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legend fretless bass pb400f

I'm right in the middle of one of two tracks for the new album where I'll be needing a fretless bass.

Not being terribly unimpressed with the state of cheap Chinese guitars these days, I picked up this guitar, along with a set of flatwound strings and gig bag, for AUD $314.

It wasn't hard to spot the cheap workmanship. One strap button was loose. A couple of finger scuff-like marks on the fretboard. A jagged cut here and there on the pickguard. And the tuners weren't entirely perfect.

But we're talking about one of the cheapest fretless basses available.

So the first thing I did was replace those factory roundwound strings with flatwounds. I had a peep under the hood - mainly to pull the protective plastic film off the pickups - and everything appeared to be in order. The body is apparently basswood, and this bass is extremely light. I tried using furniture polish to clean up the marks on the fretboard, but no luck.

With the flatwounds on, I then noticed the strings were fretboarding(!) out towards the top of the neck. The action was already fairly high as far as the bridge was concerned, so I took off the neck to see what was going on. Some joker had put a shim in there already, when this guitar clearly didn't need one. Out it went, and we were back in business.

The stock pickup sounded good enough. Cheap ceramic bar magnets. Plus the usual background RFI buzz which disappeared when you touched the strings. But I had a spare EMG P active pickup lying around in another bass I wasn't using, so..

Unfortunately the battery had leaked, as evidenced by the battery terminal, or lack of it.

Anyway, in the pickup went, and it now sounds exactly like it should.

Overall I'm pretty confident this bass will deliver. The price was cheap enough not to have to worry about resale value (there's none of course), so I can do whatever the hell I like with it. I imagine it will stay in the arsenal forever, for those odd times when a song calls out for it. Tonally it's limited without a J pickup, but I've always found the tone of the two pickups together kind of cheesy.

Free download!
New Tunisia EP
Under Deconstruction

Debut Tunisia album
Two False Idols
available in our Store
and iTunes

".. Catchy hook laden melodies, brilliant songwriting, and richly orchestrated arrangements." Prognaut.com

".. Anyone who can sound like Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree one minute and The Jayhawks or The Humblebums the next has to be worth a listen." Classic Rock Society

"Craven really has come up with something very different and ingenious here and, as such, ‘cinematic rock’ is pretty much a perfect description." HardRockHouse.com