Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Besides Rickenbackers, I would start with classic basses: Fender P and J, Gibson Thunderbirds are also very nice basses both in sound and playability and the brand new ones are very good quality, (they play like old J basses, thin at the nut) besides looking cool.
I have owned active Fender basses with three band EQ's built in and find them very cold sounding although they cut through the mix very well and you can control your sound right from the bass itself, but they don't lie in a mix very well on the other hand.
If you really want a well rounded collection get a fretless Ric or old fretless Fender without the cheatlines which are a useless abomination and an upright, nothing sounds as good as a good upright.

Cheatlines are useless? I thought that would be a must-have feature in my first fretless at least.

the musicman bass has a nice 3 band active circuit ... Warwicks make some nice basses ... Carvin and Dean make some nice basses with a 3 band circuit ... Ibanez makes some basses with a 3 band circuit ... Schecter makes a studio bass with a 3 band circuit ...

I agree with Bob I don't like the fender active basses ... what Fender does best is a 4 string p-bass and a 4 string jazz bass ...

Alembic makes some nice active basses ...

Then there are the boutique basses like zon, lull, and others that will have nice woods and nice necks and nice electronics ...

my preference for basses is passive aggressive ... that is passive electronics and aggressive playing ...

If you start on a fretless with cheatlines you will never really learn to play without them, I like the old Fender method best, they have dots at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. right on the note with no cheatlines. The Ric method that they changed back to, a dot on every note is also good except when you get up the neck when it is easy to go one note off.

I started on a fretless w/lines, and I'm happy to use them whenever I wish.
Hope I'm not banned for disagreeing with Bob, I know that's a no-no.

I like 'em too. It gives me a target when moving a long way.

I have a 4001, 4003, a Fender Jazz and a 20+ year old BX-5. I also have a Martin B-1. The 4001 only comes out to play on stage every once in a while; the others get played equally.

I think every bass player should have a 5 string along with a Fender P or J or equivalent and a RIC.

I've never had any need/want for a 5-string bass.

OK.

I went to my local store today, and they had this Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Fretless bass, that has gotten alot of good reviews...

http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0326608500

It does have the cheatlines (I think they would help me at this point).

Folks in the reviews seem to agree that this in not a toy, but a pretty serious bass. They like the Ebanol fingerboard and Duncan pickups. I am thinking about picking it up...about $260.

Has anybody tried this one out?

Dude, for $260 why not?

You can always replace the pickups and the bridge and have something really good for another $150/$200...

Yeah, it's funny how a $260 bass seems like a no-brainer after talking Rick prices! It's probably an excellent choice for a "starter" fretless.

I don't care if anyone disagrees with me, just please don't attack me personally. I started playing fretless bass in 1977 on a fretless P bass when fretlines were non-existent except probably on Jacos bass and a few select others and usually only on the E. I bought a fretless American J deluxe in 2000 and couldn't stand the lines, I sold the bass and just bought a 72 fretless P bass with no lines and dots on the 3rd 5th, 7th etc. I found when I had the lined fretless I started to stare at them which actually eroded the skills I had picked up previously on the unlined neck. With an unlined bass you use your ears much more than your eyes, like on an upright which have no marks at all. To me lines are like training wheels only you can't take them off once you get the idea.

Well, my Pace doesn't have lines anyways, it has dots where the fretlines would be on those frets where dots would normally be in the middle. I like the target. Moving an octave is easier IMHO.

Anything that'll get the sound out of your head, whether it's fretlines, picks, or sacrificing a chicken, is cool with me.

Oh yeah, '77 4001, Geddy Jazz, Rogue Beatleho. Guess which gets played the least?