Gillett Slimline Contour Fretless 4 (with pimptastic snakeskin hardcase) - £775 - *WITHDRAWN* £775 Manchester

[three]

Quick update - thanks for the interest in this and apologies it’s a UK only sale (rosewood - lots of it).  Given commitments, if there’s no further interest, I’ll need to withdraw on Sunday evening (12th June) and send this off on consignment. Please just drop me a note if you’d like to own a pretty unique electro-acoustic and we’ll see what can be arranged over the weekend. 
 

I always try to avoid hyperbole in ads - you'll probably know what this and will have seen/read the plaudits.  Apologies for the images, absence of light in Manchester isn't unusual but it's a particularly grey and dank afternoon for taking photographs (and this is exacerbated by minimal skills).  
 

Please note this is of necessity a UK only sale - there’s a lot of rosewood in the bass and I can’t verify species or source for any CITES declaration.

 

Absolutely rock-bottom price.  I got this on a great deal I'm passing it on.  This Gillett model retailed for £2200 when the basses were in production.  This is the J pickup only version.  The wood working is just extraordinary.   I showed the bass to a carpenter mate and he really couldn't work out how some of the jointing and carving had been achieved.  A lot of hand-carving by the look of it.  Closest sound to an upright I've heard, especially when played close to or over the board.  It's a bit spooky.  Details are here in a pretty stellar BGM review (Gillett also won best bass in show at NAMM 2019 apparently): 

 

https://www.gillettguitars.co.uk/content/large/documents/slimline-review.gillett.pdf

 

In short, 

31.75" scale

Fretless, Rosewood Board

Rosewood facings

Gillett designed preamp (really impressive in my opinion)

Bareknuckle J pickup

1.5" nut  

C profile neck - fairly substantial

 

Condition is excellent, though there are a few headstock scrapes and three very minor impressions as shown: two on the bottom of the lower bout and one on the headstock end.  The images make any cosmetic marks look rather more dramatic than they are (cosmetic condition really is very good indeed).

 

Hardware is phenomenal (it's very light though I've no idea of the materials) and a lot of it bespoke to the bass as far as I know.  Playability is very good too: I had the bass fully set-up to my taste on receipt.  Comes with original Rotosound strings tapewound strings and a truly lovely snakeskin (effect) hard case with a very plush white interior.

 

Collection in Manchester.  Shipping is probably a nightmare, though I may have a box of sufficient size.  If shipping is necessary (and I'd really rather avoid it), this is to be arranged by the buyer and at the buyer's risk.  Shipping is also unlikely to be less than £50 - big case, big box.  I'm advertising for a short time just in case - the bass should be off on consignment by the close of the week if there's no/little interest.

 

Any questions, please just ask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by three
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[diddywah]

Cool! What's the string spacing on it?

[three]

2 hours ago, diddywah said:

Cool! What's the string spacing on it?

Good question - I'll be back soon...

 

and, 1.5” nut - string spacing (c-c) at the nut is 10mm, and 19mm at the bridge.  Any further questions, please just ask

 

Edited June 6, 2022 by three
Details