JB-40FL 3-Tone Sunburst : Amazing fretless bass for the money

This is my first fretless but I’m pretty certain this is as good as many fretless basses 2 or 3 times the price.

Arrived well set up, although pretty low action and absolutely pancake-flat fretboard. This had the effect of creating that fuzzy Jaco tone that many crave but which can sound a bit like the end of a long drunken night out when in the wrong hands, especially if you start adding vibrato.

And on vibrato… fortunately this bass has lines, so with proper technique you won’t need to do the drunk-vibrato thing that you hear many line-less bass players use when they play by ear but don’t quite hit the right note first time round, so end up using a bit of vibrato to mask that shortcoming. I’ve not seen a professional fretless player (who actually teaches) yet who hasn’t said that having lines just helps you get the intonation right first time so you sound on-point. The fretboard may not look as coolly upright, but who cares if you can actually play in tune.

The bass itself is a standard j-bass setup. Heavy-ish, and certainly feels well put together.

I’m no expert, but at this price I don’t understand why anyone would want to spend, say, £300-400 on a fretless bass. You either get something like this or save up for something much more expensive and special.

All in all this is a great bass, great fun to play, and a brilliant potential modding project.