PatrickJ Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) I've been toying with giving fretless a go for a while now I also fancy trying a 32" scale bass so I figured why not try and combine those into a single bass for 2021. I'm really struggling to find anything other than a Warwick. Are shorter scale fretless basses just not a thing? Edited January 1, 2021 by PatrickJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMarco Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Yep, you don't see them a lot. May I ask why your mind is set on a 32" rather then 34"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Aria Cardinal? Fretless might have to be a defret? or, like I said before, an Ibanez Mezzo is a couple of hundred quid and a decent defret is about £100. Edited January 1, 2021 by AndyTravis 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted January 2, 2021 Author Share Posted January 2, 2021 31 minutes ago, DiMarco said: Yep, you don't see them a lot. May I ask why your mind is set on a 32" rather then 34"? Not hard set, shorter scale and fretless were both on my mind to try so if it was possible to get them both in a single package then it seemed like a cute idea. I'm now looking at 34" scale fretless basses, still not as much of a range as I thought . They must be out of fashion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Chowny SWB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatrickJ Posted January 3, 2021 Author Share Posted January 3, 2021 (edited) @TheGreek has kindly lent me a long scale fretless to try. After having a bit of play last night I think jumping into a shorter scale would be a mistake - since I'm comfortable with 34" scale already I have a bit of a feel for where the notes should be. Changing scale I suspect will present more challenges. Edited January 3, 2021 by PatrickJ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 1 hour ago, PatrickJ said: @TheGreek has kindly lent me a long scale fretless to try. After having a bit of play last night I think jumping into a shorter scale would be a mistake - since I'm comfortable with 34" scale already I have a bit of a feel for where the notes should be. Changing scale I suspect will present more challenges. Very kind of @TheGreek 👍. Another thing to consider when going shorter scale fretless, is that the shorter the scale, the less margin for error there is. Obviously spot on intonation is the aim but a fraction out on a 34", give it some vibrato and it's acceptable, to a degree. That same amount out on a 28" is just plain old out of tune. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiMarco Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 Great! Plenty of 34" scale fretless basses on the market. How very kind of @TheGreek! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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