Hellzero

I discovered the instrument I wanted to play in the end of the 70's, early 80's listening to the music of that period like Japan, Brand X and the likes without knowing it was an instrument. I loved the sound and told myself I would play that instrument which I naively thought was a brand called : Fretless ! Then Paul YOUNG came with a guy called Pino PALLADINO and I realised it was an instrument by itself, not a brand... I bought my first bass when I raised enough money : a horrible fretted some kind of Maya Unprecision bass, but I didn't like it, sold it and got drunk with the money: hey a was a student... Then I noticed an Aria Diamond Violin bass for peanuts in a second hand shop, being a huge fan of the Beatles, I bought it. Then I went to my local luthier, a guy called Christophe LEDUC, to have it defretted. I followed his advise and had a pair of EMG humbuckers installed on it. Got it back some weeks later and IT was it. That was the end of the 80's and it became my one and only bass for years. I couldn't play anything than fretless, period. I even got it painted ... pearly yellow, great fun ! Then I started my long journey into fretless with my main influences : Mick KARN, Percy JONES and Pino PALLADINO. I have to admit that I've never been a big fan of Jaco, not what I was waiting for a fretless bass player, except when he is (was?) playing with Joni MITCHELL. So, I can say that I'm a fretless player owning today 6 fretlesses, including a double bass and a 6 strings LEDUC EUB, even if I've played some fretted over these three decades. Fretless addicted, that's what I am ... and proud of it.

The idea could be very good, but I had to check first that they named it right : electroluminescent, which means AC powering theorically at high voltage. So, will you tell me where is the point? Not the high voltage itself, but you'll induce a lot of hum because of the AC 50 or 60 Hz cycle. And it will be close to your pickups : have you ever tried to play in a 50 or 60 Hz polluted environment with single coils ? No, give it a try... But the idea was good, tat said. Keep on searching, it's the way to discover unsuspected ways to do things.

Like blue is always colder.

And then you'll have a stone in the stomach.

No, with kebab sauce, but I think only the two of us will understand.

Any UV lighting will do the job, like the sun for instance and most of the now found everywhere LED lights as they are not filtered except if there is a real glass panel between the source and the Luminlay's. Real glass being a natural UV filter. Ever tried to tan behind a window ?

What would you have expected from bureaucratic, uneducated and selfish people ?

Ok, I've done the listening and there are obvious differences between the two woods. This is a game I've played for years with my fellow audiophiles, but stopped because I was really fed up to listen again and again to the exact same pieces of music. So, here are my conclusions : The first is more compressed, less defined and muddier, with some mellower bass, a light dip in the mids and some kind of absorbed high which is typical from less denser woods or a bad fret job. The second is way far more opened and way less compressed, with more presence in the high mid region, a well defined bass with more fundamental in it and a sparkling high (you can hear the frets rattling) which is typical from denser woods or real good fret job. The fret job is also very important and that's one of the main reason almost all maple necks always sound compressed... I now will vote instead of giving an answer which is the real game, I guess. But I have to say that there should have been a 1 second silence between each part to be fairer and let the ears reset.

In all UK's Cash Converters... They just used it to throw the snow away in the north and to dig hard in the south. I'm glad it's in your hands now, Kevin.

There is another bias. What format is used for recording and playback : mp3 or wave ? Or in other words, compressed or uncompressed file ? The mp3 is compresing, so the bass will always sound stronger and hard to recognize, the high will be less affected, but again, only good reproduction system will help... I'll listen to your sound files tomorrow through my hi-fi system and through headphones and I'll give you my answer(s).

Had an early model with the original HazLabs electronics, wasn't that light... Liked the sound, but wanted something more focused, so I put a set of original Q-Tuner pickups on it and it sounded even better. Than a year or two later, I sold it for peanuts to a friend of mine who still owns it. By the way, Ned Steinberger was close to bankrupt at the beginning... Because he simply couldn't build enough instruments according to the orders until he found a new facility. In fact, as a furniture designer, he thought he could sell his design.

Yes, it's certainly one of the best, but ETS runs out of stock almost all year long. Bassparts who was their official distributor/retailer in Germany doesn't want to work with them anymore because ETS can't respect their delivery time...

Let the notes ring, it's so delightful ! And congratulations for your fretless bass. Good choice and terrific price. The flater the relief of the neck , the mwaher the sound of the bass and roundwounds do it even better, but the TI's are the best flatwounds with enough mwah. Use the pickup you prefer, but if you don't know where to start, use the bridge only, cut completely the tone and boost the mids to max on your amp with a pinch of treble and adjust the bass a bit lowe : instant walk over cat tails sound.

I'd rather say Pino Palladino. Hope you've got an octaver. Here is your first free lesson, you'll enjoy it, for sure. https://www.scribd.com/doc/206193698/Wherever-I-Lay-My-Hat-Paul-Young-download-bass-transcription-and-bass-tab-in-best-quality-www-nicebasslines-com

Anyway a gift is something someone took the time to look for and therefore shall never be (re)sold. Then he could discover what a bass really is. Ok, there are 2 problems here too : 1. He is a guitar player. 2. It's a Rick. I know the first is a curse, but the second could be worse.

Link to Luminlay : http://www.luminlay.com/productsen.html

Yes, Luminlay with the special LED light charger is also to consider. I have this on my Stradi Symphony fretless 5. Great too and Michael Tobias uses them too.

So, what do you do when a LED burns... Deglue the whole fretboard ? I had a bass where it happened and not a cheap one...

And then, you'll break strings every day because of some bad filing (burrs) and it will take you way more than 10 minutes...

Simply route 5mm under the bridge and insert it. Easy to do by yourself or can be done in 10 minutes by someone knowing how to use a router. It's the best solution.

Buy some length of optic fiber of your choice and then check before gluing if you need to route more, that's the best I can tell.