GreeneKing Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 What do you reckon? What makes for a good fretless bass? Humbuckers/single coils, mahogany? piezo? What would you go for if you were having your dream fretless made? Suggestions on the back of a saucy postcard please. Pierre Quote
fullrangebass Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 What kind of fretless tone are you after? Mick Karn, Jaco, Pino, Steve Bailey? Quote
chris_b Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 Mmm. Starts with a W and ends with an L. Quote
GreeneKing Posted February 23, 2009 Author Posted February 23, 2009 Mick Karn would be a start! Bringing a Wal into the 21st century Pedro Quote
Sercet Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 I'd go for a Mahogany body with Sycamore facings, a Maple neck with an Ebony fingerboard, two-a-side tuners, two pickups, bass and treble controls with pull-to-boost, master volume and a volume-pan. Quote
LukeFRC Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 i would suggest a lack of any frets would make a good fretless tone. Quote
Tait Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 take a squier classic vibe jazz, put a fretless neck on Quote
Lfalex v1.1 Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 Through neck. Probably multi-laminated for stability. 5 String. Tenor Tuning - CGDAE Active. Ideally at least a 3band EQ. Better still, a sweepable Mid Freq or a Semi Parametric / filter-based pre. A really hard/ Durable fingerboard; Pau Ferro. Ebony. Phenolic. The Vigier Delta Metal. Pick-ups? That's harder. I love Precisions for the "simplicity" of their sound. I think that influenced my decision when I bought the SR5. I think single pick-ups convey the fretless character really well. Trouble is, you lose the flexibility of having 2 pick-ups, and that nasal "honk" from a bridge pick-up. The same conundrum applies to the choice of Humbucker or Single Coil, too! It really does boil down to your own taste. Quote
Jase Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 Simple design for me.....1 hot bridge pup, one volume, no tone, ebony board (lined, some nice inlays), hipshot dtuner, neck thru would be nice...all served on a Fender jazz....doesn't have to be Fender though. Windmill....mmmmm. Quote
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 This is not a warwick,but a vester. Fantastic. It has very light strings(roundwound) fitted, they are black topped going into the tuning pegs I was wondering what brand they are. Wouldn't mind getting the fretted version of this. Quote
bremen Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 [quote name='Jase' post='417757' date='Feb 23 2009, 07:38 PM']Simple design for me.....1 hot bridge pup, one volume, no tone, ebony board[/quote] What he said. Musicman type pickup. Quote
GreeneKing Posted February 23, 2009 Author Posted February 23, 2009 [quote]I'd go for a Mahogany body with Sycamore facings, a Maple neck with an Ebony fingerboard[/quote] Have you been reading my mind? [quote]Semi Parametric / filter-based pre.[/quote] [quote]two pickups[/quote] [quote]Trouble is, you lose the flexibility of having 2 pick-ups, and that nasal "honk" from a bridge pick-up.[/quote] Yes I agree [quote]neck thru would be nice.[/quote] Piezo bridge? Peter Quote
BigRedX Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 Humbuckers (with coil taps for extra versatility). ACG 01 pre-amp. Whatever wood you like the look of. The rest of it is down to how you play. Quote
YouMa Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 Im thinking of building one,but i want to use none of the usual woods,there is loads of trees out there mrs youmas dad is a mad farmer with a chainsaw and has just cut down a big willow tree,other than using it to make great gunpowder for my fireworks i thought about a willow body fretless p bass,any ideas apart from ash? Quote
Prosebass Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 One I built a while ago....when Q-Tuners were cheap....relatively speaking Jazz Body in Basswood poly coated Mighty Mite neck with Ebanol board Q-Tuner High Z pup Volume 500k Tone 250k with 0.47uf cap Schaller 3-D bridge Neutrik Jack Boy did it sound good [attachment=20990:n1137412...979_8880.jpg] Quote
Jase Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 [quote name='Prosebass' post='418033' date='Feb 23 2009, 11:33 PM']One I built a while ago....when Q-Tuners were cheap....relatively speaking Jazz Body in Basswood poly coated Mighty Mite neck with Ebanol board Q-Tuner High Z pup Volume 500k Tone 250k with 0.47uf cap Schaller 3-D bridge Neutrik Jack Boy did it sound good [attachment=20990:n1137412...979_8880.jpg][/quote] I bet it sounded awesome.....nice and simple Quote
Shaggy Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 (edited) Been playing fretless for pretty much 30 yrs now, and I really only have 2 “must-have” criteria: - Fingerboard as hard and level as possible; nothing softer than ebony (ie; not rosewood or maple), my custom “Sabre” has a board in African Blackwood which is the hardest and most even I’ve found. Haven’t tried synthetic or coated ones mind. - 2 pickups; it’s the combined setting that usually gets that slightly hollow sound. The most critical factor IMO is the set-up; nut slots filed down to a nano-whisker and action “postage-stamp” low! The rest is down to personal taste really. Having used actives through the ‘80’s and ‘90’s I’ve definitely come around to preferring passives; more of a natural, woody, acoustic quality, especially through a valve amp set clean; the tone configuration on modern amps is so good anyway. Haven’t tried piezos, would like to! I'm [b]still [/b]looking for a Travis Bean! :ph34r: Edited February 24, 2009 by Shaggy Quote
GreeneKing Posted February 24, 2009 Author Posted February 24, 2009 Some great idea coming out, much appreciated. Peter Quote
Lfalex v1.1 Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 An extended fingerboard or a ramp of some description Quote
Kiwi Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 I think its possible to go for at least three different characters on a fretless. One is the bright singing tone on Pedullas, there's a double bass type sound you get from Ashborys, Godins etc and the final is a warm woody tone typical of Wals, Smiths and others. Each have different design characteristics depending on what you're aiming for. Personally I love the Pedulla sound but I also like the Godin fretlesses I've tried too (couldn't justify one with my playing though). Quote
rjb Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 On a budget, Squier VMJ fretless. With a bit of cash a Thumb NT/BO fretless. With "loadsamoney", one of these.... [url="http://www.roballenguitars.com/info_deep.html"]http://www.roballenguitars.com/info_deep.html[/url] Quote
fretless bob Posted April 26, 2009 Posted April 26, 2009 i have found fretless perfection in five forms so far. a lovely 79 stingray with a rosewood board that thankfully is mine the second is a friends 6 string fretless wal mkIII 6 with a walnut top that sounds amazing an 81 ibanez roadster with a coated maple fingerboard which again sounds amazing with a lovely glassy top end an acoustic bass made by martin with flat wounds, with your eyes closed you would swear it was an upright and the 4th is a pedulla 4 string buzz bass which had such a cool tone. still for me the best fretless sound for me is the stingray, i love it to pieces. Quote
Kiwi Posted April 26, 2009 Posted April 26, 2009 Well if it was me, I'd go for a chambered mahogany body and a 5 piece laminated maple (3x) and mahogany (2x) with graphite reinforcing and a super thick compound radiussed ebony fingerboard. For pickups I think humbuckers with parallel wired coils with coil switching to allow single coil use, to allow for Wal and Jazz bass sounds, and a preamp with sweepable mid control. But if the bass sounds right then why not keep it passive? The mahogany will give lots of midrange growl with enough maple to keep the neck from being too seasonally temperamental. The ebony fingerboard will provide some brightness to the top end without it sounding too bright. The fingerboard needs to be thick enough again to reduce the flex so that once the fingerboard has been radiussed and flattened under simulated string tension, it will play with super low action given your choice of strings. Quote
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