Affordable Fretless experience/reccomendations?

Im looking for a low cost fretless bass...full scale...Ive seen Rondo stuff that looks interesting, and the Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz..
Any recommendations on the best entry level low cost fretless bass? It must be of decent quality, Ive played for 22 years and dont like the feel of junk. Never owned a fretless and am not sure what qualities to look for..Is an ebony fingerboard necessary for example? Thanks for any info.

i picked up a used MIJ fender fretless a few years back for about $350. nothing junky about it. it's on par with my vintage fenders. best thing is, i can make it boomy or make it growl. love that bridge pickup.

you could rip frets off of a regular cheapie. Here's a site:

linky (http://www.geocities.com/charlesarms/)

that explains it rather well. I've been thinking of doing this over the summer...

What has brought me to the fretless, is Jaco Pastorius, and he yanked his out....thanks for the link, definitely something to consider. Would love to get my hands on a MIJ fretless....What I REALLY want..is a j-body with a j neck..j bridge pickup and precision pickups at the neck. Im gassing so hard for a fretless im considering trading or selling a guitar.

Ive seen Rondo stuff that looks interesting, and the Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz.

I've loved the look of the Squier Vintage Modifies Fretless since they came out. The problem for me: I'm not interested in a fretless. Other than that, I'm all over it. I have a Squier MB-5 and think the quality is great.

The Rondo stuff gets raves, as well, and they have a fretless (or maybe more than one). De-fretting is also an option, Rondo sells bass necks. Maybe get a fretted bass and an extra neck. De-fret one neck yourself and you can go back and forth!

Im looking for a low cost fretless bass...full scale...Ive seen Rondo stuff that looks interesting, and the Squier Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz..
Any recommendations on the best entry level low cost fretless bass? It must be of decent quality, Ive played for 22 years and dont like the feel of junk. Never owned a fretless and am not sure what qualities to look for..Is an ebony fingerboard necessary for example? Thanks for any info.

I just bought a Squier Vintage Modified Fretless, and boy is it FUN!

I am not a bass player, so I cannot really compare it to anything else, but it is very playable and seems to be great quality. Easily satisfies my "bass jones".

The fretboard is "Ebonol", a synthetic hard rubber that is slicker than polished ebony. The neck is finished in very thin satin poly and is very comfortable.

Seems like an excellent deal for under 3 bills. Pefect for a guitar guy that wants a cheap J-bass to mess around with (like me).

Found one locally used...Do they all have mismatched grain...the seam is painfully obvious on this example...
http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/msg/736791516.html

I have a MIM fretless Jazz. The fingerboard is rosewood, with white lines where the frets would be (handy). Sounds good, plays good.

Suggestion: GET FLATWOUNDS. Don't know about this "Ebonol" stuff, but roundwounds on a fretless eat a wood fingerboard alive. Plus, it's part of the vibe/sound.

I picked up an older Wasburn XB-120 off ebay, local pickup (no shipping cost), and converted it to fretless following info on the various sites that detail the conversion, quite easy to do. I changed to a Diesel bridge and stacked volume control knob, and repainted it flat black. Total cost with hardshell case and conversion, about $300.
I find it way more fun and satisfying to build rather than buy.
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/showphoto.php/photo/11599/cat/548

you could rip frets off of a regular cheapie. Here's a site:

linky (http://www.geocities.com/charlesarms/)

that explains it rather well. I've been thinking of doing this over the summer...


That's a lotta work!
I helped a buddy do this to his, but we used a light-colored epoxy to fill the slots and sanded.

i've done a few fretless conversions.

it's really not that much work, a night and a half (only because you need to wait a day for the epoxy filler to dry). a lot of sanding and make sure you at least wear a dust mask- i was coughing up rosewood for 2 weeks first time i tried that, got pretty bad chest infection (possibly unrelated but i got sick that same night, so i don't know).