# DNFBD (Double New Fretless Bass Day, 56k beware)



## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 4, 2010)

Aaaaaaah! I drove down to Inland Empire today to trade my Ibanez S370DX and a couple pedals (Boss BF-3 and DS-1) for two fretlesses. These are my first fretless basses, and, really, my first basses. I've owned a fretted bass in the past, but I didn't play it much and I sold it to fund my Loomis. Anyway, I'm excited. The first is a Squier P/J bass that had the frets removed and epoxied.








Did I mention I got cases with my basses? 
The Squier's case is kind of beat up, unfortunately.














My girlfriend's okay with it because it's shiny. I tried to get some detail shots of the epoxy work. Bear with me.

































































































Next is a Douglas WEB 825 3TS.












































Love me some ash.








































One little ding:


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## punisher911 (Jul 4, 2010)

Vetty nice... tell me about the Douglas. I was just about to do a search for them to find out how they play/if people like them. We all know the Agile stuff from Rondo is good, but what about Douglass? I am thinking about getting one in the near future. My interest in fretless is growing.


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## Skyblue (Jul 4, 2010)

I always found fretless basses to look sexy as fuck, and you're not exactly helping with my GAS right now  

I always liked the J-Basses more than the P ones, but it's cool looking anyway~ 
The Douglas on the other hand is absolutely stunning  

Have fun with them!


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## Deadnightshade (Jul 4, 2010)

SchecterWhore said:


>



You see the prints of the 2 low strings on the fretboard?MY brother removed the frets from his first cheap bass ,and the same prints occured after short time...that can't be good for the fingerboard..maybe you should do something about it,cause it's a pity to ruin it since you have epoxied frets and it looks good


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 4, 2010)

Deadnightshade said:


> You see the prints of the 2 low strings on the fretboard?MY brother removed the frets from his first cheap bass ,and the same prints occured after short time...that can't be good for the fingerboard..maybe you should do something about it,cause it's a pity to ruin it since you have epoxied frets and it looks good



Yeah, it's on the Douglas as well. I think you can epoxy the entire fretboard (I guess it's a fingerboard, now that there's no frets, huh? ), and that prevents wear and tear.




punisher911 said:


> Vetty nice... tell me about the Douglas. I was just about to do a search for them to find out how they play/if people like them. We all know the Agile stuff from Rondo is good, but what about Douglass? I am thinking about getting one in the near future. My interest in fretless is growing.



It plays beautifully. The guy before me had it set up, though, so I don't know if that's the reason for it playing nicely. Fret (or lack thereof) access is good, and it's pretty solid. The body's just a little light. I haven't tried out the pickups yet, so I can't say. The dot scheme on the side of the fingerboard kind of weirded me out.






The middle dot in those groups of three is there for show, I suspect. It's not the location of a fretted note.


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## Disco Volante (Jul 4, 2010)

Deadnightshade said:


> You see the prints of the 2 low strings on the fretboard?MY brother removed the frets from his first cheap bass ,and the same prints occured after short time...that can't be good for the fingerboard..maybe you should do something about it,cause it's a pity to ruin it since you have epoxied frets and it looks good



My fretless looks the same way, this is common on any fretless that has roundwounds on it. I'm of the opinion that roundwounds give the best sound and playability. The only thing you can really do about it to prevent it is to have the whole fretboard coated with something to protect the wood. I know Jaco did this to his basses when he pioneered the whole fretless thing back in the day. There are a number of companies who offer this service but I can't recall any of their names off the top of my head.


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## Deadnightshade (Jul 4, 2010)

SchecterWhore said:


> Yeah, it's on the Douglas as well. I think you can epoxy the entire fretboard (I guess it's a fingerboard, now that there's no frets, huh? ), and that prevents wear and tear.



Yes you're right it's a fingerboard  Hard to break the habit ..Well if i were you i'd epoxy the fretboard right away these prints would make me nervous



SchecterWhore said:


> The middle dot in those groups of three is there for show, I suspect. It's not the location of a fretted note.



Have you located with a tuner the position of the note related to the dots?Both in high and low registers..


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 4, 2010)

Deadnightshade said:


> Yes you're right it's a fingerboard  Hard to break the habit ..Well if i were you i'd epoxy the fretboard right away these prints would make me nervous



I'll see how much it costs, but both of these basses are worth <$200, so I won't go out of my way if it's a costly procedure.





> Have you located with a tuner the position of the note related to the dots?Both in high and low registers..



I can hear it. Playing on the middle dot gives you a quarter tone.


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## Skyblue (Jul 4, 2010)

Oh yeah, totally forgot to ask how does it play and sound. for that price I'm seriously considering getting one, if shipment and taxes won't kill me. 

I'm talking about the Douglas, by the way~


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 4, 2010)

Skyblue said:


> Oh yeah, totally forgot to ask how does it play and sound. for that price I'm seriously considering getting one, if shipment and taxes won't kill me.
> 
> I'm talking about the Douglas, by the way~



It plays nicely. Doesn't feel cheap. I would compare it to a mid-range instrument. The pickups aren't the quietest (one is single coil), but the hum isn't bad. I don't know what to make of the output yet, since I'm not sure how loud a bass is supposed to be, and I'm going through a guitar amp. Keep in mind that this one received a setup.


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## Dragonfly (Jul 4, 2010)

I like them  Got a fretless 5-string aswell, it's a lot of fun I must say, but it's still a bitch for me to get the 'right' notes (I haven't got any fret markers to even further complicate things.)

But gratz on your new fretless basses!


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Thanks, dude. The notes are sounding fine to me as I play along to stuff, but I should probably devise some pitch exercises. My fingers haven't felt this sore in a long time!


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## Harry (Jul 5, 2010)

Awesome stuff, congrats!


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## Skyblue (Jul 5, 2010)

SchecterWhore said:


> It plays nicely. Doesn't feel cheap. I would compare it to a mid-range instrument. The pickups aren't the quietest (one is single coil), but the hum isn't bad. I don't know what to make of the output yet, since I'm not sure how loud a bass is supposed to be, and I'm going through a guitar amp. Keep in mind that this one received a setup.


Well I'm a guitarist myself, so not sure on the output as well  
I've been wanting to get a nice bass for a while now, and I play Jazz mostly so a fretless sounded like a good idea... I hope it won't be too hard or something 
Besides the price is ridiculous, the cheapest guitars around here cost more than that


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## darren (Jul 5, 2010)

I've tried some alternative strings on my fretless P-Bass. Ken Smith makes a string called "compressors" which are fantastic. They compress the outer winding wire into an oval shape just before it's wound on the core, so they're smoother than roundwounds (and less brutal on your fingerboard) and still retain most of the brightness and growl.

I've also tried "half round" and flatwounds, which i also like. You definitely lose some of the growl, but i like the sound and the feel of them, personally.


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## Mr. Big Noodles (Jul 5, 2010)

Anybody tried mylar film on the fingerboard as an alternative to an epoxy procedure? I was reading about it over at Talkbass, and it seems like an interesting idea.

Also, I noticed that there's a lot of wiggle room in the CNB case for the Douglas, so if anyone orders one of these basses with a case, be wary.


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