stuh84 Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Hey there, I'm a guitarist primarily, but I love playing bass, and love the sound of a fretless too. Half of my favourite bassists are fretless-exclusive guys as it is. Anyway, I do a LOT of recording, especially for my band, and would love a 5 string fretless. I'm a metal kinda guy, but not limited to this, so something which it's forte is rock/metal, but not restricted to it would be great. Unfortunately, as I'm primarily a guitarist, I'm not looking to spend many thousands on this. I think at absolute MOST I'd be wanting to pay £300, but if theres anything for less that is a great deal, it would be preferable. Anyway, any thoughts? In terms of tone, just listen to Cynic, Gordian Knot or anything with Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Sadus, Testament, Quo Vadis), but yeah, if you guys need more info, let me know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 This is not an answer, just a follow on question inspired by the original question. Don't Squier do a fretless Jazz bass Deluxe V? There are fretless 4 string vintage modified jazz basses, and fretted Deluxe Vs, but I didn't see any fretless Deluxe Vs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 (edited) The cheapest decent 5-string fretless I've come across is the Ibanez GW35 but that's a bit more than your budget. Maybe if you have the skill and the time get a fretted 5-string that fits your budget and sound and take the frets out? Edited November 11, 2008 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wotnwhy Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 i used to have a 5 string fretless and loved it. i thought my intonation on it was pretty good. but whenever i tried to record i would drive myself crazy trying to play in tune, as it seems to pick up the slightest slip or missplaced finger and put a big red flashing arrow above it to make sure everyone notices it! so i hope you really meant it when you said you loved playing bass! because you'll have to do a lot of practicing to get to a good recording standard. but with fretless i'm sure you'll agree the sound is worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuh84 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 [quote name='wotnwhy' post='326727' date='Nov 11 2008, 01:35 PM']i used to have a 5 string fretless and loved it. i thought my intonation on it was pretty good. but whenever i tried to record i would drive myself crazy trying to play in tune, as it seems to pick up the slightest slip or missplaced finger and put a big red flashing arrow above it to make sure everyone notices it! so i hope you really meant it when you said you loved playing bass! because you'll have to do a lot of practicing to get to a good recording standard. but with fretless i'm sure you'll agree the sound is worth it [/quote] I've been practicing on a friends 5 string fretless, and I'm not doing too bad with the intonation, mainly because I'm playing direct in Garageband with a tuner (don't like Garageband much, but its easy to load up and use a tuner constantly), and I have a good ear for whats in tune and out of tune already (you have to be when you spend most of your time editing music for recordings....). I'll probably end up eBaying or similar for something, I was thinking about defretting, but I always get the feeling I'm gonna twat something up in the process, plus I'd prefer no fret markers at all so my hands have to learn where to be, not play on the lines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Burpster Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 Not an awesome piece of kit but at least very credible, and ticks your boxes..... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_rockbass_streamer_std_5_fl_rd.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_rockbass_...std_5_fl_rd.htm[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuh84 Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 [quote name='The Burpster' post='326803' date='Nov 11 2008, 02:55 PM']Not an awesome piece of kit but at least very credible, and ticks your boxes..... [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_rockbass_streamer_std_5_fl_rd.htm"]http://www.thomann.de/gb/warwick_rockbass_...std_5_fl_rd.htm[/url][/quote] Looks decent enough, as long as it gives an authentic enough fretless tone, it could be what I'm after, thanks dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annoying Twit Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 (edited) [quote name='stuh84' post='326809' date='Nov 11 2008, 03:00 PM']Looks decent enough, as long as it gives an authentic enough fretless tone, it could be what I'm after, thanks dude [/quote] I noted that on the Warwick forums (where I've posted about twice), that a number of members had fretted Warwicks but fretless Rockbasses. They seemed to think this a very good strategy. Though, that Thomann price looks very, very, high to me. Surely you could buy a fretted Rockbass, even the two pickup Streamer standard, and have it defretted for much, much, less than that price. And look at this fretless 6'er that's just gone for £132 on ebay. [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120328421068"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=120328421068[/url] Edited November 11, 2008 by Annoying Twit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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