Fretless advice wanted

[Chris2112]

I wouldn't go for a defretted bass. Unless the job has been done by the best, it never looks perfect IMO, and when there are so many nice fretless basses on the shelf already...

I'm quite fortunate at the moment that I've managed to get two lovely fretless basses into my collection, my fretless Alembic Epic and a fretless Musicman Sabre "special" as I call it, due to it's custom roots. The Alembic is now my most played bass, and the Musicman is up for sale, but having a choice between two fretless basses is awesome. I used to play more fretted bass than fretless, but I guess now about 60-70% of my time is spent playing fretless! I absolutely love it too, its taken my bass playing to a whole new place these past few years.







And here are some of the Alembic, I really need to take my own though...

[RhysP]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='850634' date='May 28 2010, 08:33 PM'][/quote]
That's a lovely bit of wood - is it burr walnut?
Very well bookmatched too.

[Chris2112]

It's a Thuja top, according the luthier (our very own Shaggy), the most expensive top available at the dealer by some margin! Looks gorgeous though. The pictures bring out a bit of orange in it and saturate it, it looks "deeper" and slightly darker in person.

[bassmeg]

Ah voila!

Thats the one, isnt it? What a beut mate.

[M-Bass-M]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='850634' date='May 28 2010, 08:33 PM']I'm quite fortunate at the moment that I've managed to get two lovely fretless basses into my collection, my fretless Alembic Epic and a fretless Musicman Sabre "special" as I call it, due to it's custom roots.[/quote]
Well, that Alembic is something special! I've had the hots for an Alembic for as long as I can recall, and that one just makes me want one even more! As with my earlier post, why the move from a 4-String to a 5-String?

[Delberthot]

[quote name='M-Bass-M' post='850657' date='May 28 2010, 08:50 PM']Well, that Alembic is something special! I've had the hots for an Alembic for as long as I can recall, and that one just makes me want one even more! As with my earlier post, why the move from a 4-String to a 5-String?[/quote]

so you can play all the Jaz Lochrie stuff that he does with Paul rodgers of course

[Chris2112]

Yes, this is the £600 Alembic! To be honest, I wasn't really thinking of getting a 5 string again as I'm more of a four player, but for £600 I couldn't afford to be too choosey! However, having a low B now is a nice addition, and it helps that it's as full and rich as a piano! I can live without a low B but it's always nice to have a low B available and the Alembic does it brilliantly.

Usually I'd head straight for a 4 but I wouldn't change this bass for the world, it just feels "right" as it is. I once thought I had done well getting a Trace Elliot head and a Trace 4X10" cab for £350, but this feels like an even better deal!

I didn't do too badly on the Sabre fretless either, that cost me £500, and I'm sure the parts alone are worth nearly that, if not more given the 1980 Sabre neck!

[bassbora]

[quote name='M-Bass-M' post='850543' date='May 28 2010, 06:56 PM']You know what, I did see that Warwick and was very tempted! As you say, it looks like a great price, but I think for me it's the wrong time.

I'm pretty sure that there's a Squire VMJ fretless at my local music shop, and possibly a Vintage, so I may see if I can try them out with a view to seeing whether a budget fretless cuts it for me personally. I have to admit that there seems to be something special about a Ray fretless - I think I've officially fallen in love with [url="http://www.absolutemusic.co.uk/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=4111"]this[/url]! Bit out of my price range, but if a second hand one came available...

While we're on the subject of fretless, my experience is that there seem to be more 5-string than 4-string fretless basses. Why the love for the fretless low B string?

Also, what views do people have on fretboard woods? My preconception is that rosewood is better than either Maple or Graphite, on account of it having a warmer tone.

Finally, many of you have recommended Jazz style basses - be they Fender, Vintage, or otherwise. Now I can't help but think that the Jazz suffers from the Jaco effect, and that other style basses are equally suited (if not more) to fretless. For those of you who have played both Jazz and non-Jazz fretless basses, what are your thoughts? Does the Jazz win out?[/quote]

Sorry for the late reply but I just wanted to answer your question about 5 string. I have been playing 5 string for around 14 years or so. I found the range just more flexible and I played more vertically rather than horizontally.

I also have been playing Thumbs and they are 26 frets. I used to play quite a lot of jazz and I found that range would suit both for walking bass lines and then to be able to solo up in higher register. I had always wanted to see how a fretless Thumb 6 would be in that setting and to me its just perfect. I know its all just personal preferences but it just suited my style of playing so well. And playing a 6 string enhanced the vertical playing even further (more string crossing though) and gave me more options for solos as well. With a 6th string, the tone can be is very singing like so it does not sound like a bass at all and more like a wind instrument to my ears.

Sorry for the rant but hope it answeres some of your questions and gives you possibly some more options to think about when you choose your fretless.