Fretless Bass Archives - Page 3

This week we’re checking out a very unique Fodera. This Zebrawood AJ Contrabass Shape 12 Elite is a 12-string fretless built specially for bassist Steuart Liebig. Featuring the “AJ Contrabass” body shape, the instrument is built with a mahogany body with a Flame Maple tone block and zebrawood top. The neck is a five-piece laminate with maple and South American...

Bass builder Stephan Mongeon sent me some photos of his latest build and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. The Stellart Guitars Nemesis is a six-string neck-through semi-hollow fretless bass. Judging by these pictures, it’s a work of art, too. Mongeon builds basses with his wife, Ella, in Quebec where they’ve been honing their craft for...

Jon from Simnett Guitars shot us an email with his latest build, and it’s a beauty. This five-string fretless has some gorgeous features that the luthier put serious time and effort into. “It’s a 33-inch scale (tuned E-C) ‘piezo-only’ fretless. The Black Limba body is chambered and has a spalted Hornbeam top,” he explains. “There’s matching Hornbeam headstock veneers on...

Wandering around the halls at the NAMM Show is great for finding unique instruments. While browsing Hall E this year I saw this killer four-string fretless built by Tim Seisser of LowDown Bass Guitars. With all the interesting body work and the stunning fingerboard, I had to find out more. “This bass started as an effort to use some really...

Q: I’ve recently made a switch from fretted to fretless bass, and so far it’s been awesome, but here’s the thing… A couple of the fretted basses I’ve played so far were all 34-inch scale, and the fretless I now play is a 35-inch scale six-string – and it’s unlined. So stretching my fingers that wide is becoming a pain...

B&G Handmade Guitars has unveiled the Big Sister, a bass to support their Little Sister guitar model. The semi-hollow bass, which comes in fretted or fretless, was designed for old school flair. “This Big Sister idea was born with the release of the Little Sister guitar,” B&G writes. “We wanted to apply the same traditional materials & techniques, unique chambered...

Schecter expanded their Session Series of basses this year with an 8-string version of their Riot bass, a 5-string version of the Model-T, and a fretless version of the Stiletto. As a part of the series, each of the basses is built with a swamp ash body, hard rock maple neck, ebony side block inlays, and active EMG pickups and...

First introduced in the 1980s, the minimalist Gittler Guitar was reborn in 2013 thanks to musician and titanium expert Russ Rubman. This year Gittler Instruments has unveiled three new bass models, including four-string, five-string, and fretless versions. “Similar to the six string Gittler Guitar, these basses are manufactured of aircraft grade titanium with an optional weapons grade finish and weigh...

This week we’re checking out a sleek black custom bass called the Gotham by Spain’s Ramos Guitars. The seven-string brute is built with a mongoy body and fretless ebony fingerboard for a dark theme and an air of mystery. Featuring neck-through construction, its three-piece maple neck is reinforced with graphite for added strength. Ramos fitted the bass with a Delano...

Prog bassist Colin Edwin has been sharing details of his bass arsenal on his blog, including his exquisite Wal Mk 1 Fretless. The Porcupine Tree member explains that the model is probably his most played bass as he used it exclusively for several years. “Made in 1984 at Electric Wood in the UK, my Wal fretless has a Brazillian Mahogany...

This week we’re checking out the Godin A4. Available in fretted and fretless versions, the semi-acoustic bass is fitted with a low profile Lace Sensor with side-mounted controls as well as custom Godin Saddle transducers with their own custom preamp. The extensive tonal options can be output via 1/4″ and 13-pin connectors, allowing for computer and synth access. The A4...

Willcox is now shipping a new version of their Saber SL bass called the HexFX Edition. The new model has a 13-pin DIN connector that allows for individual string outputs in addition to the Lightwave Optical Pickup System. “The HexFX Editions bring the individual string outputs, along with a summed mono output, to a 13-pin DIN connector,” Willcox writes. “The...