[SOLD] Fender A/E '90/91 Fretless (+ fretted neck) Precision Bass - Japan £680

[smaz]

Sale only - no trades please.

Ok, you don't see these very often... !

For sale is my early 90s Fender A/E Fretless semi-hollow P-bass with Jazz profile neck. An amazing bass, but sadly I don't play it enough to justify keeping it. I picked this up from here back in 2013, sold it back to the original owner then bought it back again not long after!

This thing is very lightweight due to the F-hole, sounds fantastic (different from a standard P) & very loud to boot. It has a Piezo pickup under the bridge and has the Cafe Walter preamp mod installed: [url="http://cafewalter.com/pzp-1/."]http://cafewalter.com/pzp-1/.[/url] The controls are Volume, Tone & Blend.

Because I was useless at fretless (plus the sound didn't fit with my blues/rock bands), I decided to put a fretted Jazz neck on it to try to play it more but alas never did (thanks to a JV Squier I have). I bought a set of Schaller tuners for the new neck too, so it can be easily swapped between the two (though there's only one string tree between them). The neck is a Mighty Mite jazz neck, and was purchased from here: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/264406-mighty-mite-jazz-bass-neck-maple-brand-new-sold/page__p__2803610__hl__neck__fromsearch__1#entry2803610"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry2803610[/url]

I prefer the sound of it as a fretless myself - it's probably the closest you'll get to an upright style sound in an electric bass (to my ears, at least!).

[b]Now there is are a few things to be aware of:[/b]

1) When you have the blend set more towards the piezo than the the standard pickup, the G string drops in volume in comparison to the others. This apparently has been a common issue with this bass (I asked Cafe Walter for advice, he had the same: [url="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=895234757217488&id=243511229056514"]https://www.facebook...243511229056514[/url]). This never bothered me (I was usually 50/50 or more towards the standard pickup), but the difference is noticeable. If you loosen off the E string however, the G comes back to full volume. I recently took this to my luthier, we made sure the bridge was flat at the bottom but still no joy. In the end, we had 3 suggestions:
* Try thicker strings - it's currently strung with 100 - 40 flatwounds, so the G may not be generating enough pressure.
* Split the bridge between the D & the G, so that the G isn't affected by the others. This was suggested to the previous owner.
* Make cuts from the bottom of the bridge to allow it to flex a little more, hopefully causing more pressure where needed.

I decided to leave it as is, so the next person can choose what to do if wanted.

2) The fretless neck has been sanded down on the back to just the wood. Again, this was how I purchased it - it makes it VERY easy to play, feels very smooth & allows you to glide down the neck with ease.

3) The pickup doesn't appear to be original. It should be fitted with Lace Sensor pickup, but appears to have a DiMarzio. I can't confirm that for definite, but it appears to be so due to the hollow poles. Again, as I purchased it - [b]the original is not included[/b].

4) The nut on the fretless neck has been replaced as the original split between the D & G strings. The nut isn't glued in (off the top of my head it was a snug fit), hence the tape in the picture.

5) The fretted neck is [b]unfinished[/b]. There is no coat on it. My luthier didn't have time to do it when we fitted the neck, plus I wanted to try and get a decal sorted. As it's sat there unused, I never asked for it to be finished. If you want me to get that sorted, I can get a quote. Also, I don't think you can use the micro-neck adjustment on the bass (the hole in the neckplate) with the fretted neck, though I've never tried.

6) It's a 25+year old bass - there's a couple of dings, the main two I've tried to photo (one bottom front, one on the back)

7) I've replaced the knobs with silver ones, but I still have the original black UFO ones - remind me!

Enough talking, some pics:



























It comes with an SKB 'soft' case - it's VERY sturdy, but not as bulky / heavy as a hard case:
[url="https://www.gak.co.uk/en/skb-1skb-scfb4-universal-shaped-electric-bass-soft-case/106398?gclid=CIzwuanBrtECFQy3GwodPEoEaA"]https://www.gak.co.u...CFQy3GwodPEoEaA[/url]

I'm based in Basingstoke - trials are welcome, and I may be able to meetup/deliver within a reasonable distance if required.

I'm happy to post at the buyers expense.

Any questions let me know!

Edited January 10, 2017 by smaz

[6feet7]

Wonderful basses. I've had two fretless and one of the fretted version (the one with the 80's pointed headstock). If I didn't now play 5 stringers I'd be after this like a shot. So light. So comfortable and a lovely deep resonant sound.
GLWTS
(I wonder if I could convert it to 5 strings?

[silverfoxnik]

I'm sure I heard this bass in action in the Jam Room at one of the South East Bashes a few years ago and it sounded quite glorious, and very comfortable to play too..

Not that I could do it much justice at all, as I'm not a fretless player.

But when smaz was playing it, its qualities really shone through..

GLWTS

[smaz]

The very one! Thank you for the kind words

[silverfoxnik]

Thought so.. really cool bass to look at as well. 😊

[Stance]

Have a bump on me!

One day I'll add one to my collection!

Edited January 8, 2017 by Stance

[smaz]

Bump!

[philw]

Is that the one I owned for a bit? Who knows....

[smaz]

Quite possibly - if it made it's way to Walbassist & Clarky at some point, then yeah!