Fretless Bass Archives - Page 7

Polish luthier Piotr Zakrzewski has some pretty great bass designs, including his Exclusive model. The mid-range of his three basic basses, the Exclusive is a double-cut bass with the lower horn being significantly deeper to provide easy access to the very end of the fingerboard. The Exclusive EX1 01 really caught my eye with its faux f-hole, which provides more...

Custom shop Birdsong Guitars has introduced a new fretless model called the Embrace. The bass, which was prototyped over several years, is a 32? scale fretless neck-through with a single passive soapbar. Described as a “working man’s electric fretless”, the bass is handmade in Texas yet streamlined to offer a price most everyone can reach. Birdsong will be making Embraces...

Ibanez is now offering fretless versions of their SR370 and SR375 models. Aimed at providing fretless basses at a cost-effect price point, the company chose to start with the SR370 due to its maple body which they explain lends itself seamlessly to a fretless version. The SR370F and SR375F are 4- and 5-string basses, respectively, and are built with slim...

Q: I’ve just removed the frets from my first bass, and this is my first experience with a fretless bass. What advice do you have to start out? A: There are two areas of focus for making the switch. At a glance, these might seem to contradict each other, but one applies to practicing and one applies to performance. Fretless...

German instrument builder Duesenberg has introduced a fretless version to their D-Bass line of basses. Available in Black and Coral finishes, the D-Bass Fretless carries the same specifications as its predecessors, with the exception of its fretless ebony fingerboard. The D-bass sports an alder body with a hard rock maple neck. Combining vintage-vibe with modern chic, the pickup is Duesenberg’s...

Finnish custom shop Ruokangas Guitars is now offering fretless versions of their vintage-inspired Steambass, which they introduced last year. The company included stylish fret markers on the ebony fretboard that don’t cross the whole board but instead correspond in placement to the position of the neck – the lower register has markers under the E-string, while the 12th “fret” and...

Fretted, fretless, or both? Based out of Minnesota, Brown’s Guitar Factory has a unique take on electric bass with their Fretted/Less models. The design allows for half of the fingerboard to be fretted while the second half has a raised fretless section, which is elevated to the height of the fretted section to keep its proper scale. While BGF says...

Gerald Marleaux’s artistic flair really shines through in his Diva model, a fretless bass with an avant-garde body shape and three-octave rosewood fingerboard. Designed to have an acoustic resonance reminiscent of an upright bass, the neck-through bass is built with a three-piece padauk neck with a custom choice of woods for the body wings and top. The Diva includes a...

This week we take a look at Chillbass Guitars’ Pantera, a sleek fretless bass that takes its cues from minimalism. The bass has a medium, 32″ scale, which the French bass builder explains lowers the string tension and ultimately aids upper register tones, playability, and adds to a “fat low end.” The Pantera has a swamp ash body, maple neck...

This week we take a look at the Telio G.V. 5-string Fretless from Waja-bass Design. The bass is built by hand in Kempen, Germany and features a striking ergonomic body shape made of swamp-ash and dibetou. Besides sculpting for easier access, the design aims for balance between the body and neck, effectively shifting the the instrument’s focus to the middle...

Fretless bassist Steve Bailey has joined up with Warwick as an endorsing artist, and the company has just unveiled a new Steve Bailey Signature Bass. The model is a 6-string fretless based on their Streamer, though the design has been modified for better access to the upper register of the neck. The Steve Bailey Signature bass features bolt-on construction and...