Fretless Setup

[Gastrok]

I followed Seth Horan’s setup directions to a “T” and my 5-string Corvette now plays perfect! For me, venturing into truss rod adjustments was no man’s land but with his superb instructions I emerged unscathed and very happy…thanks Seth! Now I’m wondering what I ought to do to properly setup my 4-string Corvette fretless. I’m happy with how it plays and sounds, but I’m sure there is room for improvement. Any suggestions?

 

[saxonbass]

I haven't really had to alter any of my basses much from the factory set up. Obviously you're not going to get any fret buzz, but I've checked the neck relief using the distance between the strings and the fretboard (rather than the top of the fret) - but I'm pretty happy with everything.

The biggest thing with fretless is the intonation, and I'd say you could set the intonation any way you want, as long as YOU know where the notes are. However, I tend to follow Gary Willis' advice (which is on his website), which is to set the intonation a tiny bit flat at the 12th "fret", so it should be spot on around the 1st and 2nd frets.

The other potential problem, if you have more than one fretless (like I do)... try and set the intonation on all basses so it's identical... otherwise you have problems if you switch between them. I tend to play only the bass I intend to gig with for a week before!