Recommendations on fretless basses.

EreforGuitarGear

Evening all, one of my friends is considering picking up a fretless bass as he wants to give it a go. Any ideas on what might be a decent enough bass for him to learn on/enjoy. He’s been playing guitar/bass for yonks just wants to branch out to a fretless. I think the budget is quite low, £200-£300, he’s been looking at Harley Benton J/P Bass copies. Thanks in advance.

Funkfingers

Yamaha does several nice models in that price bracket. 

A pre-owned Squier Standard/VM/CV fretless Jazz Bass would serve your friend well, provided that it has Duncan Designed JB-101 pickups.

The Squier VM series also included a fretless P Bass. This might sound good after some upgrades with fancy active EQ.

IMO, the P/J pickup combination does not lend itself well to fretless. (The one exception I would make to this sweeping generalisation is the long-discontinued Seymour Duncan Active EQ series pickups.)

I can not comment on Harley-Benton bass guitars as I am yet to try any. 

If the budget can stretch to £350, the Sire Marcus Miller range should have something suitable.

Winny_Pooh

Wish I could be more specific but generally I'd look at Sire or Squier in that price range. 

EreforGuitarGear

Thanks for the advice I’ll pass that on... I think if the budget was being set by him it would be a little higher but I think like many others before him, he’s asked for a new guitar for his birthday and is reliant on others providing the funding. I know what my wife would say haha. 

Snap

I have one of these, and I think it's superb tbh. Really versatile and has a super slinky neck. Marked frets too.

Ibanez SR370EF-BBT – Thomann UK

EreforGuitarGear

Thanks @Snap  I’ll pass that on. 

Funkfingers

Snap said:

Marked fret [position line]s

Helpful for absolute newbies but, thereafter, undesirable.

To get good at playing fretless bass guitar, it is best to shrug off visual clues. Rely on your ears to determine pitch. Practice in dimmed light conditions. 

In this, I have an unfair advantage. The fingerboard of my factory fretless Fender P Bass is so worn that I can feel the dips where I have applied finger vibrato around the note position.


The Ibanez SR370EF is a lot of bass guitar for the money. One for which uses can always be found. In short, a keeper, no matter what else one owns.

My only worry with that specific model is that the EQ band centre frequencies are the same as the fretted model. Ideally, for fretless, the mid band control needs to cut/boost the "growl".

Snap

Funkfingers said:

Snap said:

Marked fret [position line]s

Helpful for absolute newbies but, thereafter, undesirable.

To get good at playing fretless bass guitar, it is best to shrug off visual clues. Rely on your ears to determine pitch. Practice in dimmed light conditions. 

In this, I have an unfair advantage. The fingerboard of my factory fretless Fender P Bass is so worn that I can feel the dips where I have applied finger vibrato around the note position.


The Ibanez SR370EF is a lot of bass guitar for the money. One for which uses can always be found. In short, a keeper, no matter what else one owns.

My only worry with that specific model is that the EQ band centre frequencies are the same as the fretted model. Ideally, for fretless, the mid band control needs to cut/boost the "growl".

tbh, I think that's all a matter of personal preference really. Yep, it would be great to be on the money with your intonation without markers, but hey, we don't live in a perfect world, and as someone who mainly plays fretted, i like the markers.

re the EQ - there are so many variables available from having the coil taps, I find the tonal options are significant. It can do higy attack growly all the way through to dubby wobble really. I've just put D'addario Chromes on (had rounds on before) and that opens up some new tones too. 

Yes, it is a lot of bass for the money, a bit of a steal IMO. Unless you have a thing for the Fender vibe, I think it is a lot better than a Squier for similar money, no contest really. 

Stratavarious

I have an older Ibanez fretless..  superb neck.. mine does have line markers which can be useful when learning but generally I can’t see them when playing.