This bass has been backordered for many months and just arrived with flatwounds and it is simply amazing.
Now you can get the true flavor of those famous bass lines from one of the most distinctive jazz rock bass players ever – check the fretless neck with the fret lines and dot markers still visible; no scratchplate but with the screw holes still open, and only the chrome control panel plate left; oooh… that patterned scarring… keep an eye on the weather!
(Article written by Ty Campbell for Bass Musician magazine)
I’ve always loved fretless basses, and the Vintage ICON V74MRJP Fretless 4-String Bass is one great fretless bass… from the relic’d sunburst finish, right down to the worn neck that feels just right, with a sound that is classic 70’s.
The ICON V74MRJP comes with round wound strings, which give you that fretless growl that just about every bassist loves. However, with having a rosewood fingerboard, over time, you will wear grooves in the fretboard. While flat wounds are great for fretless basses no matter the fretboard material, so are pressure wound strings, and as with any bass that has a rosewood fingerboard, I would highly recommend compression wound strings. You will still get that growl, but with a lot less damage over time to your fingerboard, in fact, some compression wound strings are specifically made for fretless basses.
The Vintage ICON V74MRJP looks classic, feels classic, and most importantly, sounds classic. The body is constructed of Eastern Poplar with a 34” scale hard maple neck and a rosewood fingerboard complete with Pearloid dot inlays. Think about how Jaco did his bass, which had a rosewood fingerboard as well. All of the electronics and hardware are true Wilkinson. Trev Wilkinson has made parts for basses and guitars for many years and his parts are very well known for their durability and simplicity.
The pickups are Wilkinson WJB00 for the neck pickup and WJB800 for the bridge pickups, with both being single coil pickups. Controls for the pickups are volume/volume/tone. The bridge is adjustable and the tuners are Wilkinson WJBL200 and all the hardware is nickel.