i kinda want a J.

[LLroomtempJ]

i'm still intrigued by these dingwalls. I need to go somewhere and play one.

 

I wonder if my runs will work the same...

[davio]

i'm still intrigued by these dingwalls. I need to go somewhere and play one.

 

I wonder if my runs will work the same...

Any time you want to come back and visit Boston, J...my ABI 5 is available for a test drive.

[jcadmus]

Any time you want to come back and visit Boston, J...my ABI 5 is available for a test drive.

 

Put the coffee on -- I'll be right over.

[WCriley]

On the subject of Js, this is interesting:

 

Warmoth custom 3-pickup from BassNW

 

I've been giving a lot of thought to how a Jazz pup at the end of the fretboard would sound. Has anyone played anything like like this?

[davio]

Any time you want to come back and visit Boston, J...my ABI 5 is available for a test drive.

 

Put the coffee on -- I'll be right over.

Do it. You won't.

[jeremy c]

I had my greasy mitts on Davio's Dastardly Dingwall recently.

 

The instrument plays itself. No special effort is required to get used to the fanned frets.

 

Of course, he had to sell his car in order to buy the bass and now he has to go to gigs on the subway, but that's a small price to pay.

[wraub]

Hey, it's a Dingwall. Public transport is a small price to pay.

 

My brief time with the fanned fret design left me feeling like all was right with the world, and all was peachy keen.

I seriously did not dislike it. At all.

 

That said, I was also, "Eh" on the J bass thing (tone not withstanding), until I found the one I call, "mine". Done deal.

(FYI: They look better without the pickguard, IMO.)

 

Do it.

 

Just Sayin'....

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[rumpelstiltskin.]

I shouldn't. But I will.

 

Clicky.

 

didn't see that one coming.

 

not a bad idea, really, though the tone of the dingwall i played wasn't very J. it was very cool, though. i didn't have any issues adjusting to the fanned frets, either. i didn't expect any, though.

 

robb.

[getz out]

I think the Warmoth would be badass.

[davio]

I only have experience with the Afterburner line. They cop a P tone quite well and can somewhat approximate a J (and a bunch of stuff in between and beyond). I seem to remember reading that the Combustions were somewhat similar. BTW, the controls are V/V/B/T which is different from the AB but I've heard that it's quite flexible.

 

I've also considered doing the Warmoth thing in the past. Who knows...maybe I'll do it someday.

[Mark Schmieder]

I had a G&L Legacy as my second bass -- though it was P-bass style, not J-bass. I have tiny hands and eventually moved on to what for me were more ergonomic designs. As current G&L "strats" are quite a bit different from my mid-90's model, I'm wondering if their more recent basses are markedly different from my early-to-mid-80's model. I should probably give them another try.

 

That G&L bass followed my short-lived Squier Bullet, which I outgrew within a few weeks of playing. :-) So it was a surprise to me to find the Squier Modified J-Bass Fretless as very playable and excellent bang-for-buck. Could be a good starter for someone just getting into fretless, and not necessarily a bad bass for an experienced bassist either.

 

Of the boutiques that I've tried, the Lakland (especially Joe Osbourne model) and Low End Jazz Bass especially impress me with good balance and broad tonal palette. I haven't yet had a chance to try an F-Bass, which many have recommended to me but which anyways is beyond my price range (as are a few others). For those in the SF Bay Area, Gelb Music in Redwood City often has them in stock, so it should be possible to find one to try.

 

I commented in another thread that the Tony Franklin Signature model from Fender has a well-build neck with a very smooth and fast fretboard and broad tonal palette. It now seems that this bass has a J-neck with P-bass pickups. If you want a pure or mixed tone, you could probably swap neck or bridge for J-pickups or even MM-pickups. I found the P-bass pickups on this model to cover jazz, reggae, and rock quite well, much to my surprise.

 

Recently I have become quite curious about the Fender Jaguar model, as well as the Ibanez Jet King series. The JTK series is more like the Jazzmaster than the Jaguar, but does have a bass member. I would love to try one, and might take the risk of ordering one with the idea that the learning experience would be worth whatever I lose if I flip it. I don't think these come in fretless models though, but it seems the main gist of this conversation is J-basses and not fretless basses per se (plenty of people buy fretted J-basses, after all).

[Groove Mama]

Met up with jlrush last night and got to see and hold his J. Beautiful instrument, felt great, nice and comfy. Am now re-examining my anti-Fender bias.

[Mark Schmieder]

It sounds like "re-examination of anti-Fender bias" is a theme on this forum of late. :-)

 

Just to add fuel to the fire though, my guitar tech recommends against Fender, with the exception of a few models, as he finds the most problems with them of almost any manufacturer in terms of shoddy workmanship, poor components, etc. He has similar comments about the Gibson family of instruments.

 

I guess from a musician's point of view, as long as an initial set-up and swap-out of some components fixes things and you don't have an always-in-the-shop bass (like every Warwick I ever owned), the technician's perspective isn't the final statement. :-)

[rumpelstiltskin.]

i heard that f-bass instruments require you to play with really clean technique, that they are unforgiving. but i suppose that's the price of clarity.

 

robb.

[Mark Schmieder]

That's true of both of my current basses, and it's the way I like it. :-) If I sound perfect, I know something's wrong. :-)

[Bottom End]

After playing only my (Hohner) PJ fretless for a year, I've noticed a much greater change in tone depending on hand position and force. of plucking, etc. I think with any bass this is the case, maybe players much better than I (the majority of players) can just pick up any bass and dial in the tone they want, but I need to get really familiar with a bass to start hearing the tonal possibilities. I will say it seems that my hands cause a bigger change in tone than anything I do with the volume or tone knobs.