Delberthot Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Just back from a mammoth 6 hour wedding gig. I bought myself a new bass the other day on the spur of the moment. I've had the fretless bug for sometime now and I thought that instead of getting something expensive I would buy something cheaper and keep it in the house to satisfy my fretless cravings. Its one of these: 2 things I must point out are that I hate sunburst and I hate jazz basses - never been able to get a decent tone with them. I didn't have the chance to set it up properly but did put on a set of used TI flats this afternoon as I wanted to try and make my fingers last the night before any blisters set in. I began by having the neck pickup on full and the bridge picup backed off slightly as I can vaguely remember something about having both volumes up full results in a loss of volume for some reason. The sound was good but only good. I then decided to turn the neck pickup down slightly and put the bridge pickup on full and that is when it all changed. I've never had such a punchy, clear sound from a fretless - in fact there aren't many basses I've owned that were as punchy as this with frets and roundwound strings. I began the night thinking I would maybe use it for the first 2 songs but used it for the entire night. I cannot wait to give this a proper setup and when the flats have matured a bit and get out and do another gig with it. People say that they're good for the money and you can see that some of the components are cheap but I have to say that after a full 6 hour gig that bass is fantastic for any kind of money. I'm not saying that this bass is definitely a keeper but I'm beginning to see why a lot of fretless basses are Jazzes. I've never had a decent sound out of a fretted Jazz but perhaps the fretless Jazz is where my fretless voice is. The gold warmoth is the ultimate fretted bass to me and will never be replaced but I love this bass and it may be the start of a new quest to find my ultimate fretless bass. There's a couple for sale in the for sale section (funnily enough) and I'd heartily recommend getting one - you will be surprised Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilisfan16 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Hey, i play a fender jazz, and i've jammed with one of my uni mates who plays the exact same bass you have, colour and all, you've got there, and i can state, ladies and gentlemen, the moded squires play almost as well as fenders. there is still the tone difference you can tell from the fenders, but it's still a sweet bass. and what kind of tone was it you were looking for out the amp, was it a more high end tone or more round? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 I don't like the nasaly Jaco, Manring etc sound, I much prefer a more Tony Franklin sound. In fact, I hate the sound of a fretless being played as a fretless unless its Pino playing it. I always go for a snappy, punchy sound and a combination of bridge pickup full, neck slightly lower, tone about half way and putting the bass up a couple of notches on the Shuttle gave me exactly that. I'm getting quite a lot of quieter notes further up the neck but that's purely due to it needing a proper setup as the notes are getting choked but a good set up will sort that out. I'm a very heavy handed player and the more I get into the gig, the harder I play so I may get myself a higher tension set of strings to cope with that. The TIs are fantastic and maybe by raising the action the amount required will imrpove the tension to the right amount for my playing. As soon as our keyboard player found out i was playing a fretless he brought out the lyrics to 'Wherever I lay my Hat' so it was underpants to brown as I haven't played that in about 6 or 7 years but i managed it ok. Another one we're going to start doing again is the Oleta Adams song 'Get There' which I believe is Pino again. Has a bit of a crazy fretless bass solo in the middle so I better get practicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 (edited) I really want to look at a fretless in a year or so...once Ive got the 5 string gas out of the way. I NEVER thought it would be my 'cup of tea' so to speak....but now I tend to love everything 'bass' to be honest! Good to see you got such a nice tone from that bass I indeed think a P or J Bass would be my choice of fretless. Edited May 31, 2009 by Musicman20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilisfan16 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 i personally dislike fretless basses for the round, fat, nasally sound, i prefer a nice flea tone, high ended and sharp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Glad you enjoyed your squier so much. Although I'm highly unlikely to venture onto the highwire that is 'Fretless', I'd def start with one like yours. If I did, I might add a pickguard though, just to manage peoples' expectations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisnameistaken Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I bought a Squier jazz on here last weekend, stuck some La Bella flats on it, wedged a chunk of mouse mat under the strings by the bridge and it sounds ace with the front pup soloed. Plays nice too. £110. Bargain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kongo Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I took to a Squier Jazz too...saving for a Fender or something similar but basically put, glad you liked it! It's funny how you find a great sound where you were sure it wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumbob Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I had a similar experience the other week , decided to take my fretted Squier VMJ out with the soul band , I had recently put some flat wound strings on it. I have to say I had a great sound ,it was going through my old ampeg valve amp ,and a 4x 10 but I think the flatwounds did the trick giving it a bit more thump that suited the band. Suffice to say I think this might be one to take out all the time with this band ,and maybe leave my Marcus Miller at home , or perhaps put flats on that I dunno! Anyway there great bases for the money no doubt about it ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
51m0n Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Hey same experience with my Squier VMJ, totally ridiculously good for the money! En Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kongo Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 [quote name='51m0n' post='502601' date='May 31 2009, 09:40 PM']Hey same experience with my Squier VMJ, totally ridiculously good for the money! En[/quote] I've been thining about getting a Squier Deluxe Jazz V and after hearing that everyone else is getting what I get from Squier I may just do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KERMITNT Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 i think is the fretless you like not the jazz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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