Fretless bass suggestions/opinions

[MrNovember]

So I've been gassing for a fretless bass lately.
Due in part to this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FU6-pcjcxQ[/youtube]
Aside: I am also seriously gassing for a Hax.

I also sat down in a local shop with a beauty fretless Warwick, and while I sounded like shit because I am so used to frets, I could see myself loving it with a little practice.

So my question, can anyone suggest a decent fretless for a good price? (There's no way I could afford or justify that Warwick)
There's a Washburn T14 on the local kijiji but I feel like the seller is asking too much ($350). I was also thinking of just grabbing a Squire.

So, yeah, suggestions?

Also sorry if this has been posted before (and I know it's been posted elsewhere on the internets, but I appreciate ILFers opinions). I tried searching the site but I never have luck with the search function here.

[dubkitty]

Squier fretless Jazz Bass, or one of the Hohner copies of the Steinberger.

[rustywire]

I have a MIM Fender 4 String.
They had been going for just over $500, new...forever. I haven't checked into them lately.
But it's a real bang-for-the-buck beast...and still has the original flatwounds.

Great tone, especially with a tube head.
In fact, within my rig it has the beefiest base tone I've heard, ever, anywhere...no effects nor hundreds/thousands of watts needed.
I'm not being hyperbolic here.

[Mudfuzz]

Old cheap Yamahas are actually pretty cool.

[bigchiefbc]

Squiers have really stepped up their quality in the last handful of years, I love my VM Jag. I've played the fretless jazz before, and it's a really solid bass.

[greyscales]

I played a Fender Fretless Jazz last week at a guitar shop. Would have really loved it if they had it set up at all. It was bowed way out so the strings were an inch off the fretboard. But I could tell it would be nice otherwise.
Wouldn't buy it without playing it first due to that reason, but I bet the Squier version is solid. Both of the Squiers I have now are killer, not just for the price but all around.

[one bad monkey]

Squier fretless Jazz Bass

I grabbed one of these when I was fretless-less for a while and had a two week gig that required one. For the price, it's a really great entry level fretless. The sound was good, playability was nice, and it was solid. It held up to a 18 gig/14 day schedule no problem.

[dubkitty]

the Squier i played was actually nicer than the MIM Jazz Bass i wound up with. i got the Fender because i was able to trade in a Precision Bass and get it for like $25.

[bronzetalon]

I second the mim jazz fretless a real nice and beefy tone.

[foomanfat]

I have a Squier fretless Jazz and it is rock solid.

[DarkAxel]

Squier fretless Jazz Bass, or one of the Hohner copies of the Steinberger.

the Squier is quite good, yes

I'm not a bassist, but even i didn't find it THAT hard to play

[MrNovember]

Thanks guys. Its sounding like the Squire Jazz might be the way to go. I've definitely had better experiences with high end Squires than with MIM Fenders.

I actually spent a few hours at the local shop today wasting some time/most of the day with a buddy. I ended up playing that Warwick quite a bit and it took a lot less time than I though to get used to it (It's a 5 string Corvette fretless with active pickups, by the way, and man is it nice!). I'm definitely picking up a fretless bass as soon as I sell one of my other guitars. Not having frets just opens up such a huge palate of new sounds and opportunities and it's so much fun to play.

[rustywire]

Active pickups are the suck. They limit which pedals you can use.

Both Squire & MIM Fender Jazzes have the potential to be great...
But I remember picking up a good half dozen (between the 2) in various stores, in the months after I got mine...and all but one of them were dogs.

Not sure if that's an issue of QC or the fact they were floor models that were beat-on by assholes and not properly setup.

Pays to shop around...

[Deltaphoenix]

Wishbass

[MrNovember]

Active pickups are the suck. They limit which pedals you can use.

Both Squire & MIM Fender Jazzes have the potential to be great...
But I remember picking up a good half dozen (between the 2) in various stores, in the months after I got mine...and all but one of them were dogs.

Not sure if that's an issue of QC or the fact they were floor models that were beat-on by assholes and not properly setup.

Pays to shop around...

Yeah I wouldn't actually buy anything with active pickups, just happens to be the only fretless in the place. I really wish they had more so I could try them out. I'm extremely wary of buying an instrument without having the chance to play it.