Unlined fretless options on the cheap?

[Rich]

On 06/07/2022 at 16:17, Jonesy said:

I do like the look of those and when I was searching through the forum the Portamento was getting a lot of love. If one came up second hand and in budget I'd jump at it as I've heard nothing but good things.

 

However......trying to balance GAS vs the waiting game will be difficult!!

 

The Portamento is the best off-the-peg fretless bass I've ever played, by some margin. I tried a 5-string one at Guitar Village once and my credit card was screaming at me the whole way home. If I had a regular fretless gig, I would get one without hesitation.

[obbm]

This is a very interesting thread.  I have a lined Rob Allen Mouse fretless which is great.  I used for a whole gig recently and the band loved the tone however I found that I was almost continually looking at my left hand as my muscle memory is totally attuned to a 34" scale so  I am also in the market for a reasonably priced fretless however not a Jazz bodied one.  The Revelations look interesting, anyone know how much?

[Jonesy]

11 minutes ago, obbm said:

The Revelations look interesting, anyone know how much?

 

I think they're about £200ish for the P and £250ish for the PJ. However, they've been waiting for a shipment for months apparently so are a bit hard to find now. I spoke to them a few weeks back and I think they're due in August, so hopefully not too long to wait. The red P is being discontinued though and replaced with a white model

[vincbt]

I found myself running a similar search recently. Eventually, I landed on an Ibanez Portamento cause I could find a second hand one not far from me at around the £500 mark and I found it good value. However, when looking I had found a couple of unlined options on the cheap:

- Ibanez Roadster from the late 70s

- Cort Artisan with Mark Bass pre-amp

- Hohner PJ from the 80s

- Rockbass Corvette

- Harley Benton B-450FL

 

Out of these, a Cort and a HB should be readily available while the others are probably more of a second hand hunting exercise. I should mention that I didn't get to try any of these myself

[Paolo85]

1 hour ago, Jonesy said:

 

Bang on. This is definitely something for me to have a go at rather than play in a band with (maybe one day I will though?) and I think the way you've put it about unlined forcing you to listen more is what I what unlined for too.

 

I think the only options for unlined at the bottom end are.....

 

The 2 Revelations......

 

https://www.revelationguitars.co.uk/guitar/rpb-65-fretless/

 

https://www.revelationguitars.co.uk/guitar/rpj-77-fretless/

 

DiMavery.....although I have no idea what it'll be like

https://www.ltt-versand.de/en/sound/musical-instruments/basses/34627/dimavery-mm-501-e-bass-fretless-nature?gclid=CjwKCAjwoMSWBhAdEiwAVJ2ndrAH0Bjks_No6ISjnQpGNsFee1MCAfe_N3qoQcydblywEdcI1S9oqhoC51UQAvD_BwE

 

Stagg BC300FL

 

Vintage V940FL

 

 

 

And that's pretty much it unless we're looking second hand and can pick up some sort of Aria or Westone. I think Warwick made a Rock bass fretless too.

 

Out of those I think I'm leaning toward a 2nd hand Westone (or similar, if one turns up) or a Revelation.

Unfortunately, unlike you I realy want the Jaco sound, so for that it is very hard to replace the HB J on a budget.

With cheap PJs I always fear I'd have to replave the J pickup...

If I was you, I would really give rhe HB B450fl a chance. Dealing with Thomann is quite straightforward. You'll have it at your door within a week. If you don't like it, you return it

[Waddycall]

I’d go for this and the Goldo neck from DV.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265683982848

would need tuners, nut, retainer, neck screws and plate but it’s easy enough to do

[Musicman666]

all my fretless basses are lined ...if you want a challenge then just don't look at the board, i would personally find it quite hard without the lines to hit notes spot without sliding up to them, especially higher up the neck.

Edited July 24, 2022 by Musicman666

[Bunion]

You play what you want, my fretless basses have all been unlined, a few weeks and you’ll start to pick up the nuances, and few months and you’ll be there 

[Musicman666]

On 25/07/2022 at 03:42, Bunion said:

You play what you want, 

glad we got that one out of the way. 

[Munurmunuh]

On 11/07/2022 at 00:34, Jonesy said:

The G&L tribute Kiloton fretless is tempting (despite being sunburst and lined)

 

I was checking through the thread to see if this had been mentioned, despite being sunburst and lined and over budget And it has. And by you. I had a nice video ready, and I feel disinclined to let it go to waste....

 

[lownote]

My main gigging bass is a Revelation P bass in white. I spect I would like a better quality bass at some point but in the meantime I upgraded that which needed it: pups to Bareknuckle 58 split, tuners to Gotoh lightweight, loom to KiOgon.

Now that's done I can't find much I dislike and it keeps on coming back as my go to bass.  I even sold it once and found it back on the doorstep after a few days. 

The only issue you should check on the Revelation is the placing of the side dots. I had Bass Gallery check and all mine were on the notes except, bizarrely, the 12th fret pair which needed relocating by a centimetre. 

I dislike mwah intensely so have my nut slots at 0.3mm and the action and relief same as a standard fretted bass.

Why do I play unlined?  Honestly? The buzz I get when people go 'oo, ah, look he's playing unlined fretless'; the fact that 'oo ah' mitigates criticism of my usual playing errors; the buzz I get from creating my own notes, as against the 'paint by numbers' tin ladder system.  I have got a fretted six, not least because chordal work up the dusty end of an unlined is really hard, but for down and dirty gigging I like the Revelation.   

I have had a Portamento 5 and liked it very much. However the stub lines can give people the impression you're trying to look cool while still keeping the cheat sheet. One of our guitarists said as much to me: go commando or don't, but don't pretend you're naked while still wearing a thong. But hey it's a great bass and I will likely get one again when our guitarist isn't looking. 

If you like cheap, you might stumble across a Vintage V940FL. Very wood, small, light active PJ.  You might want to upgrade quite a lot of stuff and and move the side dots, but you can find them for around £150 or less.

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by lownote

[Baloney Balderdash]

 

[Jonesy]

On 24/07/2022 at 20:35, Musicman666 said:

 i would personally find it quite hard without the lines to hit notes spot without sliding up to them, especially higher up the neck.

 

The challenge is the point of trying unlined! I don't generally look at what my left hand is doing, apart from a quick glance when moving over a lot of frets, but going unlined just seems like it'll take me out of my comfort zone. 

 

 

On 26/07/2022 at 11:56, Ricky Rioli said:

 

I was checking through the thread to see if this had been mentioned, despite being sunburst and lined and over budget And it has. And by you. I had a nice video ready, and I feel disinclined to let it go to waste....

 

 

Despite it being lined and burst I'd love to give it a go. Can't find anywhere in the UK that has it in stock though and to order it would mean putting down a 20% non refundable/transferable deposit 😔

 

 

On 26/07/2022 at 12:29, lownote said:

My main gigging bass is a Revelation P bass in white. I spect I would like a better quality bass at some point but in the meantime I upgraded that which needed it: pups to Bareknuckle 58 split, tuners to Gotoh lightweight, loom to KiOgon.

Now that's done I can't find much I dislike and it keeps on coming back as my go to bass.  I even sold it once and found it back on the doorstep after a few days. 

The only issue you should check on the Revelation is the placing of the side dots. I had Bass Gallery check and all mine were on the notes except, bizarrely, the 12th fret pair which needed relocating by a centimetre. 

I dislike mwah intensely so have my nut slots at 0.3mm and the action and relief same as a standard fretted bass.

Why do I play unlined?  Honestly? The buzz I get when people go 'oo, ah, look he's playing unlined fretless'; the fact that 'oo ah' mitigates criticism of my usual playing errors; the buzz I get from creating my own notes, as against the 'paint by numbers' tin ladder system.  I have got a fretted six, not least because chordal work up the dusty end of an unlined is really hard, but for down and dirty gigging I like the Revelation.   

I have had a Portamento 5 and liked it very much. However the stub lines can give people the impression you're trying to look cool while still keeping the cheat sheet. One of our guitarists said as much to me: go commando or don't, but don't pretend you're naked while still wearing a thong. But hey it's a great bass and I will likely get one again when our guitarist isn't looking. 

If you like cheap, you might stumble across a Vintage V940FL. Very wood, small, light active PJ.  You might want to upgrade quite a lot of stuff and and move the side dots, but you can find them for around £150 or less.

 

 

That Revelation looks great and I think is the front runner so far. The Gallery should have them in stock in the next few weeks so I'll pop in and give one a go. It looks more of an off/aged white than a bright Olympic white - is that just the light, or is it creamy in real life too?

[lownote]

It's the color it goes to. I bought it secondhand 3 years ago. It started dazzly white.  Much better now.  It's less tobacco cream than in that pic but as you'll see from the cab and Cort next to it the colour balance isn't too far out.  

EDIT:  You might notice the faux wear on the top of the body. I'm not into relciing normally but I wanted to see if the wood was nice enough to strip the body and thought I could hide the test in plain sight by making it look like relic.  In fact the original colour was so stupid bright relic'ing it a bit brought the colour down to a manageable level  

Edited July 28, 2022 by lownote

[BlueMoon]

12 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

The challenge is the point of trying unlined! I don't generally look at what my left hand is doing, apart from a quick glance when moving over a lot of frets, but going unlined just seems like it'll take me out of my comfort zone. 

It's bizarre and maybe more a potential mental barrier than a reality. Nobody wants to be outside of their comfort zone and you'd think that an unlined board would do that, but it can do the opposite. It can push you to use your ears more and not rely so much on having lines as a potential crutch. Sounds like you're already almost there if you don't constantly feel a need to look at your left hand.

 

I switched from double bass to fretted bass guitar and then added fretless basses to the stable, so I came at it from a different direction. All I can say is, take the plunge and grab some personal rehearsal time to work on the intonation and technique. It will come quite quickly and you will feel great about it!!

[lownote]

28 minutes ago, BlueMoon said:

It's bizarre and maybe more a potential mental barrier than a reality. Nobody wants to be outside of their comfort zone and you'd think that an unlined board would do that, but it can do the opposite. It can push you to use your ears more and not rely so much on having lines as a potential crutch. Sounds like you're already almost there if you don't constantly feel a need to look at your left hand.

 

I switched from double bass to fretted bass guitar and then added fretless basses to the stable, so I came at it from a different direction. All I can say is, take the plunge and grab some personal rehearsal time to work on the intonation and technique. It will come quite quickly and you will feel great about it!!

 

IMHO a big barrier is the offset side mark, almost ubiquitous on lined fretlesses (fretlessii?) and common with unlined. Why make life even harder?  A side mark on the note makes life so much simpler. 

[BlueMoon]

Totally agree.

[MrSpace]

26 minutes ago, lownote said:

 

IMHO a big barrier is the offset side mark, almost ubiquitous on lined fretlesses (fretlessii?) and common with unlined. Why make life even harder?  A side mark on the note makes life so much simpler. 

Yes, agree, but doesn't affect all basses. The side dots on my unlined HB B450FL are on the notes, not in between them. 

[tauzero]

7 hours ago, MrSpace said:

Yes, agree, but doesn't affect all basses. The side dots on my unlined HB B450FL are on the notes, not in between them. 

 

Conventionally, the dots on unlined are on the fret positions and the dots on lined are between the unfrets. I had my Sei lined fretless re-dotted so the dots are on the unfrets.

[Waddycall]

Ive been playing my unlined fretless the last few evenings (against physio advice🙄) and I noticed that when playing stood up I use the side dots which are on the fret positions 3,5,7 etc. I have to get into an awkward position to see the face of the fingerboard so don’t think I’d benefit from full lines but maybe side lines at all positions would be useful.

[Musicman666]

i'm beginning to wonder if some of the unlined guys also buff the numbers off their car gearstick just to keep it real.

Edited July 31, 2022 by Musicman666

[Waddycall]

41 minutes ago, Musicman666 said:

i'm beginning to wonder if some of the unlined guys also buff the numbers of their car gearstick just to keep it real.

???

[Musicman666]

3 hours ago, Waddycall said:

???

off not of ...sorry

[MrSpace]

11 hours ago, Musicman666 said:

i'm beginning to wonder if some of the unlined guys also buff the numbers off their car gearstick just to keep it real.

Actually I drive with my eyes closed, helps me feel the road better.

[Musicman666]

13 hours ago, MrSpace said:

Actually I drive with my eyes closed, helps me feel the road better.

and then you have truly mastered the road...grasshopper.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Musicman666