NBD - I've only gone & done it again! Spector Fretless

[Marc S]

A little while back, I sold my fretless Jazz, as I wasn't using it enough. Then guess what......

Yes, I joined a band which I mostly play upright in, and started feeling that I could also use a fretless bass guitar too.

 

That thought nagged at me for a while, and I did my best to ignore it. Chatting with the singer / guitarist in another band I'm in, he thought fretless might add something to that band too - particularly as we sometimes do an acoustic duo version of that band.

 

So this came up. I dithered for a while, and waited to see if my Fender Precision would sell first. Then the seller dropped the asking price of this - so I decided to get it, in case it got snapped up.

 

And boy oh boy, am I glad I did 😀 Being a chambered body, its fairly lightweight, and I like the pickups. It's got a Bartolini and a Piezo in the bridge. Playing around with blending the sounds is great fun.

 

However, it's a busy gigging weekend and I really don't have time to play much - so I'm having a quick rehearsal, jamming along with our album, playing this bass. I think I may even take it to the gig this evening, or tomorrow afternoon.... maybe even 

 

Sorry, no pics at the moment - my phone is really slow today, so I'll add them later

[Marc S]

As you can see from the photos, it's a reddish brown colour. In photo 2, the sunlight coming through the window was stronger, which seemed to really make the colour brighter.

 

I have mostly switched to Short Scale for gigging bass guitars, but the neck on this is slimmer than my P bass, and its not overly heavy at around 3.5kg. I'll hang on to this unless I come across a lightweight short scale fretless.

 

Really enjoying playing this bass. But I promised Mrs S that I would reduce the collection. Now, someone please buy my P bass. 😀

[Schnozzalee]

I find myself reaching for the semi-acoustic and active fretless now... They just make you want to play.

 

What scale is that? I find Warwick profiles/shapes slightly different, so it takes me a month to get used to them - I'd imagine Spector are the same, but it has been so long since I played one.

 

(Love Bart soap bars)

[Marc S]

It's a 34" scale (even though I have tended to opt for 30" these days).

 

I once had a German made Warwick, and the neck on this is nothing like that. It's like a very slightly wider Jazz neck (40mm at the nut). Fairly slim front to back and rather comfy imo.

 

I lightly sanded the edges of the fingerboard, to give it a rolled-edges feel. I'm not sure whether I was being foolish or brave - but hey ho... it made it even more comfortable to play.

 

I have been busy with a double gig weekend. Now I'm going to have a noodle with this bass tonight and tomorrow eve 😀

[Marc S]

Did a bit of a set-up "tweak" to this bass last night. I managed to get the action feeling even nicer. I wanted to give the neck a tad more relief - but the bridge saddles are at the bottom of their travels... and I can't set them any lower. However, it's set rather nicely, just as it is. There was a little string buzz / rattle at the heel end of the neck, and a close examination showed the fingerboard had a little upward slope at the end of the heel. Again, I bravely / foolishly took the sanding block to it, and gently took the level of it down a little. 

A bit of Lemon oil on the fingerboard afterwards, and it looked like new. It's now playing even better than before, and I'm even more pleased with my recent purchase. I could still do with selling my Precision - even though it looks lovely, it's just going to sit there, looking pretty, but unused. I am determined to make more use of this fretless bass than I did my last one, especially as I confirmed its weight with my digital scales - it's 3.5kg and that included the chunky leather strap I put on it.

As you can probably gather, I am rather happy  

Edited October 22, 2024 by Marc S

[Grahambythesea]

I had the earlier model with EMGs except mine was a 5 which came in 35” scale. Excellent basses, shame Spector have pulled the plug on manufacturing them.

[Marc S]

Still really enjoying my newfound (rediscovered?) love for fretless, and feeling so glad I got this bass.
Set-up still needs an additional "tweak" I think. Alas, I'm not getting much time to spend on that currently. Some big life changes are on the way! (more of those later). But I'm grabbing a few minutes here & there to noodle along to a few songs, and can't wait to take it along to a full band rehearsal.

My intonation still isn't as good as I'd like, and I have heard comments on here about playing fretless in the dark, to improve intonation by listening carefully. I might just give that a try. Anyhow, I'm enjoying the weight of this bass - it's not as light as my Danelectro or my headless short scale Ibanez, but it's half a kilo lighter than my P bass, and a tad lighter than my Mustang (I might even look at selling that now).

[carlitos71]

Still playing it or willing to sell it?

[dclaassen]

On 22/10/2024 at 12:54, Grahambythesea said:

I had the earlier model with EMGs except mine was a 5 which came in 35” scale. Excellent basses, shame Spector have pulled the plug on manufacturing them.

Got this lovely bass from yourself….still loving it!

[Marc S]

19 hours ago, carlitos71 said:

Still playing it or willing to sell it?

Hi. It has been at the luthiers for a while - having the fingerboard levelled, and the edges "rolled"

It's set up better now, and playing even nicer.

 

I have missed it while it was there. So it hasn't had much play for a while - until now. Definitely not selling this bass, as I like having a fretless to noodle on. I'll be taking it to band practice (the band I got it for) shortly. Might even gig it in a few weeks.

 

If you see one of these, and you've got a hankering for some fretless... these are nice basses. I really like the flexibility of tone, with the added piezo in the bridge - and I'm not usually keen on active basses. Cheers 😀