To fretless or not?

[xgsjx]

Every time I play a fretless in a shop, I love it.  The feel, the tone, everything.  For quite some time I've been considering getting myself a nice fretless 5er.

Just now, my only gigging bass is my Ibby SR1000.  It does sound fantastic & feels real comfortable.  I've tried a few other basses over the years, but the Ibby does everything I want from a fretted 4.

Now, question is...  If I'm to spend about £2k on a new bass, do I go for the fretless 5 (I've been eyeing up some Maruszczick basses), or do I go for a nice fretted 5 (maybe a Sadowsky Metro Express) & get the Ibby defretted?

My concern is that I get the fretless & it ends up not getting the use that I hoped it would.

Those with a fretless, do you use it more than your fretted bass?

 

[ezbass]

Up to recently I would have said yes, but I have been playing my fretted Elwood L and Ric 4003S a fair bit recently. However, on the whole, I prefer fretless and wouldn’t be without one (I have a fretless Elwood L4 and a Rob Allen MB2 5). Given your love of your Ibby, why not look into a Portmento or a Gary Willis and save a few £s?

Edited May 8, 2018 by ezbass

[Steve Browning]

No but it has a quality to it that a fretted doesn't. It will add a colour to your palette that only a fretless can.

It's really whether or not you can envisage using it (unless you just want one which is fair enough in itself). I tend to find I can hear it working in songs that I didn't before and I think it's occasional use is well worth the cost.

[therealting]

I would get an inexpensive fretless first to try it out for a while. Use it to learn what you like in terms of pickups, fingerboard material, strings, electronics... then if you are still loving it in a couple years’ time, you’ll know exactly what you want. 

[therealting]

My first fretless was a European-made MTD JJ 5er. I liked it a lot but sold it as I wasn’t using it. Later I picked up a Revelation PJ fretless on here for about £150 and I leave it around the house. Traded back for that MTD and so I now have two great fretlesses... that I don’t use nearly enough!

[Andyjr1515]

13 minutes ago, therealting said:

I would get an inexpensive fretless first to try it out for a while. Use it to learn what you like in terms of pickups, fingerboard material, strings, electronics... then if you are still loving it in a couple years’ time, you’ll know exactly what you want. 

^ This

It will probably be a bit heavy and you will want to put some better strings on, but I would heartily recommend something like this Harley Benton from Thomann:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_550fl_bk_progressive_series.htm?sid=df3d9ef6c1dcc84bc1c58f4f3e612d3d

  Other colours are available, but at around £140 this will be unbeatable value for money and almost certainly a decent player - and probably a lot cheaper than defretting your Ibby (which would be a shame and a compromise)!

If you read my build threads, you will know that I build high-ish end custom basses....but I never hesitate recommending Harley Bentons for people to try out new things and styles.  I personally have never come across a bad one yet.  And you can get a decent one for less than it costs me for the wood for just the neck alone of one of my builds!!!!

[therealting]

18 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

^ This

It will probably be a bit heavy and you will want to put some better strings on, but I would heartily recommend something like this Harley Benton from Thomann:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_b_550fl_bk_progressive_series.htm?sid=df3d9ef6c1dcc84bc1c58f4f3e612d3d

I bought a four string fretted deko one of these for my school. Nut was terribly cut and needed shimming, but once that was rectified it was a hell of a lot better than it deserved to be for the price. 

[Andyjr1515]

6 minutes ago, therealting said:

I bought a four string fretted deko one of these for my school. Nut was terribly cut and needed shimming, but once that was rectified it was a hell of a lot better than it deserved to be for the price. 

Yup - and bear in mind that the deko ones are the quality rejects sold as 'not for playing'

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, therealting said:

I would get an inexpensive fretless first to try it out for a while. Use it to learn what you like in terms of pickups, fingerboard material, strings, electronics... then if you are still loving it in a couple years’ time, you’ll know exactly what you want. 

+1 to this

2 hours ago, xgsjx said:

Every time I play a fretless in a shop, I love it.  The feel, the tone, everything.  For quite some time I've been considering getting myself a nice fretless 5er.

Just now, my only gigging bass is my Ibby SR1000.  It does sound fantastic & feels real comfortable.  I've tried a few other basses over the years, but the Ibby does everything I want from a fretted 4.

If you have found 'your' perfect fretted 4 string in your Ibby SR1000, it seems criminal to defret! (Particularly if you're after a 5 string fretless).

If you love the look and feel of an Ibby SR, and are happy to stick to a 4 string then you could do far worse than get an Ibby Portamento SR700. There's one in the FS section right now, I believe  For a 5 string fretless worth considering the SR705 - it's a lovely bass (which I recently managed to get in a trade from a fellow BCer). 

I'm also a bit of an Ibby fan (cue obligatory pic  ):

Edited May 8, 2018 by Al Krow

[xgsjx]

As much as I love Ibbys, I want something a little different.  I like the idea of a custom made bass, such as a Maruszczyck.

I also really like the idea of a fretless electroacoustic for when I'm doing folk stuff (Warwick Alien looks great, as does the Gillett basses).

I currently play in a rock band, but come July, I'll no longer be in that band.  The next band won't be a rock band.  I really can't stand the constant sound of distorted guitars anymore.
I suggested for a song that the guitarist played clean at certain parts & his response was "I don't do clean".

Anyway, next band will be anything but Rock.  RnB, Electronica, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Folk, anything at all apart from Rock.
No disrespect to those who love Rock.  I did for years & still enjoy a bit of Black Crowes.

[therealting]

5 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

As much as I love Ibbys, I want something a little different.  I like the idea of a custom made bass, such as a Maruszczyck.

I also really like the idea of a fretless electroacoustic for when I'm doing folk stuff.

I wouldn’t go custom made until you’re very clear what you want. I’ve seen lots of people pay money for specific features that they later realised were the opposite of what they were looking for. 

[xgsjx]

20 minutes ago, therealting said:

I wouldn’t go custom made until you’re very clear what you want. I’ve seen lots of people pay money for specific features that they later realised were the opposite of what they were looking for. 

If I go custom fretless (or fretted), I know exactly what I'm wanting.  I've already spec'd up the bass, from the woods right down to the neck radius, preamp & pick ups.  I've done the same for the fretted.

It's the choice of whether I go fretless or not.

[Woodinblack]

I love fretless - I have a SR705 (I also have a SR1000) but I find myself not using it that much. When I want to use it there is nothing like it, but there are many times when I don't use it for ages. I guess the problem is that there isn't much use for it in the group currently so I don't play it that much.

Seems like if I was in your position I would get a S/H 705 (or whatever), and see if you ended up using it often. If you do, sell the 705 for what you bought it for, and get the thing you want. 

You never really know whether you would end up using it that much or not. 

[chris_b]

I like fretless basses. I fell in love with the sound of a Rob Allen 4 string fretless bass. It just sounded better than anything I'd heard before.

So I bought it and discovered 2 problems. It was fretless and had 4 strings. Although I'm very set in my 5 string ways I'm sure I could have coped with either "issue" on its own but together I just couldn't make it work for me. I used it in the 2 bands that I thought would appreciate the fretless sound. One band leader shrugged his shoulders and said it was OK and the other said he preferred the sound of my Precision! So I sold it.

I think the answer for me is a 5 string fretted Rob Allen, but that's a different thread.

[therealting]

22 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

If I go custom fretless (or fretted), I know exactly what I'm wanting.  I've already spec'd up the bass, from the woods right down to the neck radius, preamp & pick ups.  I've done the same for the fretted.

It's the choice of whether I go fretless or not.

It’s completely up to you. I’m just saying that for me, fretless and fretted bass feel like somewhat different instruments, and what I like in one isn’t necessarily what I’d want in the other... and I didn’t know that until I’d owned several fretlesses and played them for a while. 

[xgsjx]

2 minutes ago, therealting said:

It’s completely up to you. I’m just saying that for me, fretless and fretted bass feel like somewhat different instruments, and what I like in one isn’t necessarily what I’d want in the other... and I didn’t know that until I’d owned several fretlesses and played them for a while. 

If I go fretless, it's pretty much a fretless jazz bass.  The majority of ones I've played in the past were Fender Jazz basses (though the Breedlove was rather nice too, hence considering the Warwick Alien).

Don't get me wrong though, I do appreciate your input & advice.  I'm still very much in 2 minds.

[therealting]

The obvious answer is to get a fretless Jazz and a Warwick Alien (: Should be able to get some good stuff for under £2k.

If you definitely want a fretless Jazz, there is a stunning Bravewood in the classifieds at the moment...

[xgsjx]

1 hour ago, therealting said:

The obvious answer is to get a fretless Jazz and a Warwick Alien (: Should be able to get some good stuff for under £2k.

If you definitely want a fretless Jazz, there is a stunning Bravewood in the classifieds at the moment...

That's a nice bass, only if it had 1 more string & not in sunburst (I'm not a fan of sunburst).

[therealting]

Whereabouts are you based? You’re welcome to come try my MTD if you’re near London. I could be persuaded to part with it as I’m playing upright more now for acoustic stuff

[Baxlin]

+1 for buying a low cost  instrument to get the feel of.

I took it to the extreme, and I hardly dare admit to this in this company, but I bought a nonsuch (Oldfield?) bass via eBay for less than £30 (!) which I defretted, just to see how I got on with it.  

Really enjoyed it in the safety of my own home, but hadn’t  the skill or the confidence to use it in the band.

Sold it a couple of months ago for quite a profit, my ad suggesting that it might be ideal for a buyer to use to put their toe in the fretless water.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Baxlin

[GisserD]

id strongly recomend getting a cheap one before dropping that kind of cash. there's a few really lovely sire V7 fretless guitars in the classifieds on here, take a punt on one of those instead

[xgsjx]

1 hour ago, therealting said:

Whereabouts are you based? You’re welcome to come try my MTD if you’re near London. I could be persuaded to part with it as I’m playing upright more now for acoustic stuff

Thanks for the kind offer, but I’m a bit far from you.  I’m up in Perth (other side of Edinburgh).

[xgsjx]

35 minutes ago, GisserD said:

id strongly recomend getting a cheap one before dropping that kind of cash. there's a few really lovely sire V7 fretless guitars in the classifieds on here, take a punt on one of those instead

I’ve looked at the Sires a few times. Seem like good basses for the money. 

I might end up going for a fretted 5 for @ £1600 & get a sire fretless too. Worth a thought. 

[Delberthot]

I nearly ordered a headless Status Stealth 6 fretless a few years back when they were still around the £2000 mark - now I won't go above 4 strings

I also keep a cheap fretless in the livingroom to remind me why I don't play fretless - I can't get the punchy, snappy tone that I want from a fretless so there it sits as a reminder. Still doesn't stop me wanting one from time to time

[GuyR]

6 hours ago, xgsjx said:

As much as I love Ibbys, I want something a little different.  I like the idea of a custom made bass, such as a Maruszczyck.

I also really like the idea of a fretless electroacoustic for when I'm doing folk stuff (Warwick Alien looks great, as does the Gillett basses).

I currently play in a rock band, but come July, I'll no longer be in that band.  The next band won't be a rock band.  I really can't stand the constant sound of distorted guitars anymore.
I suggested for a song that the guitarist played clean at certain parts & his response was "I don't do clean".

Anyway, next band will be anything but Rock.  RnB, Electronica, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Folk, anything at all apart from Rock.
No disrespect to those who love Rock.  I did for years & still enjoy a bit of Black Crowes.

If you are considering electro acoustic the Godin A5 has a fantastic sound. Really rich tone. I picked mine up used for £500. There is a 80s tokai fretless Jazz on eBay ATM for £400, if that makes a sunburst 4 string less unattractive. They are great basses.

I agree with the other posters that buying used, relatively cheap, allows you to change your mind without financial penalty.

In answer to your question I play fretted about twice as much as fretless. My main fretless now is a defretted 62 jazz bass, which cost around your £2k budget.

good luck with your search