The squier fretless bass came today. And it’s absolutely great! Still just as easy to play as a normal bass. Doesn’t have the oomph of a double bass but to be expected. But, doing slides on it sound amazing!
/Happy
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So interested in a fretless bass, but also intimidated. How does she play?
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Nice!!
Great backdrop for the pic too!
Mine is apparently stuck in Fedex Memphis hell. Between the labor shortage, shipping demand and recent weather, all I get for a status is ‘label created’. I actually have status of 2 labels for 1 bass…hmmm. I just hope it gets sorted sooner rather than later.
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Honestly, that’s exactly what I was thinking. I have a double bass and know how it plays and sounds etc, and I didn’t have a clue how this would sound and play, but a) it’s absolutely the same as playing a normal bass and b) you can sort of cheat and have the best of both worlds.
For example, we played a normal song at the studio, and I played the fretless exactly like I’d play the the normal bass and everything was good. Then, we pissed about and I did some stuff with loads of slides up and down and that’s what makes the difference. But the beauty is, you can pick and choose. Want to do it fully staccato? Off you go. Want to introduce a slidey fill at the end that sounds cool and like a double bass? Off you go.
Win win basically
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You know, that picture is missing two things: a snifter of brandy (alternatively a tumbler of whisky neat) and a pipe.
Congrats, she’s a beaut.
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Ah, hope you get it soon!
Yeah the bass does seem to match the living room. Maybe I should keep it up there for noodling. I need more bass amps 
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Have no fear - those items will be in place soon. it’s a new unit and I’m half way through dressing it accordingly, shall we say
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and a white cat!!
Congrats on the fretless, hoping one day to add one to my collection
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Higher paid labour, better hardware, better electronics, better finish, better selection of wood, nicer finished frets. There’s probably less significant difference between a fender player and a fender American than between a squire affinity and fender player. How much you notice the difference is going to depend on how long you’ve played and your style of playing. My Fender Player pbass cost about 4x my squire jbass and although I love the pbass, it’s beautiful and a joy to play, I don’t think it’s worth the difference in price. The jbass could probably use some better pickups but I don’t care enough to change them and it’s not worth the price
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I think they’re all debatable. People like to think that they’re getting a higher quality product if they pay more, but quite often that’s not the case.
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It depends on where you live and the humidity in your house but it also depends on the neck and how they install the frets. Some of my guitars have the fret tangs cut off so they don’t extend to the edge of the fretboard, my pbass they cut the fret slot all the way through to the edge so if/when the board shrinks, the tangs will protrude. The problem with frets that don’t go all the way through is they crack the edge of the fretboard (or binding) when the board shrinks. I looked a my Yamaha Pacifica lately and noticed it’s got some pretty bad fret sprout but it’s been smoothed off by all the playing and built up skin? 
Where I live it’s crazy dry and I can’t do much to keep the humidity to a reasonable level so all the guitars are going to get fret sprout, then I’ll fix it and that’ll be it.
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indeed indeed indeed!
#1 cause
You want American Made, its gonna cost you.
Its not just the $/hr of the worker, its insurances, fees, taxes, benefits, accomodations, etc.
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Well I don’t (and likely won’t) have an American fender but I can say there’s definitely a noticeable difference in quality between my squire jazz bass and my player pbass for those things, the biggest being the finish and electronics. At one time, some of the American stuff was sent down to Mexico for finishing and some of the Mexican parts were made in the US but I think they do more work in the associated factories now. It appears to me that the quality of all the fender/squier instruments have gone upscale in the last ~5 years (and unfortunately had a price increase too). I think the Squire vibe is now as good as the mim was (and is probably the sweet spot in value for many people) and the mim is in many cases as good as some of the American models were. Like most things, there’s usually a decline in how much you’re gaining for that extra amount you spend as the prices go up… but a guitar is more than a functional item so some people just want to own something for it’s beauty or status.
Of the instruments I have, my Sire M7 has the nicest build and features, I think it offers amazing value for the price. It’s also the bass I play the least right now 
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Yep, a lot of people forget about all those extra costs. So, you can have your guitar built by Mexicans that live in Mexico, or Mexicans that live in California -) In many cases, CNC has really been a big equalizer in quality too. Environmental factors can have a big effect on cost as well.
I work in manufacturing and in many cases it’s really hard to not go offshore for some things because you either can’t get them in NA or the price difference is just crazy!
It’s tough when you have to deal with different countries with different economies… as much as it’s nice to enjoy the lower costs of labour/goods, it would also be nice if people in other countries could enjoy the higher wages, benefits and freedoms that many of us enjoy.
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Same thing with my v7
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I do have my eye on the Sire V7 in burgundy…
Delete to my last, just saw this! Oh man, how frustrating!!!
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Fortunately the retailer was very reasonable and I got a full refund again, so in the end I’ve only lost time, not money. 6 months, 2 retailers, 2 Duff PJs, 2 refunds.
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Will you have another go at it or do you feel like the universe is trying to tell you something?
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