Chewie Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Good morning guys and gals. I played a Revelation fretless before the lockdown & it was lovely to play. I always wondered that I’d sound rhubarb at first but it was so much fun to play, sliding around on this lovely piece of wood. This is the bass I’m thinking of buying.... https://thebassgallery.com/products/revelation-rpb-65-fretless Could any of you cats recommend any other, nice starter fretless basses out there? I was going to have a fretless neck made for my P bass, by Limelight but somebody has just gone and bought the bass. I’d love something that I stood half a chance of creating a double bass tone on, in the end. Big love to all, Chewie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr4stringz Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 The Vintage Jaco tributes (V74MRJP) are a lot of bass for the money. I picked mine up used for about £140 if memory serves. Very decent starting point. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lownote Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) There's a Vintage V940FL unlined up on ebay at the moment. 8lb, active PJ config. What's not to like? I expect that to go for around £140 too. Edited June 12, 2020 by lownote12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 I've got a Squier VM Fretless. For a first time fretlesser it's ideal. I got mine for £120 off Facebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellzero Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 I see that you're attracted by the myth saying you can get a (quite decent) double bass sound out of a fretless... To do so, you'll have to buy a fretless bass fitted with piezos and tweak the EQ a lot as no cheap bass will do the job with just a P-Bass pickup close to the neck. That said, as a fretless player myself, I can only encourage you to do the jump and buy one. The ones mentioned before are excellent basses for the money, but there are many others. Also check the ads here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Enjoy the fretless ride, Chewie! If you're chasing a more DB tonality, then flatwound strings, or even better black nylon tapewounds, get you that bit closer. If you're *really* after that DB tonality, then get a double bass! My only regret with such things is that I waited probably 15 years longer than I might have done, thus denying myself an extra 15 years of fun. Mind you, that was 15 years of getting better on fretless, so nothing actually lost.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chewie Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 47 minutes ago, hubrad said: Enjoy the fretless ride, Chewie! If you're chasing a more DB tonality, then flatwound strings, or even better black nylon tapewounds, get you that bit closer. If you're *really* after that DB tonality, then get a double bass! My only regret with such things is that I waited probably 15 years longer than I might have done, thus denying myself an extra 15 years of fun. Mind you, that was 15 years of getting better on fretless, so nothing actually lost.. Thanks hubrad. I’m very excited. I’ve got some old Labellas here too. Yipee.....!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 51 minutes ago, hubrad said: Enjoy the fretless ride, Chewie! If you're chasing a more DB tonality, then flatwound strings, or even better black nylon tapewounds, get you that bit closer. The genius that is Rob Allen also says that the LaBella black nylons are easier to play in tune as well as helping with getting nearer to that DB tone. As I have both normal flats and nylon coated, I think he might be onto something. https://www.roballenguitars.com/faq Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petebassist Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 I tried some LaBellas on my Ibanez SRH500F and ended up going back to the original D'Addario ECB81 Flat wounds, which are awesome, and I even get some upright-like growl on the E string. I did also raise the action to tame some of the fretless mwah, and so I can dig in a bit. Scott has some great tips on getting an upright tone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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