mr4stringz Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 After many years of not playing fretless I’m considering dipping my toe back in the water, and so I’m after suggestions for a good, solid and decent fretless. Lower end of the cost spectrum would be good as not convinced I’ll stick at it but want to give it another go. I’m mostly a Fender player and have had a brief look at (but yet to try) the Squier VM fretless P, and the Vintage Jaco tribute thing. Any opinions on these out there guys? Any others worthy of consideration in a similar budget? Lined would be ideal (hahaha) but not essential. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 A friend of mine swears by his Harley Benton JB-40FL. It's a solid bit of kit and if pressed he'll admit he preferred his Overwater but it was sold years ago The newer models comply with CITES regs so no rosewood board and the Wilkinson pickups have been dropped for Roswell. £140 and no quibble return policy makes it worth thinking about. https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_jb_40fl_sb.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 JHS's Vintage basses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Westone Thunder 1A fretless is exceedingly good at any price point let alone £200+/- if you fancy unlined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 I have a Harley Benton 5-string in my collection (a B-550-FL) and it's amazing value for money. The 4-string version is about £120 + shipping brand new. The machine heads were a bit crap so I changed them, added a decent set of flatwounds and it's great :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Bay Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 My wife got me an Ibanez fretless for Christmas, I can’t fault it and am amazed by the quality for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GisserD Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 i have a brand new sire V7 if you want it? its this one https://www.thomann.de/gb/marcus_miller_v7_swamp_ash_5_fl_ts.htm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uk_lefty Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 SX do a good range of fretless basses. Years ago I played a defretted squier plywood pj bass and that sounded exceptionally good for what it was. Those would both be very cheap and probably easy to find around second hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibob Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 I have a Bass Collection Jive fretless which is very good for the money! Si Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr4stringz Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 Some great stuff there to keep me investigating. Big thanks to those who have offered responses and guys... keep them coming. Lost in a world of GAS with time to kill!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 (edited) My first fretless was a Yamaha RBX270F which I picked up for £80. I ended up keeping it for several years as it was a really good bass to learn on. Yamaha make pretty solid basses in most of the price categories and quality seems to be very consistent too. Definitely worth a look if you can find one. Edited February 10, 2018 by ead 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewisK1975 Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Subscribed - Looking for a cheap fretless to dip my toe as well..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Blank Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 53 minutes ago, LewisK1975 said: Subscribed - Looking for a cheap fretless to dip my toe as well..... PM'd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matski Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 On 10 Feb 2018 at 09:56, Paul S said: Westone Thunder 1A fretless is exceedingly good at any price point let alone £200+/- if you fancy unlined. Hmmmm. Maybe... I had a fretless Thunder 2A back in the early 80s which was a great bass as it was a Matsumoko model. However in the 90s I bought a Thunder 1 fretless and it was diabolical - it was definitely not Matsumoko-era and sounded terrible and had the worst neck dive I've ever experienced in a bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songofthewind Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Plus one for the Harley Jaco Jazz thing. Bang for buck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 The Squier is a great instrument, but the Sire is a real step up and worth the extra. Only problems I've found so far are the tuners are bit weedy and the bridge lacks a bit of mass, but that can all be sorted out pretty quickly enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 I have a Revelation fretless P which is truly astonishingly good for the money. They were about £160 new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twanger Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 The Squier VM P is excellent for the price. But be sure you want a P bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister RLP Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Twanger said: The Squier VM P is excellent for the price. But be sure you want a P bass! +1 I have one to play alongside my Matt Freeman pbass. Thought that they wouldn’t feel too different - neck size etc. Edited February 14, 2018 by Mister RLP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr4stringz Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 Thanks all for your views. Went for the Vintage in the end, one having come up on here, having been just about to pull the trigger on one of the HBs. Looking forward to getting back to it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Consensus seems to be there's lots of choice in the low end market nowadays.. In my day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 A tip for when buying a fretless: Remove the strings and run your fingertips down the fingerboard. Feel for any undulations. If there are subtle dips and rises, the sounds from the strings will be inconsistent. This is the same as the frets not being leveled. I had a Squier VM that didn't pass this test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreadBin Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 3 hours ago, mr4stringz said: Thanks all for your views. Went for the Vintage in the end, one having come up on here, having been just about to pull the trigger on one of the HBs. Looking forward to getting back to it now! Vintage look like very good vfm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twanger Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 6 hours ago, Grangur said: I had a Squier VM that didn't pass this test. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Spector Spectorcore fretless is good. Has the addition of a piezo in the bridge too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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