Marc S Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 A little while back, I sold my fretless Jazz, as I wasn't using it enough. Then guess what...... Yes, I joined a band which I mostly play upright in, and started feeling that I could also use a fretless bass guitar too. That thought nagged at me for a while, and I did my best to ignore it. Chatting with the singer / guitarist in another band I'm in, he thought fretless might add something to that band too - particularly as we sometimes do an acoustic duo version of that band. So this came up. I dithered for a while, and waited to see if my Fender Precision would sell first. Then the seller dropped the asking price of this - so I decided to get it, in case it got snapped up. And boy oh boy, am I glad I did 😀 Being a chambered body, its fairly lightweight, and I like the pickups. It's got a Bartolini and a Piezo in the bridge. Playing around with blending the sounds is great fun. However, it's a busy gigging weekend and I really don't have time to play much - so I'm having a quick rehearsal, jamming along with our album, playing this bass. I think I may even take it to the gig this evening, or tomorrow afternoon.... maybe even Sorry, no pics at the moment - my phone is really slow today, so I'll add them later 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted October 19 Author Share Posted October 19 As you can see from the photos, it's a reddish brown colour. In photo 2, the sunlight coming through the window was stronger, which seemed to really make the colour brighter. I have mostly switched to Short Scale for gigging bass guitars, but the neck on this is slimmer than my P bass, and its not overly heavy at around 3.5kg. I'll hang on to this unless I come across a lightweight short scale fretless. Really enjoying playing this bass. But I promised Mrs S that I would reduce the collection. Now, someone please buy my P bass. 😀 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schnozzalee Posted October 19 Share Posted October 19 I find myself reaching for the semi-acoustic and active fretless now... They just make you want to play. What scale is that? I find Warwick profiles/shapes slightly different, so it takes me a month to get used to them - I'd imagine Spector are the same, but it has been so long since I played one. (Love Bart soap bars) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted October 20 Author Share Posted October 20 It's a 34" scale (even though I have tended to opt for 30" these days). I once had a German made Warwick, and the neck on this is nothing like that. It's like a very slightly wider Jazz neck (40mm at the nut). Fairly slim front to back and rather comfy imo. I lightly sanded the edges of the fingerboard, to give it a rolled-edges feel. I'm not sure whether I was being foolish or brave - but hey ho... it made it even more comfortable to play. I have been busy with a double gig weekend. Now I'm going to have a noodle with this bass tonight and tomorrow eve 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted October 22 Author Share Posted October 22 (edited) Did a bit of a set-up "tweak" to this bass last night. I managed to get the action feeling even nicer. I wanted to give the neck a tad more relief - but the bridge saddles are at the bottom of their travels... and I can't set them any lower. However, it's set rather nicely, just as it is. There was a little string buzz / rattle at the heel end of the neck, and a close examination showed the fingerboard had a little upward slope at the end of the heel. Again, I bravely / foolishly took the sanding block to it, and gently took the level of it down a little. A bit of Lemon oil on the fingerboard afterwards, and it looked like new. It's now playing even better than before, and I'm even more pleased with my recent purchase. I could still do with selling my Precision - even though it looks lovely, it's just going to sit there, looking pretty, but unused. I am determined to make more use of this fretless bass than I did my last one, especially as I confirmed its weight with my digital scales - it's 3.5kg and that included the chunky leather strap I put on it. As you can probably gather, I am rather happy Edited October 22 by Marc S 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted October 22 Share Posted October 22 I had the earlier model with EMGs except mine was a 5 which came in 35” scale. Excellent basses, shame Spector have pulled the plug on manufacturing them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted Monday at 08:52 Author Share Posted Monday at 08:52 Still really enjoying my newfound (rediscovered?) love for fretless, and feeling so glad I got this bass. Set-up still needs an additional "tweak" I think. Alas, I'm not getting much time to spend on that currently. Some big life changes are on the way! (more of those later). But I'm grabbing a few minutes here & there to noodle along to a few songs, and can't wait to take it along to a full band rehearsal. My intonation still isn't as good as I'd like, and I have heard comments on here about playing fretless in the dark, to improve intonation by listening carefully. I might just give that a try. Anyhow, I'm enjoying the weight of this bass - it's not as light as my Danelectro or my headless short scale Ibanez, but it's half a kilo lighter than my P bass, and a tad lighter than my Mustang (I might even look at selling that now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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