Solid and Inexpensive Fretless Guidance Please

[mr4stringz]

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.

[kodiakblair]

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

 

[Skybone]

JHS's Vintage basses?

[Paul S]

Westone Thunder 1A fretless is exceedingly good at any price point let alone £200+/- if you fancy unlined. 

[BreadBin]

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 :-) 

[T-Bay]

My wife got me an Ibanez fretless for Christmas, I can’t fault it and am amazed by the quality for the money.

[GisserD]

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

[uk_lefty]

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.

[Sibob]

I have a Bass Collection Jive fretless which is very good for the money!

Si

[mr4stringz]

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!!!

[ead]

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

[LewisK1975]

Subscribed - Looking for a cheap fretless to dip my toe as well.....

[Frank Blank]

53 minutes ago, LewisK1975 said:

Subscribed - Looking for a cheap fretless to dip my toe as well.....

PM'd

[matski]

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.

[songofthewind]

Plus one for the Harley Jaco Jazz thing. Bang for buck.

[Burns-bass]

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. 

[therealting]

I have a Revelation fretless P which is truly astonishingly good for the money. They were about £160 new. 

[Twanger]

The Squier VM P is excellent for the price. But be sure you want a P bass!

[Mister RLP]

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

[mr4stringz]

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!

[TheGreek]

Consensus seems to be there's lots of choice in the low end market nowadays..

In my day...

[Grangur]

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.

[BreadBin]

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 

[Twanger]

6 hours ago, Grangur said:

I had a Squier VM that didn't pass this test.

 

[Grahambythesea]

Spector Spectorcore fretless is good. Has the addition of a piezo in the bridge too.