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@woodyng I didn't- I know you said you weren't on par with the gold and I looked at the bass wondering why, (I have a bass with nothing but gold wood and gold hardware so I was curious,) and it seemed there were some black components, but not enough; So I figured: Black hardware! But then I saw the fingerboard, and with no matching wood for that, (maybe the middle of the sandwich, now that I think of it,) I figured an ebony board would work.
Can one get rosewood hardware? And is your bass for sale?
Can one get rosewood hardware? And is your bass for sale?
My fretless is not for sale....thanks for asking@woodyng I didn't- I know you said you weren't on par with the gold and I looked at the bass wondering why, (I have a bass with nothing but gold wood and gold hardware so I was curious,) and it seemed there were some black components, but not enough; So I figured: Black hardware! But then I saw the fingerboard, and with no matching wood for that, (maybe the middle of the sandwich, now that I think of it,) I figured an ebony board would work.
Can one get rosewood hardware? And is your bass for sale?
. it seems like the basses with the "dropped" positions are increasingly rare to come up for sale,and it's one of my favorite basses i've ever owned. Before i ha it defretted I did talk to a luthier who wanted to replace the whole fingerboard with ebony,but i wanted to retain the overall look,with the original fretboard. I'm was mulling over whether to have the fingerboard finished,but i really like the feel of the unfinished wood.
That,too,has been done.
Rickenbacker made a few 4004's in a "tv yellow" finish,with ebony fretboards and black hardware. Pretty awesome,actually. I don't have a photo handy,unfortunately.
Or did you already know that?
I always liked that color combination. Even before I got my Chinese 7. It's rosewood but if it ever gets chewed up in the future I'll replace it with ebony. By then I'll have a shop. On my 6 I used ebony and it lasted forever, it is a harder denser wood. It's also much harsher if you get it in your nose while sanding.
@woodyng2 I once had a 4003 that I was looking at having the fretboard replaced with an ebony fingerboard. The luthier ended up switching companies before starting, and I traded the Ric' for a fretless. I do miss the grain of the Rickenbacker, maybe I'll get a 6 string one day.
Yes, for the love of god, don't do bend-vibrato on a fretless with rounds.
Hey, I think we got the same neck! Japanese '62 RI?I have D'Addario Black Nylon Tapewounds on my fretless Jazz, and I love them. In fact, I like them so well I put a set on one of my fretted Precisions and IT sounds really good as well...
It's up to you, but I wouldn't use rounds on a fretless.
I went 100% flat wounds on all my basses, now only have one fretted bass in the stable. I love the feel of flats and the mellow vibe of them. Fretless can be intimidating, but oh so addictive. I have zero interest in any bass with frets. Back to the subject, I have seen several used Fretless basses that have had round wounds on them with a seriously chewed up fretboard, yes that can be worked on, but I see it as a major go/no go point when looking at Fretless basses...besides, what barbaric player would put round wounds on a EUB !
I like this demo of the Fender Jazz fretless. At around 34 seconds in you see a close up of the head stock and it looks like Fender flats to me but in the comments Mel says he uses rounds. Do you think he's playing the flats in this demo? Sounds great whatever.
Those are Fender flats. I'm sure he meant he normally uses rounds on his fretless basses.
I've had a few Mighty Mite fretless necks over the years, and was wondering how Ebanol fingerboards would hold up using rounds.
My first one was heavily played with rounds and it was pretty dinged up, but nothing that couldn't of been smoothed out. The newer ones seem like a softer material. Were the older MM necks real wood?
My two cents: If you like the sound of rounds, go for it. It's only a bass. Well, maybe not on a high $$ or vintage instrument. But you know what I mean.
My first one was heavily played with rounds and it was pretty dinged up, but nothing that couldn't of been smoothed out. The newer ones seem like a softer material. Were the older MM necks real wood?
My two cents: If you like the sound of rounds, go for it. It's only a bass. Well, maybe not on a high $$ or vintage instrument. But you know what I mean.
Just put a set of Chromes on my fretless. Beyond being my first real experience with flats, and being very very new to the fretless world, im much happier with these than the rounds that came on it. Part of me misses the mwah and brightness I had before but, the flats are just so much more thick. Ballsy. I'm very happy with these. My Pentabuzz now feels at home.
Well, neither is the wrong choice or a bad choice, so you could go either way.
They will sound different though.
They will sound different though.
Been running DR Sunbeams on my fretless for a bit now. Not playing in very often but I do like the extra warmth it gives over Chromes. Not playing enough to comment on fingerboard wear, but nothing noticeable yet.