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Show us yer fretlesses!


Rich

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39 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

My homemade 6 strings fretless with the extraordinary Q-Tuner pickups first generation coupled to the very musical and transparent Musician Sound Design 3 bands preamp. 3 pieces flamed maple neck with black Gabon ebony fretboard bolt on a 2 pieces basswood body with bookmatched spalted walnut top.

Byl was my nickname when I was young.

It's now fretted and fitted with an aluminum Hipshot 18 mm strings spacing bridge instead of the brass Hipshot 19 mm strings spacing one.

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Nice build!
Seems like a very flat radius on the fingerboard, or is it just an illusion? What strings do you use? I like that taper wound on five(?) of the strings. Also: I liked that first generation of Q-Tuner pickups. Had them on a bass a few years ago...

Edited by bassmayhem
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2 hours ago, bassmayhem said:

Nice build!
Seems like a very flat radius on the fingerboard, or is it just an illusion? What strings do you use? I like that taper wound on five(?) of the strings. Also: I liked that first generation of Q-Tuner pickups. Had them on a bass a few years ago...

Thanks.

It's indeed a close to flat radius. I went for a 20" radius because I prefer the flatter radiuses, but not totally flat ones. The strings are the La Bella SuperSteps SS45-CB and the C is untapered. These La Bella are in fact exposed cores, not tapered ones, so they are ultra precise with the right amount of harmonics and allow you to hear the fundamental of the notes. The Fodera Anthony Jackson Signature strings are very good too, but they only suit through body 35 inches basses are 36 inches basses. That said the Galli Exposed Core ECN6 are really growly (nickel) and have my favour for the moment.

The problem with exposed cores is that you can't cheat as they are unforgiving for your playing as well as for the bass quality itself. Put them on a plank and it will sound like a plank. Add some Q-Tuner first generation pickups and it can become awful. O.o

Some links :

http://www.labella.com/strings/category/super-steps/

http://shop.fodera.com/fodera-strings/anthony-jackson-signature-set/

http://www.gallistrings.com/en/strings/bass/exposed-core

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3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Thanks.

It's indeed a close to flat radius. I went for a 20" radius because I prefer the flatter radiuses, but not totally flat ones. The strings are the La Bella SuperSteps SS45-CB and the C is untapered. These La Bella are in fact exposed cores, not tapered ones, so they are ultra precise with the right amount of harmonics and allow you to hear the fundamental of the notes. The Fodera Anthony Jackson Signature strings are very good too, but they only suit through body 35 inches basses are 36 inches basses. That said the Galli Exposed Core ECN6 are really growly (nickel) and have my favour for the moment.

The problem with exposed cores is that you can't cheat as they are unforgiving for your playing as well as for the bass quality itself. Put them on a plank and it will sound like a plank. Add some Q-Tuner first generation pickups and it can become awful. O.o

Some links :

http://www.labella.com/strings/category/super-steps/

http://shop.fodera.com/fodera-strings/anthony-jackson-signature-set/

http://www.gallistrings.com/en/strings/bass/exposed-core

I play mostly Dingwall basses; I'd like to try a nickel string with exposed core on these. But I need the 37" playing length. My Super J's and P are shorter, so they will surely work...

My fretless basses are 35" Dingwall string thru and 34" 70's Jazz Bass...

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My Dargie Delight Stingray 5 Fretless. Since the pictures were taken I've swapped out the original pickup and preamp for a Nordstrand MM5.3 and John East 3 Band 4 Knob Preamp. Sounds great!

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You can hear it here: 

 

Edited by Higgie
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Currently fretlessless but I have owned a couple nice ones in the past - a Hohner Jazz copy and an Ibanez Portamento 5 which I recently sold on. Do want to get another at some point, just a 4 string again. Would absolutely love a Wal MkI but I just don't see how I'm ever going to afford one! NS Design should come out with a fretless version of their WAV Radius.

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22 hours ago, Higgie said:

My Dargie Delight Stingray 5 Fretless. Since the pictures were taken I've swapped out the original pickup and preamp for a Nordstrand MM5.3 and John East 3 Band 4 Knob Preamp. Sounds great!

 

 

uBfsMj6.jpg

You can hear it here: 

 

Nice bass, but that string spacing... :crazy:

 

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On 3/18/2018 at 15:08, Urban Bassman said:

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OK. I'm in.

1988 Wal MK1

 

I have that bass's twin! W2716 July 86 singed by the man Wal himself. Facings could be from the same tree.  Yours is in better nick tho, so I don't need to post mine.  I have two small string trees tho and you have one big one.  Maybe mine's a girl.

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10 hours ago, Hellzero said:

And here my terrific and the best ever made and played fretless I ever owned or tried : the Leduc MP 628 SF AA.

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Here with a Leduc Maurad 6 on the left.

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Is that a hum cancelling "dummy bobbin" in the middle, like on Alembic basses?

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There are some amazing basses here.  I have a fretless Warwick 4, but wanted to try out 5 strings and using roundwound strings on a fretless too. So I ordered a new addition from Thomann.

It's an interesting addition, in that it's 5, but really light at 4.2Kg. Mahogany body, and roundwound strings.

Body:        Mahogany 
Neck:        7-Piece ovangkol/maple/nato neck through
Fingerboard: Black Walnut
Nut width:   40 mm
Scale:       864 mm (long scale)
Pickups:     2 ceramic bar single coils
Active tone control
Black hardware
Diecast machine heads
Bridge with 5 individual saddles
Colour: Natural satin

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Edited by Grangur
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@Grangur - wow that's a lovely shaped bass and neck through to boot! Forgive my ignorance - I couldn't make out the brand name on the headstock?

Q - I thought one of the things with fretless was to make sure to use flats rather than rounds to avoid scratching the fingerboard?

Edited by Al Krow
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24 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

@Grangur - wow that's a lovely bass amd neck through to boot! Forgive my ignorance - I couldn't make out the brand name on the headstock?

Q - I thought one of the things with fretless was to make sure to use flats rather than rounds to avoid scratching the fingerboard?

It's a Harley Benton : https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_hbz_2005fl_nt_deluxe_series.htm

Some strange beliefs are living hard. If you want to have that characteristic mwah that everyone is waiting for use roundwounds, the fretboard is made for it except if you buy a fretless from a crazy maker who uses soft wood. Take a look at my yellowish Leduc over here or the other one shown a bit upper, they have been used heavily for 20 years for the yellowish and close to 30 years for the other with roundwounds : there are only slight marks after 20 years of intensive use that will disappear after a very slight dressing. And almost nothing after 30 years of moderate playing. These marks don't affect the playability or the sound at all.

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2 hours ago, bassmayhem said:

Is that a hum cancelling "dummy bobbin" in the middle, like on Alembic basses?

Yes, it's a dummy coil for the hum cancelling as the pickups are single coils. This is what explains, partly, the fantastic sound that the Leduc's are renowned for. The level of craftsmanship is the other as Christophe is focusing his lutherie to the fundamental of the notes heard, not the first harmonic.

Edited by Hellzero
Forgot "for the hum cancelling".
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1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

@Grangur - wow that's a lovely bass amd neck through to boot! Forgive my ignorance - I couldn't make out the brand name on the headstock?

Q - I thought one of the things with fretless was to make sure to use flats rather than rounds to avoid scratching the fingerboard?

As @Hellzero says, its a Harley B. Bought for the princely sum of  £169! 

It came with rounds. There already were a few marks on the neck under the B string.  I might well change them, if I decide to keep it.

"Hard" and "soft" woods are a strange thing. Balsa is, technically speaking, a "Hard" wood.  The terms Hard and soft, relating to wood actually refers to the density of the fibres of the wood, not it's resilience to marks and damage.

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32 minutes ago, Grangur said:

As @Hellzero says, its a Harley B. Bought for the princely sum of  £169! 

It came with rounds. There already were a few marks on the neck under the B string.  I might well change them, if I decide to keep it.

"Hard" and "soft" woods are a strange thing. Balsa is, technically speaking, a "Hard" wood.  The terms Hard and soft, relating to wood actually refers to the density of the fibres of the wood, not it's resilience to marks and damage.

@Grangur Hum, I think we are not talking about the same wood (balsa) and hardness along with softness are the correct words to describe one of the wood characteristics as this is one way to summarise them by botanists : http://www.wood-database.com/balsa/

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