ok i'm gonna give this another go. i'm in the market for a high-end fretless. i just did a stock sale before current administration crashed the stock market, so i've had a bucket o'money land in my lap. my gotta haves are as follows:
long scale
5-string
unlined fingerboard
side LEDs on the neck
anneversary, series I or series II electronics (series II preferred)
a case and the instrument in good operational condition would be nice. my email's in my profile or post a reply here.
bumpity-bump-bump-bump
had a coupla non-starters pop up, so i'm still in the hunt. i got a big bucket o'holiday cash for your big beautiful fretless. probably make yer other half grateful to get it outta the living room plus now ya can buy them a nice holiday sweater with the proceeds. so whaddya waitin for? hit me!
bumpity bump bump bump bump!
surely somebody needs to thin their collection for xmas money. or to get that once sweet young thing life partner now turned swarthy harpy off their back and get some of those unused basses outta the so her mom can move into the spare bedroom.
contact info in my profile. hit me!
Is a custom outside the scope of your interest?
QuoteIs a custom outside the scope of your interest?
well a custom build would certainly get me
exactly what i want. however, the fact of the matter is i'm a 70-year-old burnout with a body shot fulla arthritis and i can probably count the number of shows i have left to play on one hand. if i were to order it now, it'd probably arrive just in time for me to kick the bucket or give my kids one more thing to fight over in my estate. so i think my only course of action is to STFU and play the one(s) i got or keep trolling the used instrument underworld hoping for another lucky break.
I see. I've never had a fretless bass, though i made two guitars in my late teens and early 20's, both fretless. I did consider converting my Europa to a fretless when I was having trouble selling it, but found a classico instead, and Europa was sold this week. I really hope you find the right fretless to scratch that itch. 👍🏾🎶
bumpity-bump-bump-bump!
lotsa awesome basses popping up for sale lately, still no fretless. stock market's on fire. tax time coming. surely someone's got the object of my desire gathering dust in their collection that they need to turn into cold, hard cash. hit me!
bumpity bump bump! had a couple of nibbles but nothing's panned out yet. i got a summer of shows to play. been using the 4-string but i could really use a 5iver. hit me!
FC bass has a 5-string fretless Orion for sale.
Quote from: Barend on May 16, 2026, 10:57:20 PMFC bass has a 5-string fretless Orion for sale.
Probably not the high-end that OP was looking for?
Check on the first three requirements, but no side LEDs, EMW electronics and located in Europe (Netherlands) https://link.marktplaats.nl/m2396671880 (https://link.marktplaats.nl/m2396671880)
thanx for the tips but it's gotta check all the boxes if im gonna drop the big bucks USD on it.
interesting how varied everyone's gotta haves on a fretless are. i wouldn't wanna try finding my way around on a fretless fingerboard on a dark stage without LEDs. if ya wanna make sure there's no doubt yer audience is hearing a fretless being played ( unless ya got crappy intonation), a separate signal path for the bridge pickup is the bomb. probably don't need to belabor the long scale, unlined board, 5-string, yadda, yadda, yadda .
🐕🗿
The fretless Series II bass that I know is coming available is a 4-string. The fretted companion was a 5-string, and I just forgot the fretless wasn't. Sorry about the false alarm!
curses! foiled again!
thanks, mica for your help.
got a summer of shows lined up. looks like i'll fit the A-Bass in where i can go fretless with 4-strings and the ebony amazon for the rest. it's not so bad. gigging around the mile high with a 5-string series II fretted and an anniversary-equipped fretless. playing the 80's. in my 70's. gonna be interesting.
still - the search continues. i figure i can get maybe another year outta my hands before i gotta give it up.
somebody hit me!
Quote from: BeenDown139 on May 20, 2026, 06:46:04 AMcurses! foiled again!
thanks, mica for your help.
got a summer of shows lined up. looks like i'll fit the A-Bass in where i can go fretless with 4-strings and the ebony amazon for the rest. it's not so bad. gigging around the mile high with a 5-string series II fretted and an anniversary-equipped fretless. playing the 80's. in my 70's. gonna be interesting.
still - the search continues. i figure i can get maybe another year outta my hands before i gotta give it up.
somebody hit me!
Hey...hows your foot doing? Fully recovered?
QuoteHey...hows your foot doing? Fully recovered?
thanks for asking. last year at this time i was still in a cast getting ready for our first show that i played partially standing and mostly seated using a status graphite bass for weight relief.
now i'm fully free of braces, crutches and what-have-ya. i'm planning on using the good basses as much as i can. so i'm going with the SII and A-Bass getting ready for our first show of the year tomorrow night. been training with a 22 Lb. (US) weighted vest 2 hours a day to help me get accustomed to moving around with a millstone around my neck.
i'm in a band of nit-picking perfectionists so we video our rehearsals. sometime after practice i'll get a text with all my clams noted. kinda like being back in school again. here's a mashup of our last rehearsal, songs separated by 3-second blackscreens. the first track is with me playing the A-bass, the second with the SII. there's probably 20 tunes we played on here, pretty much striaght thru. (ya really don't need to watch the whole video unless yer into that kind of punishemnt) i guess if i can pull this off standing upright, then i'm fit for service.
now - if i had a
5-string fretless, i could do another half dozen of these songs on it. got a fretless 5-string essence. nice bass. doesn't hold a candle to these two basses. probably gonna put it up for sale soon.
https://youtu.be/wrF9_uB56MI
"...pointing out clams..."
Tell them it's a free-form jazz interpretation that's allowing for self expression in a rigid environment.... ya gotta let your freak flag fly!
The band does sound really good, could use more bass in the mix, at the same time, our iPad isn't known for a booming low end. 🤷🏻�♂️