# NBD: Frets are for suckers! (Ibby Workshop)



## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 21, 2014)

Well, I didn't really intend to buy a new bass so soon after buying my Bacchus sludgemachine, but after Ibanez announced the new Workshop fretlesses, I must admit I kept an eye out on my usual Korean site to see if they'd get any in stock for a decent price. Turns out they did, so I jumped on it. 

This time I'll provide specs and photos concurrently for a change, and a quick review after.


So here it is, the Ibanez SRF700 Portamento:








Body/Neck: SRF4 5pc maple/bubinga neck-thru w/mahogany wings.
Finish: Brown burst flat.






Pickups: Bartolini MK1 neck & bridge, Aerosilk piezo bridge.
Electronics: Ibanez 2 band EQ.
Controls: Neck vol, bridge vol, Piezo vol, bass boost/cut, treble boost/cut, piezo tone.






Bridge: Custom bridge for the Aerosilk piezo system.






Tuners/hardware: Cosmo black OEMs.






Fretboard: Rosewood unlined fretless.






Scale: 34", with 30 "fret" extension.
Note the lines and dots on the side only.






Neck-thru joint:






Back covers: Battery compartment, electronics cover, piezo cover with holes for adjusting piezo levels individually.






And one more shot of the whole kit and kaboodle:







Quick review:

I fvcking love it, you guys. This is my first fretless, and I can pretty much guarantee it won't be my last. I love the feel and the sound. Being fretless, the action can be set absurdly low and still be perfectly playable, which is nice. It came strung with flats, which definitely adds to the slippery fretless feel, and I'll most likely stick with flats on this one.

The neck profile is a fair bit slimmer than my Bacchus J clone, which has a pretty slim J neck to begin with, so it's not for those who need some meat. It does at least have some curve to it, so it doesn't have the wide/flat feel of the BTB series, if that's your thing. Feels great to me, though, and the satin finish is pretty nice. I can see it starting to get glossy in time after heavy use, but that's nothing a light sanding shouldn't take care of.

The body is _super_ light. Like... crazy light. It makes my Bacchus feel like it's made of lead. The extended cutaway is also handy, though it doesn't really allow for unfettered access to all 30 "frets" so much as it just makes access to the first 24 effortless. You'll still have to do some finger scrunching to get to the last few. One nice thing about the extension, though, is that even though all the frets aren't necessarily particularly useful, it makes for a nice ramp for fingerstyle playing, which is actually helping clean up my technique alot. Kinda makes me want to cobble together ramps for my other basses 

The pickups sound good enough for me for now, though I've heard replacing them with just about _anything_ will make it sound alot better (the MK1s are NOT popular on Talkbass ). Maybe I'll swap them out for some nicer Bartolinis or a pair of Nordies one of these days, but they're fine for now.

The piezo is alright. I've never been a fan of piezos on guitars, honestly, but the application on an electric bass is _just_ different enough that it doesn't make my ears want to vomit like it would on an electric. I tend to just use it blended in about 75% with the neck pickup on full, though, because I still don't much like it all on its own.

The electronics are, like many bass preamps these days, a little silly. Cranking or completely cutting the treble or the bass make it sound terrible, frankly, so that only leaves a pretty narrow band around the center position that's actually useable. I don't know why they bother making preamps with such a wide band available when using it makes everything sound unlistenable, but hey, what do I know. I'm no pro.


Sooo.... that's about it, I guess. I'll be happy to try to answer any questions or take pics of any bits and bobs you fellers might want to see.


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## Daf57 (Jun 21, 2014)

That is a very classy looking instrument!! Congrats, man!


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## AxeHappy (Jun 21, 2014)

Fretless guitars are ....ing awesome. Looks like a fun fiddle.


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## Skyblue (Jun 21, 2014)

That looks seriously awesome man, HNBD! 
How do you find the transition from fretted to fretless?


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## Konfyouzd (Jun 21, 2014)

Fretless is the way.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Jun 21, 2014)

Looks nice. HNBD


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## stevexc (Jun 21, 2014)

What, you're not showing off that sweet action shot?

 But seriously that's a solid bass. I don't even like fretlesses but I want it.


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## Scruffy1012 (Jun 21, 2014)

Congrats tim, that bass looks insane! HNGD!


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 21, 2014)

Skyblue said:


> How do you find the transition from fretted to fretless?



The cheater lines on the side make it alot easier than it might have been. My intonation's still plenty spotty, especially further up the neck, but the muscle memory will build up, I hope.


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Jun 21, 2014)

That fingerboard...so much room for activities


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## JEngelking (Jun 21, 2014)

HNGD! Looks great. Looks like a nice slab of rosewood too!


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## Bloody_Inferno (Jun 22, 2014)




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## twizza (Jun 22, 2014)

Awesome bass. I had a fretless years ago, and this gives the gas.

With the light body, is there neck dive?


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 22, 2014)

Not that I've noticed, no, but I use pretty grippy straps with the neck angle in almost the classical position, so I don't know how that may or may not affect things.


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## MentalMetal (Jun 22, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> Not that I've noticed, no, but I use pretty grippy straps with the neck angle in almost the classical position, so I don't know how that may or may not affect things.



What about sitting without a strap? can you let go without it diving?


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## Noxon (Jun 22, 2014)

HNBD!!! That is a really cool bass.


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## TemjinStrife (Jun 22, 2014)

I really want them to release a five-string version of this. One of the few fretlesses I'm definitely interested in.

Also, give some roundwounds a shot. If you keep the action low, you will get that awesome "mwahhh" sound.


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## Nmaster (Jun 22, 2014)

TemjinStrife said:


> I really want them to release a five-string version of this. One of the few fretlesses I'm definitely interested in.
> 
> Also, give some roundwounds a shot. If you keep the action low, you will get that awesome "mwahhh" sound.




Electric Basses SR - SRF705 Bass Workshop | Ibanez guitars

Was checking it out yesterday before I saw this thread actually. I'm definitely interested in the 5 string model as well.

HNBD man! That thing looks gorgeous. And i'm jelly because I've wanted a fretless for a while.


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## MentalMetal (Jun 22, 2014)

TemjinStrife said:


> I really want them to release a five-string version of this. One of the few fretlesses I'm definitely interested in.
> 
> Also, give some roundwounds a shot. If you keep the action low, you will get that awesome &quot;mwahhh&quot; sound.



I want the 5 string as well, I just can't find one locally to try.


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## yingmin (Jun 22, 2014)

I've been playing one of these pretty much every time I go into Guitar Center. They're great basses, and if I didn't already have a 6-string fretless, I'd be figuring out how to buy one. I like that they're neck-through as well, and they're priced very well (maybe not so much for you, but still).

If I ever become a touring bassist, I will absolutely stencil "frets are for cowards" on the grille cloth of my cabs.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 22, 2014)

MentalMetal said:


> What about sitting without a strap? can you let go without it diving?



Wouldn't know, as I use a strap when sitting down and play in the classical position (yes, even on bass ). I did some experimenting standing up after he asked yesterday and didn't notice any problems in more "normal" playing positions, for what it's worth.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 22, 2014)

TemjinStrife said:


> I really want them to release a five-string version of this. One of the few fretlesses I'm definitely interested in.
> 
> Also, give some roundwounds a shot. If you keep the action low, you will get that awesome "mwahhh" sound.



I was debating between the 4 and the 5, since the site I got it from stocked them both, but since this is my first fretless I wanted to make sure I was as comfortable on it as possible right from the start, and I'm just more comfortable on 4 than 5.

I might put roundwounds on it sometime in the distant future, or maybe on the next fretless I get, but I'm loving the flats too much for now to swap them out.


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## Fretless (Jun 22, 2014)

I think you should try tapewound strings. You'll loose your pants. HNBD


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 22, 2014)

yingmin said:


> they're priced very well (maybe not so much for you, but still).



The last few batches of Indo Ibbies have actually been the same price as or a little cheaper than they go for in the US, which explains why three of my last four gear purchases have been Ibbies . That's why I was keeping an eye out for these to pop up here ever since they were first announced.


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## bvdrummer (Jun 23, 2014)

Grand Moff Tim said:


> The cheater lines on the side make it alot easier than it might have been. My intonation's still plenty spotty, especially further up the neck, but the muscle memory will build up, I hope.



Those "cheater lines" are interesting. I haven't seen a neck like that before, but it still looks cleaner than a lined-fretless.


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## bvdrummer (Jun 23, 2014)

twizza said:


> With the light body, is there neck dive?



It doesn't have any frets, so the neck is lighter too


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## Kroaton (Jun 23, 2014)

Bass review and no samples in sight?

Shame on you.

Also, happy NGD.


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## rectifryer (Jun 23, 2014)

Wow such class so riviera much prestige so shiny!


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## Grand Moff Tim (Jun 24, 2014)

Kroaton said:


> Bass review and no samples in sight?
> 
> Shame on you.
> 
> Also, happy NGD.


 
There are videos of it on Youtube already that sound way better than anything I'd be able to throw together .


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## Fathand (Jun 24, 2014)

Nice looking bass. 

This and the Warwick Pro Series fretlesses (see other thread) were my number one choices for a long time when looking for a fretless, but in the end I chickened out and bought a cheap J-bass copy with fretlines.. I decided I need the visual cues. 

BTW, anyone who's into fretless might want to check out Steve Baileys old instructional vid from youtube, it has some nice exercises for developing your ear for correct intonation (with different intervals). And if you know other good instructional vids for fretless, I'm open for suggestions.


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## DreamError (Jun 24, 2014)

HNF(retless)BD!

I've been playing one a lot, too, and decided to get a GWB35  Your lack of fretlines on the fingerboard has me jelly, though


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