Swift Guitars lined fretless electro acoustic bass

[Doc B]

After selling a few bits of equipment and building up my PayPal account I decided to take a punt on one of the lined fretless electro-acoustic Swift branded basses from eBay (I was also tempted by a duvet).

I believe that you usually get what you pay for so having seen the variable reviews of these very cheap (£74 inc P&P, gig bag, strap and pitch pipes) instruments I was a bit wary of what I'd get. I only wanted a cheap acoustic bass to play in the garden or when I can't be bothered plugging the amp on so I wasn't that fussed about spending a lot of money. I've also always wanted to try fretless so it's a case of two birds with one stone etc, etc. I also reckoned that I wouldn't have to worry about dodgy fret work if there were no frets!

The first thing I noticed on opening the box was that the bridge and fingerboard were very pale and dry, resembling the colour of a manilla envelope instead of the usual rosewood. At a distance the bass looked pretty good but up close it looked, well it looked like a £59 instrument really. The fit and finish is pretty bad even compared to my old Tanglewood acoustic guitar (which was only £99 ten years ago!), in fact the Tanglewood is like a Martin in comparison. TBH they shouldn't have bothered trying to jazz it up a bit with fingerboard binding and a nasty stick on sparkly sound hole rosette as that money could have been spent elsewhere.

Anyway, after a liberal application of Manson's Fingerboard Oil and some Dr Duck's Axe Wax the bridge and 'board looked more the part, although the bridge's finish was (literally) very rough. Next step was to fit a set of 45 gauge Warwick EMPs (not easy due to the short 30" scale), tune up and have a play.

This bass actually sounds surprisingly good to my ears and very upright-like when played near the end of the fingerboard. In fact I'd go as far to say that, acoustically it sounds way better than I'd expect at this price point (my own intonation not withstanding). Acoustically it has a nice growl and thump to it. The fret markers are very broad and feel like they may be filled in fret slots. Although I am novice to the fretless I'd advise only using the markers on this bass as a rough guide and to use your ears to help find the right positioning to keep notes in tune.

The Swift also performed surprisingly well plugged into my Ashdown Electric Blue 130, not as upright like as the acoustic sound but a nice fretless tone nonetheless. Unlike other Basschatters I did not find any problems with the output balance across all 4 strings. Mind you I did only buy this bass to use as an acoustic so it won't get much amped-up use and my intonation needs a lot of work before I'm prepared to record it!

Anyway - I'm pleased with what I got for my money but I suspect that the level of quality control apparent (i.e. not much) on my bass means that they will not all sounds, play or function as well as mine.

I'd be interested to hear from the other Swift owners on here.

Edited May 13, 2008 by Doc B

[thedarxide]

[quote name='Doc B' post='197959' date='May 13 2008, 01:46 PM']I'd be interested to hear from the other Swift owners on here.[/quote]

Got a fretted one for £30 a little while back. I agree completely with you. Still smells of PVA glue, binding quite thick in place, *very* rough bridge, side markers falling off.

However, after a truss rod tweak and a reseating of the bridge (inconsistent piezo output) it sounds really, really good. The preamp is very powerful, and boosting the bass makes the floor shake like non of my electrics do. Acoustically for playing along with CDs it's got enough volume to be heard.

You get what you pay for, but for someone who just wants a noodle at home rather than a gigging instrument these are ideal if you don't mind giving them the once over. I got a extra set of strings with mine as well which was nice.

[Dave Dubya]

Thanks for the review.

I'm considering buying one of these (currently ~£50). Good job I searched on here.