# NBD : Brice HXB-406 Fretless



## Ishan (Apr 17, 2008)

OK so here's my Brice HXB-406 Fretless :


















So it's a bit full of problems :
- so so strings spacing at the nut
- VERY BAD flatwound (I installed some nice D'Addario Half Round since then, faaaar better even if it's a 34" scale set and I have the tapper slightly before the nut  )
- the bridge is slightly too wide for this bass, obviously it was designed for a narrower bridge. Not really a problem but it looks a bit like they throw together bits and pieces and made a bass with it.
- the pickups are wired out of phase, so anything but full neck or full bridge isn't usable (that's lame, a bit of QC please!)
- it wasn't set up at all (needed an angle for the neck)
- The neck pocket is not tightly routed.

other than that it looks quite nice, very comfortable to play, I got the action to 2mm with a bit of ratling but nothing bad. it sounds great but I suck at fretless right now 
All in all you got what you paid for.

Here's a sample of it in action, forgive my out of tune playing hehe
[media]http://yoann.michot.free.fr/Brice_HXB-406_Fretless.mp3[/media]


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## Ruins (Apr 17, 2008)

coool congrats man
this bass is missing some frets  
fretless are not my thing at all


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## Apophis (Apr 17, 2008)

Congrats

looks pure and simple, as I like it


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## Desecrated (Apr 17, 2008)

Is that a brass nut ?


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## Ishan (Apr 17, 2008)

yes, it's very smooth as a nut, I'm impressed


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## eastcoasteddie (Jul 23, 2008)

I have the same exact one:















but I installed a Bartolinin 4.6 A/P 3-band preamp into it, wired for 18 volts
















and man, does it sound sweet. 
My experience with it is that yeah, the action needed to be adjusted...needed to file the string lands in the nut big time. But other than that, it came pretty much in good shape. For $300, you can't go wrong at all. 1/2 hour of setup time and you're golden.

I'm seriously considering getting a fretted version of the 406, the bass is well balanced and very comfortable to play. I love it.


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## darren (Jul 23, 2008)

Pretty minimal "spalt" on that top, too. Nice bass, though. Very nice.


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## eastcoasteddie (Jul 23, 2008)

darren said:


> Pretty minimal "spalt" on that top, too. Nice bass, though. Very nice.


yes, I was kind of disappointed with the "spalt" on it. The one they have on their site has good texture.





one that I really like is the Z6 Natural Spalt:











but I can't afford it (sad, I know). 
I'm constantly checking if they get B-stock (scratch & dent) units. They sell for a lot less, but you gotta be lucky...


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## Shawn (Jul 23, 2008)

Nice score. That's a beautiful bass.


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## Ishan (Jul 24, 2008)

Mine isn't too bad look wise but suffer from too many defects to be really enjoyable. I'm kinda disappointed really...


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