I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

[Pierre]

I was trying out a 5 string jazz with a friend of mine who plays, she liked it but not me. I asked one of the dudes about flatwound strings and he handed me a US Jazz fretless. I LOVED the darn thing. I didn't find it hard to adjust to the lack of frets and my intonation seemed fine (against open strings I got it right all the time, I got the side to side vibrato good, easy to slide too). But of course it was 1,400 euros. Overall I'd say it was easier, funner and more intuitive to play than the fretted bass.
Then I saw the 400 euros Squier Vintage Modified fretless jazz.
Dual volume, 1 tone... And weirdly enough it's got the metal plate for the controls but not the scratchplate. So that would be to add as it looks odd. But WOW.... single out the bridge and it's very funky and such a niiice tone... The neck pickup is very sweet in tone too. I absolutely LOVED the thing. For 400 euros I couldn't go wrong, if ONLY I got 400 euros. It's my birthday tomorrow and even with that I can't afford it <_< I never thought I'd like a bass that much, much less fretless and that cheap.

TRY ONE OUT!

 

[Forbes]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

The enjoyment levels for me are currently

Drums
Bass
Guitar

I've spent so many hours on guitar that picking up a bass just feels so fresh new and fun, like i haven't done it all before and im still at the stage where i learn loads every time i play, and drums is just a whole different beast.

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Don't fork out the bank for a fretless until you try playing with people with one- unless you've really got a hankerin' to learn it.

 

[Loserchief]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Fretless is cool but i don't like fender bass necks and four-stringers. The narrow fretboard paired with the usually round and beefy shape(to keep the neck stable) makes them feel uncomfortable for me, kinda like a baseball bat.
bass itself is great to play and i actually play bass in more bands than i play guitar currently. The thing for me is that four strings make me feel so limited. That's why i'm at six strings currently and maybe move up to 7 eventually.
If you like the stuff you can do on four you can go for one but before buying i'd stringly recommend to check into extended range to see if you like the extra possibilites.

 

[Thurisarz]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

I'm a bassplayer and i only play fretless. When it comes to fretless basses my favourite brand, except getting a custom bass, is Warwick. I have played so many fretless basses in stores and picking up a fretless warwick is like playing the bass of G-d. I'm also a flatwound lunatic and i only use flats on my basses. Feel free to ask anything fretless and flatwound Pierre my Ska mate

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

One of my old bassplayers played fretless only as well, plus a standup bass...
Amazing sound...I usually fooled around with the fretless in the breaks at rehearsals....loved the slide, glide, vibrato you put into it, plus harmonics that slides...ah

 

[Pierre]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Hehe I don't play in a band either way so that won't be much a problem I guess. Not sure. It just felt so much better ya know...Sounded amazing too. And was cheap, though way too expensive haha though anything above 60 euros is always too expensive for me...

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Sounds like you've got the jazz for it -- I wouldn't hesitate. Plus if you do start looking for a band, bass players get more gigs because there are fewer of them. I've been playing both in band situations for years.

 

[Pierre]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Indeed. I'd get it if I had any money Birthday or not this is still way too much for me.

 

[ginormous]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

One of the icons of fretless, Jaco Pastorius, made his own (I believe he pulled the frets and filled them in with a nautical epoxy, carefully sanding down each coat until filled). The Jazz fretless, bridge pup, with a pinch of neck for bottom, was his sound.

Return some cans & bottles, recycle some plastic bags, or just go all Deuce Bigelow on the ladies :cool2::naughty: to get some small change. Then, grab an Asian clone. That way, you can go crazy customizing and not feel squeamish about damaging a priceless objet d'art.

 

[Pierre]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

That's THE sound that impressed the most on it.

I'd buy a dog if I had money for a dog. But I really can't afford any of it. The Jazz bass is as cheap as basses get in Europe anyway. It just felt perfect.

 

[Philcguitars]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Yeah, I've been drawn to the bass too recently, but not actually tried one out! Frightened to... I have to many guitars on my wish list at the moment! Not to mention a B4 and a Yamaha Mini Grand. One day, but in which order?

 

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Basses are the glue to all music........Bass is it for me and maybe mandolin LOL!

 

[mediumpimpin]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

I'd really like to try one of those, I know I like to F around with my little bro's crappy Ibanez (cheap) when I'm in his room. If only I had the time and money, I'd play all kinds of instruments.

 

[mixedmedia]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Out of curiosity I ended up checking rondo and they have a fretless J bass for less than $120 ($119.95 to be accurate) in LPB. Looks like it's a tossup between that and the 'Pirate Bass' as far as cheap basses go at the moment.

Had a bass but wasn't interested enough at the time to bother learning to play it. Might have more success the second time around whenever I get around to it. Still want to learn 'Tommy the Cat'.

 

[Aceman]

Re: I played a bass for the first ever time today, and now I want one. It's fretless.

Pierre - Those Vintage Mod squires are Awesome for the money!

And - Here is a thought: Get a warmoth fretless neck! You can swap necks and have either frets or fretless...Have to wait a stringchange to do so, but it's kind of a two-fer...