NBD Sire V7 fretless

[Cato]

This actually arrived from Thomman  on Saturday but becuse of a recent bout of killer flu I was only actually in a fit state to unpack it and play it today.

First impressions - it's a lovely bit of wood on the body, I'm sure it's at least two or three pieces, I can't see the joins, but then I never can on these things.

It's seems well made, it feels exactly like a Jazz bass, so I feel immediately at home with the neck and the string spacing.

This is my first fretless, I've played them in shops before and had a go on other people's but this is the the first one I've spent any real time with, so I'm not sure I'm really qualified to judge it's merits, but, unplugged, it sounds and plays exactly as I expected it to.

Plugged in the first thing you have to deal with is the preamp. In passive mode everything is nice and calm, predictable even. Engage the preamp and all that changes. When I first got the bass I noticed that the bass side of the middle pick up had been lowered to the point where it was only about 1 mm above the body.

With the preamp on, I realised why. Unless the volume is turned right down or the bass knob dialed right back the E string distorts like it's going through a fuzz pedal, the A is not quite as bad, but it's still not ideal.

Once I overcame this initial challenge the preamp is actually quite versatile,  with all the variation you'd expect from a unit with that many knobs, that said I think I may be making a far bit of use of the passive option.

I'm also not that keen on the bridge. In the pictures it gives the impression of being a big solid unit, in the flesh, it's hard to describe why, but it actually feels a bit flimsy and poorly made. There may well be a Hipshot A in the future for this bass.

Anyway, despite those gripes, I'm actually rather chuffed with it, obviously I'm a beginner at this fretless lark, but this seems like a decent enough instrument to get started on.

Apologies for the photographs, which were taken on my tablet, which lacking any kind of auto compose function, does nothing to disguise my lack of photographic skills.

Edited December 26, 2017 by Cato

[Burns-bass]

These are exceptional instruments for the price, and something you can obviously upgrade without ruining any guilt or problems.

I had a fretted 5 string which I have sold, and replaced with a fretless one. You need your tools to get a great set up from it, but once dialled in it’s a lovely bass, that’s very versatile for the price.