Fretless with a "slap bar"??

[uk_lefty]

Years ago I remember reading about a fretless bass with a piece of brass fitted to the fingerboard right at it's very end so that zingy slap and pops could be played on it but with the notes sliding like a fretless. Does anyone have one of these? Is it good or bad?

[AndyTravis]

Was it a Wilkes?

[uk_lefty]

19 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Was it a Wilkes?

Absolutely no idea I'm afraid 

[Cato]

I looked into it a few months ago.

There used to be a company that sold the plate, it may will have been Wilkes, but I couldn't find anyone currently selling a similar item.

It might be worth PMing a couple of the clever chaps on the Build Diaries thread for ideas on where or how to get something like this made.

There's a few guys with more than decent engineering/machining skills hanging about there.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Cato

[ezbass]

I’ve never played one, but The Gallery have one at the moment https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/wilkes-bass-custom-fretless

[uk_lefty]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

I’ve never played one, but The Gallery have one at the moment https://thebassgallery.com/collections/bass/products/wilkes-bass-custom-fretless

Perfect, thank you!

The reason for looking in to it is that I'm toying with having a bass made and can't decide between fretted or fretless, this could be the solution if it's effective and not just a crappy gimmick.

[White Cloud]

9 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Perfect, thank you!

The reason for looking in to it is that I'm toying with having a bass made and can't decide between fretted or fretless, this could be the solution if it's effective and not just a crappy gimmick.

In that case Doug Wilkes is your man - great luthier!

[Hellzero]

Try this, the Mikey convertible basses :

 

 

 

[Acebassmusic]

I used to have a Musicman Sabre with fretted and fretless Gordon necks. The fretless had a brass slap plate at the end of the fretboard which brightened up the slap sound a little but also protected the end of the fretboard. If I was going down the fretless route again I would have one fitted.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Acebassmusic

[Hellzero]

Or the Neuser Fretless System aka NFS :

 

[Hellzero]

Or simply use your fretless the way it's built :