Fretless v Fretted - I'm stuck

[Delberthot]

Recently I bought myself a really nice Squier VM Jazz fretless and did a few gigs with it. I liked it so much that I decided to get a fretless neck for my Warmoth gold bass.









I'm really loving the fretless sound but missing the frets as well


In my wedding band, too often I simply don't have the time to change basses depending on the song we are playing so I have to play the song(s) using whatever bass I have on at the time.

My solution is simple but different - I have thought about building a double neck with a switch between to quickly change the output between fretless and fretted.


The difference between what I have in mind and a regular double neck are that I have never seen the point of having such a great space between necks. Since bulding a body from scratch is beyond what I can be bothered doing, I have thought about buying a couple of bodies, cutting them down and gluing them together. Possibly using a left hand neck on the bottom so that I can get them closer together.

I only see the need to have maybe 3 inches between necks to allow for quick changes.

My only concern is that using 2 necks will mean that the bass will be be neck heavy. I could use lightweight tuners or a heavier body wood but want to try and keep the overall weight down.

Has anyone else here come across a way to avoid the inevitable neck heaviness and would anyone here be able to build me a simple body to take 2 necks to avoid having to chop up 2 perfectly good ones cos I've got a shower suite to fit, hall to decorate, back garden to flatten, etc when I come back my hols?

This is all theoretical of course. If it turns out to be too much of a PITA to do then I'll probably fire the wenge neck back on the gold bass and keep a hold of the Jazz instead of the present plan to sell it.

[Kiwi]

Out of pure interest, how many songs would you use the fretless on?

[Paul_C]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WOOIZXNks"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WOOIZXNks[/url]

[url="http://www.mikeyguitar.com/bass.asp"]http://www.mikeyguitar.com/bass.asp[/url]

[Buzz]

I can't imagine that during a long wedding band set a double neck would be entirely comfortable, it is probably going to be heavier.

[Delberthot]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='538217' date='Jul 12 2009, 12:13 AM']Out of pure interest, how many songs would you use the fretless on?[/quote]

At the minute I'm using it on everything. I feel equally as comfortable playing fretless or fretted on any song that we do. It would purely be for my own self -indulgence - that and I'm a show-off. Why else would I have a sparkly gold bass?

Edited July 12, 2009 by Delberthot

[JTUK]

None of this makes sense to me...

Twin neck..way too heavy and you'd want to put it down as soon as.... so there is your guitar change..

If the songs voice for a a fretless or fretted then you'll need to swap... if you are playing everything on one or the other, then that is the compromise that is a fucntion band...

If you literally read the audience and have to go all over the place with your song choice and keep the music playing.. then this set-up doesn't really cater for specifc sounds per song..

Good luck with whatever you do but the twin neck sounds insane, costly to build and will be impossible to shift..

[Kiwi]

[quote name='JTUK' post='538263' date='Jul 12 2009, 07:06 AM']None of this makes sense to me.......
...the twin neck sounds insane, costly to build and will be impossible to shift..[/quote]
[quote name='Delberthot' post='538244' date='Jul 12 2009, 02:25 AM']It would purely be for my own self -indulgence - that and I'm a show-off.[/quote]

I'm staying right out of this.

[ZMech]

I can't remember who it was, but i remember reading on one luthiers site that they use some tiny frets, either banjo or mandolin, as it means there's the least amount of metal between the string and fretboard to get the most fretlessy sound possible. no idea if it works but it's worth trying.

Edit: I think it may have been dingwall.

Edited July 12, 2009 by Zach

[Spartacus]

[quote name='Paul_C' post='538229' date='Jul 12 2009, 12:45 AM'][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WOOIZXNks"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2WOOIZXNks[/url]

[url="http://www.mikeyguitar.com/bass.asp"]http://www.mikeyguitar.com/bass.asp[/url][/quote]

"Prices start from $5,000 USD". Ouch

[WinterMute]

I had a headless double neck built in about 86, fretted and fretless mainly to switch between the two during songs (it was a proggy band tbh).

Damn thing nearly killed me, waaaay too heavy and unwieldy, ended up stripping it for the hardware and skipping it.

How long does it take to switch a bass over with a good footswitch switcher?

Alternatively, buy an Chapman NS Stick half-fretless and string it like 2 bases on 1 neck!!! A steal for £2500.

[Musicman20]

Two necked basses....wow...the weight!

I'd practice switching as quick as you can instead....or get the drummer to have a fiddle around whilst you swap.

[Mr Bassman]

Maybe one of these would do the job, it's not neck heavy due to being headless.

Weighs about 11.5lbs
[attachment=28752:twin_cropped.jpg]
[attachment=28751:misc_078.jpg]

[henry norton]

Leland Sklar used to play a Precision with a Jazz neck fitted with mandolin frets. Apparently you could get more or less the best of both worlds by fine tuning your technique.

[Bassassin]

I've been musing over the idea of a fretted/fretless double neck for a couple of years - I knocked up a rough idea of how such a beast might work:



Theoretically it wouldn't be physically that much bigger than a conventional bass - my idea would be to make the body myself & everything else should be pretty easy to source.

My band does have a song or two which would benefit from some slidiness - and the pose value is incalculable...

Jon.

[Delberthot]

The headless stick bass type style does look very appealing.

Probably not much heavier than my Warmoth, in fact might be lighter as the Warmoth is a heavy mahogany beast.

I'm going on holiday next week so I'll have a think about it.

[clauster]

A bit OT but just to say Goldie loks fantastic as a fretless.

[grumble]

Get in touch with this Fleabay seller, I sure he will find something to suit
[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-PRO-QUINT-NECK-GUITAR-TRIPLE-and-DOUBLE-NECKS-Xs-5_W0QQitemZ190252730346QQcmdZViewItemQQptZGuitar?hash=item2c4bf247ea&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1683|293%3A1|294%3A50"]WTF?[/url]

[Delberthot]

Does it come with a case?

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Delberthot' post='538244' date='Jul 12 2009, 03:25 AM']I'm a show-off. Why else would I have a sparkly gold bass?[/quote]

You're not a proper show-off unless you've got LEDs in the neck.

[steve-soar]

Enjoy your hols then get a good luthier to build your ultra light, chambered double neck bass, play it for a few months then put it under the bed or sell it for 25% of what you paid for it.
A tough lesson but a lesson non the same.

[velvetkevorkian]

I'd get a [url="http://www.basslab.de"]BassLab[/url] doubleneck if I were you.

[Delberthot]

Perfect - I could iron 2 things at once with that

[xilddx]

[quote name='clauster' post='538713' date='Jul 12 2009, 07:09 PM']A bit OT but just to say Goldie loks fantastic as a fretless.[/quote]

Was about to say the same, that is a very sexy fretless bass!

[Delberthot]

Well that's a shame cos I've just put the original neck back on again.

I'm going to give it a go using the gold one and the Squier fretless. Maybe see if i can get a hold of a decent A/B box.


Still liking the double neck stick bass though so may keep a look out for one that someone's maybe found beside Shergar, Lord Lucan and Robert Maxwell.

[tauzero]

I've got a double-neck Atrics 5-string fretted and 4-string fretless that I might be parting with...