Another Fretless

[FretlessOnly]

'76 Precision FL. Can't get enough, you know? This has a lovely maple board. The PG is a Fender reissue probably installed in the 90s sometime.

[jps]

Nice! How well do the maple fingerboards hold up over time, especially with RW strings.

[FretlessOnly]

Thanks, Jeff. This board is nearly unmarked (it does have some very fine checking that looks nice), but it came with what I think are Fender nylon filament strings, which, to give as close an approximation as I can, are like roundwound nylon tapewound. Very light and forgiving to the fingerboard. Nice growly sound, but not a ton of low end. No matter, I've got other FLs to cover that.

The guy I bought it from indicated that he bought it back in the 1990s with the intent to learn, and never really did. The strings have been on there since the previous owner, who, by the appearance of the fingerboard, may well have used these strings exclusively.

So, having not yet answered your question, my research leads me to believe that these maple boards stand up very well to rounds. I'm not sure, but I would guess that maple is a bit tougher than rosewood, and my rosewood fretless jazz has had rounds on it for the past year with no sign of significant wear.

The maple board is varnished, however, so rounds would likely chew the varnish but not do much to the wood. I may, at some point, elect to strip the varnish and go with an oil finish on the maple board.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

nice bass ! i remember when sting played that red p-bass with the maple board !

[jps]

That's a walnut finish, right?

[FretlessOnly]

Yes it is. Back in about '73, they started using the walnut finishes on Precisions along with a black pickguard (a laGeorge's Tele). When I bought it (ebay), I couldn't tell from the photos if it was walnut or mocha brown (which has a bit of metallic to it). I prefer the anodized gold PG even if it is a replacement.

Weighs 11 lbs, but has a really tight neck joint and other marks of being a "good one" from that era.

[beatlefreak]

Great looking bass!

[ajish4]

Great looking bass!

+1

[rickenbrother]

Looks nice, John. How does it sound?

You're lucky it has a tight neck joint. I could have hid all sorts of things in the space between the neck and body of my '76 Precision!

[FretlessOnly]

Joey: Where was the extra space? Was it between the heel and the body top (i.e., the truss rod access was further from the body) or was it a poor seat between the back of the neck and the "bench" in the body that accepts the neck?

With the Fender nylon filament strings (I think) on it, it has a really mid mwah tone, with some maple brightness. I really like these strings for a change of pace from my other FL basses, but I get the sense that they don't really bring out the true precision tone in this one. I may slap some Labella Deep Talkin flats on this to check out the low end response. Another benefit of that would be increased neck tension. I had to back the truss rods way off and raise the action to remove fingerboard buzz when I got it. The current strings don't exert much tension, so I had to go to the limit to remove/counteract back-bow.

With a higher tension set, I could actually tighten the truss rod a bit (it's really just barely snug in the channel right now - I doubt it's doing much), get a touch of relief in the neck (as this one should have) and see about how that affects tone.

[cassius987]

Pretty cool John. I have always eyed fretless Precisions after falling out of love with a couple of fretless Jazzes. This one is especially unique and lovely.

[rickenbrother]

Joey: Where was the extra space?

At the sides of the neck. It seemed the neck pocket on the body was routed too wide. My MIM Precision has a MUCH better neck joint than that '76 had!

[ajish4]

I love the sound of a PBASS, and have been gassing for one as well, but the necks are just a bit too chunky for me.

I like the Pbass Specials, the one's with the Jazz bass necks. I like the P/J pickup combo as well.

[FretlessOnly]

Joey: Where was the extra space?

At the sides of the neck. It seemed the neck pocket on the body was routed too wide. My MIM Precision has a MUCH better neck joint than that '76 had!

That's unbelieveably lame. I had read about dicey neck pockets from the mid-70s-early 80s, so I specifically asked the seller about how snug the neck joint seemed to him. I didn't realize that it was lateral neck movement (viewed from above the bass) that was the risk.

Anyway, this one does have a pretty chunky neck, which I rather like. But it plays fast and tight.

[cassius987]

Anyway, this one does have a pretty chunky neck, which I rather like. But it plays fast and tight.

+1 Enjoy.