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If I go fretless, it's pretty much a fretless jazz bass. The majority of ones I've played in the past were Fender Jazz basses (though the Breedlove was rather nice too, hence considering the Warwick Alien). Don't get me wrong though, I do appreciate your input & advice. I'm still very much in 2 minds.

If I go custom fretless (or fretted), I know exactly what I'm wanting. I've already spec'd up the bass, from the woods right down to the neck radius, preamp & pick ups. I've done the same for the fretted. It's the choice of whether I go fretless or not.

As much as I love Ibbys, I want something a little different. I like the idea of a custom made bass, such as a Maruszczyck. I also really like the idea of a fretless electroacoustic for when I'm doing folk stuff (Warwick Alien looks great, as does the Gillett basses). I currently play in a rock band, but come July, I'll no longer be in that band. The next band won't be a rock band. I really can't stand the constant sound of distorted guitars anymore. I suggested for a song that the guitarist played clean at certain parts & his response was "I don't do clean". Anyway, next band will be anything but Rock. RnB, Electronica, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Folk, anything at all apart from Rock. No disrespect to those who love Rock. I did for years & still enjoy a bit of Black Crowes.

Every time I play a fretless in a shop, I love it. The feel, the tone, everything. For quite some time I've been considering getting myself a nice fretless 5er. Just now, my only gigging bass is my Ibby SR1000. It does sound fantastic & feels real comfortable. I've tried a few other basses over the years, but the Ibby does everything I want from a fretted 4. Now, question is... If I'm to spend about £2k on a new bass, do I go for the fretless 5 (I've been eyeing up some Maruszczick basses), or do I go for a nice fretted 5 (maybe a Sadowsky Metro Express) & get the Ibby defretted? My concern is that I get the fretless & it ends up not getting the use that I hoped it would. Those with a fretless, do you use it more than your fretted bass?

If I was in a function/wedding band, I'd opt for no backline. Just a decent FoH & IEM. Much easier to set up & get everyone balanced properly. May be worth employing a soundy if needed.

Aye! You and your bloody tyres!!!! On that, My £3k Honda Del Sol got Falken tyres at £250 a wheel. My £25k Nissan QQ gets £75 no name tyres.

Splashing out on a good set of strings for your Ibby or Squier could be a better option than selling said bass & buying one for £500+. I haven't bought strings for some time (I play flatwound, they last for years), but a good set of roundwounds shouldn't cost much more than £30 & flatwounds ain't much more. I'd never be happy with "getting the job done". I want to play something I'm happy & comfortable playing. For me for now, that's a 28 year old Ibby SR with D'Addario Chrome strings.

TBH, putting a good set of flatwounds & better pickups on a £200 bass makes sense. Often the cost of a bass is reflected on the hardware used rather than the build quality. I played a Fender MIM fretless Jazz & a Squier fretless Jazz. I felt that a change of strings & pickups for less than £200 on the Squier would make the £250 bass a far better instrument than the £700 MIM.

I've been a 4 string player for over 30 years. I've got an octave for getting the lower notes. TBH though, I'm hankering after a nice 5er, most likely a fretless too. For less than £500, the Sire basses get a good review & you can't go wrong with an Ibanez, even their budget stuff is fantastic.

Oddly enough, I only use .73 (or as close as). Anything from 1mm upwards, I find loses flexibility for my playing style, anything thinner & I’d be as well using a Rizla. I use the same gauge on guitar too. Thinner ones are fine for strumming, but I’m hopeless with them for any pick work.

I've got a BBOT, which replaced the original hi mass super adjustable thing (a saddle broke). No difference in sound, but the hi mass looked far better. If I was replacing the BBOT, a Babicz FCH would probably be the choice (just for looks).

Yeah! Now we're talking. I'll give this mumph a go.

I prefer the one on the right. Why not try a tweed or patterned grill cloth? The black looks like a black box.

Here's mine... Comes in at e2359, but that includes a leather gig bag, flatwound strings, aguilar pre, nordstrand pick ups & luminlay side dots.

It is. I meant to put e2300. which is just under £2k.

Mine's £2300. It's at the top of my budget, but I think it's a goer.

AAAAAaarrrggghhhhh!!! I'd finally finished designing the Frog to how I want it & then this happens!

That's got to be the thread title of the year so far.

Personally, I love the look of MarkBass cabs over those that go for the old cloth grille. But then it's each to their own. We all have different tastes.

You're probably spot on there!

Though with Apple, they probably put a lot of that profit back in to development. I'm not so sure the same can be said for Aguilar if they still use an off the shelf driver.

If there’s more than 1 driver, then you could make it 16 ohm.

There's many great looking & sounding cabs that are a good bit cheaper. Yes, the Aguilar SL series look like cool 1950's TVs, but the DBs look just like EBS Classic Line or Ampeg SVT cabs, but with a different badge & an amp handle in place of a grab.

Makes the Darkglass cabs seem mid priced!

I've always set it by bringing the input up to just clipping & then backed off a bit. And like Dad says, listening for any unwanted distortion.