Fretless

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 1:41 am

Ok, this is kind of a stretch for me. I have a Carvin B4 bass that I have had for years, and was one of my main gigging basses. As a result, the frets are shot. If your familiar with Carvin you know that you can get a replacement neck for the B4 for about $150.00 delivered. I am thinking of getting the frettless neck to replace my worn out fretted one, just for something different. I guess my question is for the frettless guru's out there (Jeff Scott) maybe? When it comes to strings on a frettless, which will give the most "Mwah",? roundwounds, or flatwounds? Keep in mind, Im a diehard roundwound devotee, but when thinking in terms of fretless basses I tend to have an open mind.

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:40 am

I'm interested to hear the responses to this question as well...I run roundwounds on my '74 4001 fretless because I like the sound...but because of the increased wear on the fingerboard these entail, I'm curious as to other options that won't sacrifice the sound I'm getting, or will provide a different sound which is nonetheless pleasing and takes full advantage of that Rickenbacker thang. This concern is heightened by the fact that the 'board is Brazilian rosewood, which was discontinued (probably due to lack of availability) soon after the bass was made...Jeff (et al)?

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:43 am

I've been playing a fretless Jazz bass for about four years now. I had roundwounds on it for a long time, and it REALLY shows on the fretboard. So for about a year and a half now, i've had flatwounds on it, and it's much more of an upright, jazzy tone. I love it. Much less "rock" sounding. I liked 'em so much, that i'm now using flats on all my basses, except my 4003.

wints · Post by **wints** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:29 am

Playing my 73 FL as we speak...I use Chromes and they do give a bright sound, but they are not rounds though to these ears.

I would always have rounds personally, but my board is still beautiful, with virtually no wear whatsoever and I want to keep it that way. The Chromes are a fair compromise.

wints · Post by **wints** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 7:42 am

The board in question...

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:09 am

Looks very familiar...Brazilian as well, I believe...

wints · Post by **wints** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:55 am

I was never too sure Dane. Dark, but not quite as dark as some BRW I have seen.

Beautiful to look at....

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 1:13 pm

For the best mwah, you'd want roundwounds, a good compromise would be halfrounds. Since the frets are worn on that neck, why not just make that neck into a lined fretless neck? As that neck has a rosewood fingerboard, the RW strings will eat into it some but that is the nature of getting the best mwah, with the exception of this:

A graphite or phenolic fingerboard is considerably more resistant to being chewed up from the RWs.

I will e-mail you a song I recorded with my 4003FL with Chromes and the Hipshot bridge, using only the bridge toaster pickup. See what you think of that sound.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 1:55 pm

Wow Jeff, you are truley a world class player. Your sound is right on. Very tight and pronounced. Thanks for the tune, I've saved it my music library.

Back to the 'ol Carvin, it has an ebony fingerboard. Would that be more durable as compared to rosewood?

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:07 pm

Ebony is even better! Go for the rounds. The harder the surface, the better the mwah.

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:15 pm

Thanks about the song. That is just a rough mix from the initial recording. Some guitar has been replaced and keyboards have since been added to the song.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:36 pm

You should drop your link here so everyone could here what your "toaster-rific" 4003FL sounds like.