Fretless upgrade?

[Cygnus x-1]

I've had a Squier VMJ fretless, liked it but sold it to raise some funds, I notice that most people selling Squiers or Vintage Icon's say they like fretless so much they fancy something a bit better.

So my question is this, what is better? say up to max £500. I don't want more than four strings, Ibanez only do a five string to my knowledge, I can't find much else except Mexican Fender jazzes but are they any better and worth the price jump than the VMJ I had? By the way regarding the VMJ & Icon's, i'm not overly keen on sunburst. Confussed, yes. Any advice apreciated. Nick.
(p.s. perhaps a white CV jazz wth a fretless neck would do me, hint, hint Squier?)

[thepurpleblob]

[quote name='Cygnus x-1' post='843193' date='May 20 2010, 03:17 PM']I've had a Squier VMJ fretless, liked it but sold it to raise some funds, I notice that most people selling Squiers or Vintage Icon's say they like fretless so much they fancy something a bit better.

So my question is this, what is better? say up to max £500. I don't want more than four strings, Ibanez only do a five string to my knowledge, I can't find much else except Mexican Fender jazzes but are they any better and worth the price jump than the VMJ I had? By the way regarding the VMJ & Icon's, i'm not overly keen on sunburst. Confussed, yes. Any advice apreciated. Nick.
(p.s. perhaps a white CV jazz wth a fretless neck would do me, hint, hint Squier?)[/quote]

Those Squiers are supposed to be very good. At a glance there's a few things on here that look good......

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=67754"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=67754[/url]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84770"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=84770[/url]
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88081"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=88081[/url]

The last one is a little over your budget, but £600 for a trans-red MM Sterling fretless?? Got to be a bargain and one of the nicest colours.

Edited May 20, 2010 by thepurpleblob

[Davo-London]

you might get a CIJ Fender Jaco Jazz for £500-600.

Davo

[Delberthot]

I'm very happy with my/your/Moos3h's Squier VM Jazz. It sounds almost exactly how I want a fretless to play and sound.

I like it so much in fact that I'm going the whole hog on a proper setup with Tusq nut and Badass II to get the action perfect.

I have thought about changing pickups and electronics but seriously, on a bass that cost me less than some of the pickup/electronics upgrades out there, is it really worth it?

I'm going to do the series/parallel mod as I already have the parts for something a bit different.


I've only had it a couple of weeks and have been thinking if it would be worth finding something better and keeping it for a backup but I can't find anything that I would consider to be a lot better than this is without spending twice, three or four times the money. I've already got the action pretty low but I haven't spent a great deal of time on it.


Last saturday I got the exact tone for 'wherever I lay my hat' which is impressive considering it a different bass.

Thornybank has a fretless bass that is set up to perfection but I couldn't bring myself to buy it as I couldn't justify the cost which is a shame cos its a peach.

Edited May 21, 2010 by Delberthot

[Cygnus x-1]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='844296' date='May 21 2010, 04:00 PM']I'm very happy with my/your/Moos3h's Squier VM Jazz. It sounds almost exactly how I want a fretless to play and sound.

I like it so much in fact that I'm going the whole hog on a proper setup with Tusq nut and Badass II to get the action perfect.

I have thought about changing pickups and electronics but seriously, on a bass that cost me less than some of the pickup/electronics upgrades out there, is it really worth it?[/quote]

I liked it, so i'm glad you like it even though it came to you via another BC'er. The only things that made me want to change it were I really don't like sunburst jazzes and I fancied a Mexican 'real' Fender. Now though, I don't know if i'd be wasting my money with the Mexican over the VMJ ie. would it be any better?

Ideally I would like a CV jazz with a VMJ neck fitted, my local shop would do this but then I would have to sell a sunburst VMJ with a CV jazz fretted neck, quite an outlay and would I recoup my (VMJ) money? a fair bit of uncertainty for a simple change of body colour.

[lemmywinks]

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=85336&hl=tokai"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=85336&hl=tokai[/url]


This looks gorgeous IMO, well under budget but you don't have to spend a fortune to get something great

[Delberthot]

I have to say that I detest Jaco looking basses. I had one of these before and sold it cos it looked hellish but with the scratchplate it makes it look completely different.

I had been thinking about doing the switcheroo as well to get rid of the sunburst but its growing on me

If you did switch necks you could fire it on Ebay and say that you found it in your uncle's loft so could be a rare one off prototype or similar BS to that. You'd only really make your money back if you bought both second hand I think.

I haven't tried any of the new MIM Fenders but I've hated every single one I've owned. The new ones are meant to be really good but they're approaching second hand MIA money now.

[lemmywinks]

Oh and Mighty Mite necks are very nice, i like the one i have on my fretless. If you like ebanol as a fingerboard material then i suppose any bass with a compatible neck pocket would be a candidate. They're very cheap, around £80 new and £40-£50 used usually.

I'd imagine a CV Jazz with a Mighty Mite neck would be a sweet bass for not a lot of cash.

Could flog the old neck too

[7string]

Those Squiers are really good basses. Definitely worth modding.

Changing the nut can make such a difference to the sound. Tusq or bone has got to be better than plastic! Go for an unslotted blank if you can for a better fit and control over the string spacing.

[Cygnus x-1]

Doe's anybody do a lined replacement fretless neck?

[lemmywinks]

One here:
[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=78114&hl=fretless+neck"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...l=fretless+neck[/url]


Could just de-fret one? I don't think it's too difficult and would widen your options.

[Chris2112]

You have PM, something that might interest you!

[ZMech]

[quote name='7string' post='844611' date='May 21 2010, 08:57 PM']Those Squiers are really good basses. Definitely worth modding.

Changing the nut can make such a difference to the sound. Tusq or bone has got to be better than plastic! Go for an unslotted blank if you can for a better fit and control over the string spacing.[/quote]
correct me if i'm wrong, but surely the nut only effects the open strings? in which case wouldn't the ultimate nut be made of the same material as the fretboard, so that you get the same tone between open and fretted notes?

[thepurpleblob]

[quote name='Zach' post='844755' date='May 22 2010, 12:04 AM']correct me if i'm wrong, but surely the nut only effects the open strings? in which case wouldn't the ultimate nut be made of the same material as the fretboard, so that you get the same tone between open and fretted notes?[/quote]

It only affects open strings but the characteristic fretless sound is partly to do with a vague, squashy finger pressing the string against a bit of wood. The open strings and the nut will have much the same sound as a fretted.