review when I get a mo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Awesomeness mate, glad you're made up with it! Pics please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loushort Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 good choice of builder gents hes a top bloke and a master builder Ive got 6 of his basses i hope you get as much pleasure from your custom builds enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Chocolate Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 [quote name='loushort' timestamp='1352649722' post='1865567'] good choice of builder gents hes a top bloke and a master builder Ive got 6 of his basses i hope you get as much pleasure from your custom builds enjoy 6 of his basses!!! Pics in the porn section please! Nice review, can't wait for mine [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 Mine arrived this morning and it's asbolutely awesome, the most amazing fretless warmth in every note (I've not had chance to plug it in yet so this is just acoustically!)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 [quote name='loushort' timestamp='1352649722' post='1865567'] good choice of builder gents hes a top bloke and a master builder Ive got 6 of his basses i hope you get as much pleasure from your custom builds enjoy [/quote] pics please! I reckon someone should start a Letts porn thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 13, 2012 Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) ...here's a new porn thread... [u][color="#810081"][url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/191839-letts-porn/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/191839-letts-porn/[/url][/color][/u] Edited November 13, 2012 by andydye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Out of interest how does it compare to your ACG? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1352989453' post='1870216'] Out of interest how does it compare to your ACG? [/quote] both amazing but very different beasts, ACG - super crisp and uber high quality yet still handmade, a very modern machine with star trek preamp! Letts - tactile, you just want to touch it it feels so nice under the hand, a very sensual shape for a very simple and classic approach to guitar building... does that help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 ish I'm coming more from the point of why would someone pick one over the other more than anything. Although I would definitely agree to the ACG feeling modern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 (edited) [quote name='charic' timestamp='1352990245' post='1870232'] ish I'm coming more from the point of why would someone pick one over the other more than anything. Although I would definitely agree to the ACG feeling modern [/quote] I would choose a Letts for a fretless and an ACG for a fretted, different strengths, the Letts is a superb very organic, woody sound, perfect for fretless warmth, the ACG is sublime for clarity and punch and has a jaw dropping preamp I would really like to try an ACG fretless and a fretted Letts though to see how well each translate to the other... Edited November 15, 2012 by andydye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettsguitars Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Mr Dye. You are more than welcome to borrow the beech 5 string fretted if you're willing to pay the postage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andydye Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 [quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1352994040' post='1870288'] Mr Dye. You are more than welcome to borrow the beech 5 string fretted if you're willing to pay the postage. [/quote] Awful kind of you mate, I may take you up on that once my current brood have settled in a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.