goonieman Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Howdie all. I bought this from Raslee on here - and it was a pleasure. It's a cheeky little devil - USA pickups and unknown replacement body onto a squier VM fretless. Been playing guitar for 20 years, and bass for 10, but still cannot believe i've never tried a fretless, and I must say, I think i've seen the light. I setup this up yesterday with some D'addario custom chrome flats (courtesy of the 50% deal from here that's just closed). I lowered the action right down and straightened the neck out almost dead straight (a hair of relief)... ...and whoa, what a player! Fantastic growl over the bridge pickup, and plenty of singing mwah when picking at the heel of the neck. I must have played it for around 3-4 hours straight yesterday! The tones from the pups are excellent - clean and full. No muffling or sharpness or mid-range bark. Very balanced and almost flat to my ears. The only downside I can find is that some of those fretless lines stand proud imperceptibly - which means there is a very pronounced increase to the mwah on some notes if not targeted properly. Nothing some 3M sandpaper won't handle! You can juuuuust about feel the plastic standing high... it's almost psychological and I have to run past it several times to make sure it really is actually a little proud... but it does have an impact. Anyway, I was expecting to struggle with the fretless arrangement - but its surprisingly easy to get the hang of it. Now I can learn to play all those Baghiti Khumalo licks (see 'Graceland' - Paul SImon). It also opens up Indian Ragas as a possibility! It's been a while since i've had a musical revelation of this magnitude. If you're on the fence - get off it and go get a VM fretless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I'm just getting in to fretless myself. Like you, can't believe I've never tried it before. I've probably made it hard for myself though, having purchased an unlined neck. Anyway, looks like you got a decent buy there, hope you continue to enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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