The Fretless Debuts!

Some backstory:
In 2002 the guitar tech at Long & McQuade tipped me off about a fretless Fender Jazz that was about to go on sale for cheap. Made in Japan, a later investigation into serial numbers would date its construction to 1989. At the time though, all I knew was that it was a used Made in Japan (MIJ) fretless that was going to go on the floor for $175 or thereabouts. Having always wanted to try fretless, I thought this to be my chance to do so at a very affordable price.

Bringing the bass home, I found out how truly disgusting the finish was, it was sticky with little bits of fur or shag carpet or something clinging to all parts of it. The prior owner must have dumped some kind of solvent on it. Or glue. To this day, I don't know exactly what it was, but even holding the bass was gross. I was getting the hang of playing fretless, but this situation could not persist, I needed to refinish this thing. The refinishing become my new project.

Fast-forward nearly three years: OK, I didn't say it was a time-sensitive project... I finally stripped the finish and redid it with gunstock oil. Along the way, I also picked up a set of lightly used Bartolini pickups for it. All in all, despite the leisurely pace of the project, it turned out fairly well I'd say. That said, one big test remained, play the damn thing in front of others to show that me owning a fretless isn't just a waste of ten pounds of wood.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, brings us to last night, where I jammed with a couple guitarists from my work. Apparently I can actually play this thing! Thrilling to say the least! Admittedly, my intonation was brutal at times, but it seems like I can actually do this, which is encouraging. I used to look at fretlesses and think there was no way I could pull that off. but lo and behold, it looks like I may just be able to do this!