karlthebassist Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 Here are some pics of a fretless P bass that im building. ive been on it for a while as ive had little time to do anything to it, but im back into it now so it sould some along soon! Body is ash, neck walnut, fretboard is wenge. pickups are going to be j style (you'll see a plugged up p hole in the body - i was advised to stay away from p pickup on a fretless. side dots only, no lines. dots are brass, hardware is all black, gotho bridge, vintage style hipshot tuners (all matte black) scratchplate is actually walnut too. but not pic yet as ive left it hanging on the wall above my workbench at work no idea about pickups - must fit j bass because im going to be using some fenders that i have kicking around at the moment. i want it passive - any suggestions fro something that may work well with fretless? [attachment=12523:Image030.jpg] [attachment=12524:Image032.jpg] [attachment=12525:Image035.jpg] [attachment=12526:Image036.jpg] [attachment=12527:Image037.jpg] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 (edited) Subscribed! Who gave you the pickup advice? You're missing a beautiful thing by not putting a P pup in there... Tony Franklin would be insulted. Edited August 22, 2008 by wateroftyne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlthebassist Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 [quote name='wateroftyne' post='267892' date='Aug 22 2008, 02:50 PM']Subscribed! Who gave you the pickup advice? You're missing a beautiful thing by not putting a P pup in there... Tony Franklin would be insulted. [/quote] haha. advice came from a local player. doctor_of_the_bass infact. he know his basses lol. anyway, putting a p bass pickup in a p bass seems a bit overdone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 [quote name='karlthebassist' post='267904' date='Aug 22 2008, 03:11 PM']he know his basses lol.[/quote] Ya think so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathewsanchez Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 [quote name='karlthebassist' post='267886' date='Aug 22 2008, 02:38 PM']any suggestions for something that may work well with fretless?[/quote] What you could do is instead of having a jazz neck and bridge pickups, you could not put in the neck pickup and have a piezo bridge instead. It's just an idea but it would save having to route the neck pup and also piezo bridges often sound good with fretless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlthebassist Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 [quote name='mathewsanchez' post='267926' date='Aug 22 2008, 03:35 PM']What you could do is instead of having a jazz neck and bridge pickups, you could not put in the neck pickup and have a piezo bridge instead. It's just an idea but it would save having to route the neck pup and also piezo bridges often sound good with fretless.[/quote] oh piezo bridges would be nice - it was something i considered for this build, but ive decided to stick with magnetic pickups for this one, another im building - a fretted headless throughneck with status hardware - is having a single mm p'up, but one ive had on the drawing board for a while is a fretless with possiblt JUST piezos and 36 "frets" with a massive cutaway.... any idea who do decent piezo bridges though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 [quote name='karlthebassist' post='267904' date='Aug 22 2008, 03:11 PM']haha. advice came from a local player. doctor_of_the_bass infact. he know his basses lol. anyway, putting a p bass pickup in a p bass seems a bit overdone [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubs Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 The grain of the walnut in that neck is amazing, I love it. Looking forward to seeing pics of it finished… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlthebassist Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 (edited) [quote name='benwhiteuk' post='268121' date='Aug 22 2008, 09:16 PM']The grain of the walnut in that neck is amazing, I love it. Looking forward to seeing pics of it finished…[/quote] thanks - but to be honest, that 'grain' is actually sap wood showing through - the walnut i used really wasnt the best looking piece i have by a long way - but why waste it. Im really excited about finishing this one. i never finished my first bass due to a problem with the neck - but i'll fix it one day. Edited August 22, 2008 by karlthebassist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 A fretless... with a P pickup? [url="http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/video/video.asp?Title=Tony+Franklin+Interview&File=SoundSeries/FranklinInterview&VideoPref=vfastwm"]Go on, then.[/url] Marvellous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted August 24, 2008 Share Posted August 24, 2008 did doctor_of_the_bass say why you shouldn't put a p pickup on a fretless? my dads got a fretless precision and i think it sounds pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlthebassist Posted August 24, 2008 Author Share Posted August 24, 2008 He didnt say you SHOULDNT put a p-pickup in a fretless, it came about because i mentioned to him that i was building and that i was originaly only going to put a single jazz pup at the bridge and no other pickups because on my current fretless (a squire mb4 that was my first bass, which had modified to make fretless) i like only using the j pickup at the bridge soloed. I had been toying with the idea of putting a p/j set into it as i had just brought a set of basslines that i was going to use for another project, and i ended up routing the holes in my build to suit these pickups. I thought it would be a good idea as i could dial an extra bit of low in if i needed it. He simply suggested that i use two j's as they would be better suited for my style for adding just a little more growl. Yes i agree that a solo'd p fretless does sound very nice indeed (thanks wateroftyne ). anyway - im definately going to use j pickups as i have a set of fender ones lying around (were in a jazz that i loaded with barts, then ended swapping for another bass with nick), and ive used my basslines p/j set in my p bass, im saving the p that was originaly in that for another project, the warwick pups i have sound wa*k, and im not using the status soapbar or status MM that i have lying around just yet either! haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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