Tony Franklin fretless

[Guest subaudio]

Hi all

Not posted in a while, nice to be back

 

I'm looking at the Tony Franklin fretless with great desire but the list price is very high so I'm pondering a bitsa.

 

Maybe a us Fender deluxe P 4 string body with a 3rd party neck or some such.

I think Tony nailed the specs with his bass and I want to use roundwounds so an ebony board is a must.

Does anyone have any experience with putting something like this together?

I've looked at alternative manufacturers for a stock bass, such as Sandberg but the sound demo's I've heard have a different tone to the Franklin.

I want to use it as my main bass so need to nail the classic P bass sound, I can play fretless in a way that's not fretless sounding when needed.

Cheers

 

[EliasMooseblaster]

One of the trickiest things to nail will be the custom shop pickups. The P pickup is very bright - a '62 RI would probably get you there - but the J in the bridge position is apparently something they designed with TF himself, and may be difficult to come by outside of that bass. Not being a connoisseur of Jazz basses, I'm not sure how to compare it to other bridge pickups, or what might get you close.

If you do decide to go down the bitsa route - firstly, I look forward to hearing the results! - and secondly, you could probably improve on my only gripe with the design: replace the blade switch with a blend control!

[Guest subaudio]

Cheers for that, I like the brightness of the P pickup, it allows the sound to mimic a fretted and roll the tone off for more classic sounds.

The J pickup was originally a Dimarzio chosen to match the output of the P pickup, so I think Fender have made their own version of that.

I'm very early in the planning and plotting stage, need to sell a bass to finance it too, you know how it is

[Shaggy]

6 hours ago, subaudio said:

 

I think Tony nailed the specs with his bass and I want to use roundwounds so an ebony board is a must.

 

Keep an eye on this then: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Allparts-Lic-by-Fender-Fretless-Jazz-or-Precision-bass-neck-with-ebony-board/163210742923?hash=item26001e4c8b:g:8EoAAOSwMwRbeb5R

actually the relatively cheap Mighty Mite necks with fretless ebonol boards aren't half bad - the ebonol board on my Kramer 450B fretless is still going strong after 40+ years

Sounds a good project; one of the nicest fretlesses I had was Bassbod's old '72 P with ebony board and P/J mods - I think the pickups were a matched pair of SD Antiquities, don't know how they compare to the Tony Franklin

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I made a great fretless bitzer Precision several years ago with a Brandoni neck & body. The Neck is fantastic with a nice bit of flame/birdseye in the maple and a lovely dark ebony unlined fingerboard. I wouldn't be surprised if they still sell the same necks.

[Guest subaudio]

4 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Keep an eye on this then: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Allparts-Lic-by-Fender-Fretless-Jazz-or-Precision-bass-neck-with-ebony-board/163210742923?hash=item26001e4c8b:g:8EoAAOSwMwRbeb5R

actually the relatively cheap Mighty Mite necks with fretless ebonol boards aren't half bad - the ebonol board on my Kramer 450B fretless is still going strong after 40+ years

Sounds a good project; one of the nicest fretlesses I had was Bassbod's old '72 P with ebony board and P/J mods - I think the pickups were a matched pair of SD Antiquities, don't know how they compare to the Tony Franklin

I like looked into Ebanol recently, apparently it's the same stuff they make bowling balls out of and one of the big high end bass makers use it. I forget which one.

[Hellzero]

Why not buy the real thing ?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PBassTFflBlkd1--fender-tony-franklin-fretless-precision-bass-black

Or in two parts :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-USA-Fender-Tony-Franklin-Precision-P-Jazz-Bass-LOADED-BODY-Nitro-Black/142882553056?hash=item214476bce0:g:Pl4AAOSwf31bWJeU

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-USA-Tony-Franklin-Precision-Fretless-Precision-P-BASS-NECK-TUNERS-Ebony/362396289171?hash=item5460808893:g:pFEAAOSwrVRbWJeg

Edited August 24, 2018 by Hellzero
More links

[Guest subaudio]

11 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Why not buy the real thing ?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PBassTFflBlkd1--fender-tony-franklin-fretless-precision-bass-black

Or in two parts :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2018-USA-Fender-Tony-Franklin-Precision-P-Jazz-Bass-LOADED-BODY-Nitro-Black/142882553056?hash=item214476bce0:g:Pl4AAOSwf31bWJeU

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-USA-Tony-Franklin-Precision-Fretless-Precision-P-BASS-NECK-TUNERS-Ebony/362396289171?hash=item5460808893:g:pFEAAOSwrVRbWJeg

Nice one, thanks for that, I'm aware of that splitting site, very tempting and cheaper than uk retail prices, which are bonkers.

The TL is a gorgeous, awesome bass but £2000+ is too much.

I just watched a used one in perfect nick go for £900, and in the UK.

I don't have funds till I sell my bass, so still just planning options and plots

[project_c]

I have the TF fretted and I’ve also tried to put together another pj based on it, kind of. Here are the potential difficulties you may run into:

- build quality is exceptionally good on these, I think they’re pretty much Fender CS quality. 

- both pickups are unique, the P was too bright for me so I replaced it but the J pickup is magic, it’s the snappiest most aggressive j pickup ever 

- nitro on neck and body, doesn’t matter so much on the body but the neck feels amazing

- generally the whole bass is really reliable and well put together, it can be set up with very low action without much effort, and it doesn’t need regular maintenance.

None of this is impossible to duplicate of course but for some reason the TF is an exceptionally nice Fender, I recommend saving up for one or grabbing a second hand one if you can.

 

[Guest subaudio]

8 hours ago, project_c said:

I have the TF fretted and I’ve also tried to put together another pj based on it, kind of. Here are the potential difficulties you may run into:

- build quality is exceptionally good on these, I think they’re pretty much Fender CS quality. 

- both pickups are unique, the P was too bright for me so I replaced it but the J pickup is magic, it’s the snappiest most aggressive j pickup ever 

- nitro on neck and body, doesn’t matter so much on the body but the neck feels amazing

- generally the whole bass is really reliable and well put together, it can be set up with very low action without much effort, and it doesn’t need regular maintenance.

None of this is impossible to duplicate of course but for some reason the TF is an exceptionally nice Fender, I recommend saving up for one or grabbing a second hand one if you can.

 

Thanks for that mate, yes, the TF is a fabulous bass.

I know deep down that if I put my own impression of the TF together I'd still want the real thing.

I guess I'm frustrated at them being out of reach financially, new anyway.

That's not to say self builds aren't awesome of course.

I hoped there might be a magical cheaper way but there isn't

I'm trying not to sell my current gear to get one but it gets harder everyday

[Guest subaudio]

Just had another thought...

How difficult would it be to add a piezo to the bridge of a P bass/Franklin?

[Hellzero]

The easiest way would be to put a bridge with piezo saddles AND a buffer preamp for the piezos, so around £300 to £1000 GBP depending the brand of piezos and buffer preamp...

Check these links :

https://www.rmcpickup.com

http://www.graphtech.com/products/brands/ghost/ghost-pickups---bass

http://www.graphtech.com/products/instruments/bass/preamps-for-bass

https://www.fishman.com/accessories-tuners/powerchip/

http://noll-electronic.de/guitar-electronics/mixpot/

http://www.richter-ee.de/mixer.html

[Guest subaudio]

20 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

The easiest way would be to put a bridge with piezo saddles AND a buffer preamp for the piezos, so around £300 to £1000 GBP depending the brand of piezos and buffer preamp...

Check these links :

https://www.rmcpickup.com

http://www.graphtech.com/products/brands/ghost/ghost-pickups---bass

http://www.graphtech.com/products/instruments/bass/preamps-for-bass

https://www.fishman.com/accessories-tuners/powerchip/

http://noll-electronic.de/guitar-electronics/mixpot/

http://www.richter-ee.de/mixer.html

Awesome, thank you