LeftyBassist.com

Hi y'all

New member here... Been looking for a real genuine original american fender fretless. My ideal one would be a precision with a maple fretboard, however rosewood would do. Or a Jazz would also do. Let me know if you know of one for sale. Or if you have one for sale.

Welcome to the forum!
Fender has never made a lefty fretless. You would need to get a fretted one and get it defretted or consider other options.

Fender made lefty fretless Precision's in the 70's. They're not that common but they are out there.

They made them in the 70s. Fretless PBasses show up occasionally. A Jazz would be really hard to find, but I'm not certain they ever made factory fretless Jazz Basses back then.

My bad, I don't recall seeing one of those. It must be quite rare.

EDIT: I'm talking Pbass here ...
... they were actually quite commonly seen up until the late 90's (yes, I am dating myself again). My best guess for their continual appearance on the market back then was that folks were looking for the Jaco tone, and by no means do those P basses deliver it unless you modded the hell out of it. The few I've played over the years (all maple necked) could best be described as mud-buckets. Little to no mwah-factor at all. Just buckets upon buckets of poly finish on the back of the neck. I've played them with tape-wounds, flats and Rotosound strings. And of course, they were boat-anchors. I can't say for sure of course, but if you found one, swapped the pups and pots and used a modern rig it would probably sound decent.

Why they aren't showing up on the market for the last 15 or so years is anyone's guess, but I'll put forth folks are keeping them in closets waiting for them to appreciate in value.

Sting played a maple fretless p and I thought it was quite good... In a Bassy way...

Yo Guys...

How would a righty neck work on a lefty body? Is it plug and play?

As did Roger Waters and Boz Burrell of Bad Company. Tony Franklin and Pino Palladino get a great fretless P tone as well.

Depends on the neck & body. But if you took say, a righty American standard jazz neck and put it on a lefty American standard Jazz body, yes you're good to go.

See there are a few righty fretless maple necks out there on ebay from the 70s. I reckon I'd get one if those and put it on a lefty body. What should I check to make sure it would fit snug?

I would hold out for a true lefty if you are hell bent on a 70's fretless P . Board member crescenze has a nice 78 fretless P he was thinking of selling. I would pm him and see what you think. Righty Fender necks on lefty bodies have some inherent problems . Besides the obvious fit issues of bolt ons you also have the side dots on the wrong side of the neck.The nut would need to be changed. And of course stringing is a little hinky since you would be stringing the g to an e tuning peg and an e to a g peg, resulting in string length being incorrect which could cause tuning and intonation problems.

Thanks

Is that what Water's used on Hey You?
I can't speak re Boz, not familiar with his work all that much. Franklin does get a great tone, but was he using a P bass from that era? I really dug his endorsement (righty) Fender model.
I always thought Pino used a MM fretless. Any references to where he used a Fender? I'd be real interested in hearing an example, he's one of my faves.

Jersey, is that true about string length? Has that little piece of string (after the nut) any effect on tuning/intonation?

I rather doubt the last line, as lefty bass players have been reversing strings for decades, and I've not heard any of them say this is a problem intonation-wise... once the string goes over the nut or bridge saddle, it's the length between those two points of contact that matter, not how much, or how little string is left over to be wound around the string posts, or strung through the body... most players will tell you for example, that there is literally no discernible difference in stringing through the bridge, or the body.

Tim Commenford (Ex Rage Against The Machine) uses lefty necks on his right-handed Jazz Bass.

The string length I was referring to was the actual length of the string itself. ( not the scale length of the bass which would remain constant as long as the bridge saddles could be properly adjusted) Many standard string sets would not have an E string long enough to properly wrap enough turns on the long reach to a G peg of a Fender bass. (The original question was about a Fender fretless bass) Improper turns or wrapping of the strings could cause slippage and would adversely effect tuning as well as intonation. And with a fretless bass bad intonation would not be a good thing.

Roger Waters did play a 70'S fretless P on Hey You. Classic example of Boz's 70's fretless P sound can be heard on the Bad Company song Ready For Love. He also played with King Crimson early in the band's history. Don't know what fretless Tony Franklin has played in the past and you are right about Pino, his fretless work is on a Musicman.