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Fazley PJ Fretless

NikNik

By NikNik,
in Bass Guitars

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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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Right, here we go.

 

It's a well balanced bass. It arrived with the P vol pot taped to the neck! Weird! There are marks on the scratchplate and the P vol pot itself is scratchy when turned, which leads me to believe this is a return, or an ex-demo unit.

 

The nut width is somewhere in between a P and a J and the nut is rough as: a piece of plastic that has clearly cut for a heavier guage of string than the .040s that are on it when it arrived.

 

The back of the neck is not finished properly, as if it were sanded to 1000 grit,then just sealed and given another pass.  The 'board is a slab,  and I mean a slab: the edges are squared off, and I will get around to rolling them. The surface of the board also appears unfinished at the 1st position,  almost as if it was sanded when the nut was fitted. The radius looks like 14!

 

But it plays and sounds good, plenty of mwah. The J pup is far back enough for some 70s J tone. But both pups seem a tad bright.

 

Controls are smooth, and no buzzing. The only issue there is that scratchy pot.

 

Not a fan of the overly-black 'burst, or the solid black on the rear.

 

Verdict: for the money and as a mod platform: 8/10.

 

 

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PaulThePlug Grand Master

PaulThePlug

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I'd be on to Bax with the pics for a discount partial refund rather than a return... state it was a little worse than you were expecting for B Sock... Should get you a set of cheap Flats, Nut might be OK for them..

0000 Wire Wool and lemon oil the fretboard, 0000 Wire Wool and Furniture Wax the neck.

Edited by PaulThePlug
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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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19 minutes ago, PaulThePlug said:

I'd be on to Bax with the pics for a discount partial refund rather than a return... state it was a little worse than you were expecting for B Sock... Should get you a set of cheap Flats, Nut might be OK for them..

0000 Wire Wool and lemon oil the fretboard, 0000 Wire Wool and Furniture Wax the neck.

£95 shipped. I just wanted to see what that coin got me. It's a mod project. I'll run a radius block over that 'board and seal it and round it off; tung oil the neck; replace the nut. That's the cheap stuff. The pups and tuners can wait. 

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Paolo85 Mentor

Paolo85

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Is it heavy? That 9.2kg in the description scares me a bit 😁

I may have accidentally ordered one yesterday in a moment of weakness. It was £99 and not even b-stock, and I have a Wilkinson P and a Tonerider J lying around which work well together.

But I am getting buyer's remorse!

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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

Is it heavy? That 9.2kg in the description scares me a bit 😁

I may have accidentally ordered one yesterday in a moment of weakness. It was £99 and not even b-stock, and I have a Wilkinson P and a Tonerider J lying around which work well together.

But I am getting buyer's remorse!

It's got a weight but it doesn't feel heavy. Not like some of my Jazzes.

 

I am really, really liking it! New nut going in after I prep the neck for a tung oil finish. The pups are ok, if a bit anodyne, but certainly not weak. I'm also going to roll-off the 'board edges as it is indeed a slab!

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jrixn1 Mentor

jrixn1

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Where are the side dots?  It's not clear from the reviews on bax-shop website, with one person saying:
"The only problem are the side-dots. They are on the usual spot for a fretted bass, but on a fretless bass without lines, the side-dots should be on the spot of the fret."
but another:
"There's nothing wrong with the "side-dots", they are right where they should be."

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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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13 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

Where are the side dots?  It's not clear from the reviews on bax-shop website, with one person saying:
"The only problem are the side-dots. They are on the usual spot for a fretted bass, but on a fretless bass without lines, the side-dots should be on the spot of the fret."
but another:
"There's nothing wrong with the "side-dots", they are right where they should be."

Pretty sure the ones on mine are in the correct spot. Will check again tonight.

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Paolo85 Mentor

Paolo85

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Right, so the bass has arrived.

I must say, the neck feels very nice, plenty of mwah, I would say as good as the HB JB75fl I had. Also, while it is definitely heavy, it is not ridiculously heavy, and it balances very well, unlike the HB.

BUT

- looks and feels cheap. Mine has glue marks here and there. Given the cost I would not hold it against the bass though

-More importantly, the pickup cavity is not deep enough. With a conservative setup (3mm E string height at the 15th position, "standard" for fretted but fretless tend to go lower) the P pickup pole is just 2mm away from the string. I doubt this is ok for the stock pickups. Certainly it is not ok for my plan to replace pickups - why would I put good pickups in if I cannot have them set up right?

I regret not ordering an HB B450fl, which is a bit more expensive but it is reportedly featherlight, sounds good, and is active with active-passive switch

 

I have asked Bax for a price reduction. I doubt they will be up for it. If they are not, this is likely going back

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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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I haven't played with the pup heights yet, though the rear one is a tad high; will look at that tonight.

 

To answer an earlier question: the dots on this one I have are in the correct place,

 

Took the neck off last night and am going to fine sand the back of the neck and the 'board, then roll the edges. The tung oil arrived so first thin coat will go on tonight.

 

For £90, it's a great mod platform.

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Paolo85 Mentor

Paolo85

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Posted (edited)

In the end, they have given me a £25 voucher. I think this is very fair, especially considering I could have also returned at no cost. This brings the total cost of the bass, including postage and future postage of whatever I'll buy with the voucher (I am never short of ideas unfortunately :D) to around £85, which is half the HB B450 I was also considering.

 

I have fiddled with the bass more. A couple of considerations

-Weigh is worse than I initially though. Can't spend an evening with it on the shoulder. The positive first impression was probably linked to the great balance

-As for the pickups, after changing the strings I would agree there is nothing wrong with them. For a ~£100 bass, it does not sound bad at all. From memory, I would say it compares well with a Squier Affinity PJ (disclaimer: not a fan of their pickups). Pickup height as said cannot be adjusted correctly so maybe they have even more potential.

-On that note, initially I was thinking it would be a massive job (expanding the pickup cavity) and it put me off a lot. I am now thinking a neck shim (maybe a flat neck shim, not creating an angle but raising the neck altogether?) may do the trick at least to an extent. The bridge may need to be raised as well by putting something underneath. Btw it all may be even simpler, depending how thick is the foam under the pickups. Either way, not a massive job if it works

 

Is the bass worth thr money in the end? Well, it is worth £85 for sure. The nameplate price would be £166, and at that price I guess it depends. I certainly think this should be considered as an alternative to Harley Bentons. I would prefer it over a JB75fl as it balances better. With the HBZ 2004 it is a tough call. The HBZ is more versatile, but it costs £266 and is not a good mod platform as pickups are non-standard. Probably the Fazley wins for me.

On paper, without having tried it though, I would prefer the HB B450fl to a Fazley at £166

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Paolo85
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  • 2 months later...
Paolo85 Mentor

Paolo85

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...now they are selling for 57 pounds it seems..

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/right-handed-bass-guitar/fazley-fpb218sb-fr-fretless-electric-bass-guitar-sunburst?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7aqkBhDPARIsAKGa0oIkoHFpWPv51lH3NbD7odS3xkD0gHAkqYzedTJ_2HVhE7PLMjWaZjsaAnRIEALw_wcB

 

That's very annoying because the resale value of mine is then zero, while it is a fine bass for the budget range!

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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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On 15/06/2023 at 14:05, Paolo85 said:

...now they are selling for 57 pounds it seems..

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/right-handed-bass-guitar/fazley-fpb218sb-fr-fretless-electric-bass-guitar-sunburst?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surfaces&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7aqkBhDPARIsAKGa0oIkoHFpWPv51lH3NbD7odS3xkD0gHAkqYzedTJ_2HVhE7PLMjWaZjsaAnRIEALw_wcB

 

That's very annoying because the resale value of mine is then zero, while it is a fine bass for the budget range!

No point in selling it. In fact, it's become my go-to fretless in the house. It sounds great acoustically, with plenty of growl.

 

I ended up re-radiusing the board to 9.5, sanding out the roughage up near first position, and giving it a few light passes of diluted shellac. 

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Paolo85 Mentor

Paolo85

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2 minutes ago, NikNik said:

No point in selling it. In fact, it's become my go-to fretless in the house. It sounds great acoustically, with plenty of growl.

Well, I am also enjoing a lot. But I love to practice standing and it's heavy for me. Because of that, I was considering selling and getting a HB B450fl. GAS for the HB per se was not strong though. As it happens, however, I have figured out the Fazley neck fits Squier bodies alright. Then you have a massive neck diver.. but things would maybe be different if I chopped thr headstock and went for 2+2 instead of four in line. Basically I am mulling a bitsa monster...

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NikNik Mentor

NikNik

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1 minute ago, Paolo85 said:

Well, I am also enjoing a lot. But I love to practice standing and it's heavy for me. Because of that, I was considering selling and getting a HB B450fl. GAS for the HB per se was not strong though. As it happens, however, I have figured out the Fazley neck fits Squier bodies alright. Then you have a massive neck diver.. but things would maybe be different if I chopped thr headstock and went for 2+2 instead of four in line. Basically I am mulling a bitsa monster...

Yeh, it is a bit heavy.

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