Vintage fretless bass (Vintage=the brand)

[isteen]

I'm getting interested in a fretless at a reasonable price - think Squier.
I just stumbled across a bass from a company called Vintage.
Not to crazy about the look, but then again - there's a cool sound from it, according to Youtube.

Anyone who can tell me a bit about the good/bad from this company?

It's priced around what a Squier VM fretless Jazz is at.
The one I'm looking at is the Icon Series VJ96 fretless.

[url="http://www.vintageguitarsusa.com/vintagebass.htm"]http://www.vintagegu...vintagebass.htm[/url]

[KiOgon]

I've had my Jaco (VJ96) over a year, bought 2nd hand through this forum, I prefer it over the Squier at similar prices. The playability is top score, I have it setup as good as any much more expensive bass & it plays perfectly. I much prefer the real rosewood fingerboard over the 'paper & resin' of the Squier, I have polished mine with lemon oil & beeswax, looks & feels good.

All hardware is Wilkinson, quality components, the company has a good record for these parts, no problems at all & no need to upgrade anything, the pick ups give a strong output & have a wide range of tone with plenty of mwaaaah! Currently using GHS Black Nylon Tapewound strings, it's a delight to play. When I got it, still had the original roundwound strings & appeared to have been played quite a lot with hardly any marking to the rosewood.

For a budget range bass I rate it as excellent value for money & would recommend it. It doesn't have the glossy shiny finish like a Squier, fits in with the road worn feel & looks, it's a player - not a looker

I don't have any personal experience with the Squier so I won't knock it, I know many love them.

HTH,
Cheerz, John

[isteen]

Thanks John, much appreciated

[BetaFunk]

I had a Vintage VJ96 and i can't say enough good things about it.

Very well made, great value for money and also the lightest 34" scale bass i've ever had.

Edited January 5, 2014 by BetaFunk

[ead]

I had this one, a Vintage V1004SPFL until my ACG fretless was ready and really enjoyed it. Nice and light with a good range of tones, about £450ish new iirc, but great value second hand. There's a review of the fretted version on here.

[attachment=151617:V1004SPFL 52.JPG]

Edited January 5, 2014 by ead

[dannybuoy]

I'd go for the Vintage over the Squier primarily because I prefer a wooden board to a plastic one! You should try before you buy with the ebanol boards Squier use, they're a bit marmite.

[dannybuoy]

(deleted duplicate post)

Edited January 5, 2014 by dannybuoy

[RandomBass]

I had a Vintage Jaco fretless - fabulous instrument with a delightful neck. I've also had a couple of their V4 P copies and both were on the button build-wise. The Wilkinson hardware is quality.

[isteen]

Thank you for all inputs, I will definitely take them into consideration.
Is the VJ96 replaced with the V74?
Can't find the VJ96 on the homepage anymore

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='isteen' timestamp='1388956662' post='2328189']
Thank you for all inputs, I will definitely take them into consideration.
Is the VJ96 replaced with the V74?
Can't find the VJ96 on the homepage anymore
[/quote]
Yes it looks like you're right.

[Shobaleader One]

I had the chance to play basschat user Dry_Stone's VJ96 a little while ago;

I can echo the sentiments already spoken, they are indeed excellent basses for the money! Absolutely blows the similar squire fretless out of the water.

Very light, but certainly not cheap sounding at all - the neck had a great feel, and the hardware is solid.

[clashcityrocker]

I really like the look of the relicing,actually looks genuine
Not a fretless I know,but this is beautiful
[IMG]http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i416/me_and_the_bastards/Screenshot_2014-01-06-06-56-28.png[/IMG]

[muttley]

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1388920926' post='2327559']
I had this one, a Vintage V1004SPFL until my ACG fretless was ready and really enjoyed it. Nice and light with a good range of tones, about £450ish new iirc, but great value second hand. There's a review of the fretted version on here.

[attachment=151617:V1004SPFL 52.JPG]
[/quote]

I have one of these. On the plus side it plays superbly, is perfectly balanced and fairly light. On the minus side I'm not too keen on the appearance and there are some (very) minor finishing flaws but this is a minor criticism. S/H values are silly - I paid a lot less than £200 for mine and it had been barely used. An awful lot of bass for the money.

[cupples]

I recently picked up a Vintage fretless bass for £129 secondhand - it's a grand instrument. I've been busy with it since though - put a bone nut on it, flatwounds and EMG pickups and tone controls. Mine has a plywood body, so might be different from what you're looking at, and certainly not as solid-looking as ead's. But definitely a much nicer fingerboard than the Squier fretless I had a go on the other day, yuck!

[Roland Rock]

This is BCs wombatboter going all Jaco on his:
http://youtu.be/1Xd2394nEYs

[bh2]

Cor! If I could play like that... I guess I'd play a bit like that!

A friend of mine has one, gigs it with a folk/disco band. Very nice it is too.

[barkin]

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1388950074' post='2328046']
I had a Vintage Jaco fretless - fabulous instrument with a delightful neck. I've also had a couple of their V4 P copies and both were on the button build-wise. The Wilkinson hardware is quality.
[/quote]

As the current owner of one of Geoff's old V4's, I'd agree with this.

[Grand Wazoo]

I tried one and really liked the vibe, as said by other, you get decent quality pickups by wilkinson, better than the Squier, but the one I tried was in bad need of a trussrod and action setup, it had a very high action that made it almost impossible to play.

Other than that the hardware is good, bridge and tuners work well, not too heavy and loads of resonance.

[redstriper]

I tried both the Vintage and the Squier side by side and I liked the Squier best by a long way, so I bought one.
The Vintage felt cheap in comparison and I hated the false relic job.
The Duncan designed pick ups have a deeper tone and the ebonol fingerboard is excellent.

Which just goes to show, we all have different tastes

[isteen]

I got the Jaco-style Icon Series about a month ago.
Plays very well, and the tone is just perfect.
Only thing I don't like is the the pickups are not shielded. I get a buzzing whenever I don't touch the strings.
A bit of a drag that I have to shield it myself

[Hugh971]

I had 2, both had quality control issues. One of them had a stripped truss rod so I sent it back and the replacement was missing the string retainer completely. After this I decided to get my money back. It was a shame because they were great basses apart from the obvious issues. The Wilkinson hardware was good.

If you have more luck than I did with QC then I'm sure it will be excellent.

I ended up ordering a Harley Benton from Thomann which also has Wilkinson hardware so hopefully that will be better.

[Annoying Twit]

[quote name='Hugh971' timestamp='1399240329' post='2442416'] I had 2, both had quality control issues. One of them had a stripped truss rod so I sent it back and the replacement was missing the string retainer completely. After this I decided to get my money back. It was a shame because they were great basses apart from the obvious issues. The Wilkinson hardware was good. If you have more luck than I did with QC then I'm sure it will be excellent. I ended up ordering a Harley Benton from Thomann which also has Wilkinson hardware so hopefully that will be better. [/quote]

When it arrives, please can we have an in-depth review? Pretty please.

[Hugh971]

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1399284994' post='2442680']
When it arrives, please can we have an in-depth review? Pretty please.
[/quote]

Of course

I also ordered the natural fretted 4 string HB Jazz so I'll review them both when they arrive.

[MindGoneBlank]

[quote name='Shobaleader One' timestamp='1388969305' post='2328368']
Absolutely blows the similar squire fretless out of the water.
[/quote]A big +1 to this. Wouldn't touch the Squier with its plastic fretboard. The Vintage is a really nice bass.

[JohnFitzgerald]

The bass of doom had that much polyester resin on the fingerboard that it might as well have been plastic.

Didn't seem to hold Jaco back.