Brice HXB-405 Fretless

5 string fretless with active/passive electronics two pickup
blend balance wiring, string thru body or on top, bolt
on neck35 inch scale and two way truss rod - a rarity in this
price range!

Amazing for the money! Good definition and growl from the pickups, actually sounds better in passive mode IMHO...No dead spots,
a bit weak on the B string but not unduly so. Balancing the height
of the pickups can get you there.

Amazingly well made for it's price range! compares favorably
to basses costing three times a s much. Not crazy about the finish
but that's cause I don't dig "satin" finishes - I am a glossy man.
But it is a nicely executed finish neck and body. Double action
truss gets you where you need to be relief-wise.

Seems like a solid performer -

Thought the neck was bad outta the box...could not get enough
relief into the neck = emailed Rondo and they said "exchange or money
back" no problems just send it back" - Can't beat that.
Turns out I did ot know it had a two way truss! Once they told me that (not on the website info by the way) I was able to get it adjusted nicely.

I have been playing bass 30 years and have 12 basses, including
a Rick 4003, a Kubicki X Factor, and several old Fenders -
this Brice stacks up well, and makes a great gigging bass.
Quite playable with nice tone. At $269 you won't freak out
if it gets knocked over in a tight lil club stage like you would
your 78 Fender Jazz :^)

I believe it was made in 2005. Alder body, Bubinga Top, String-thru-bridge, Active pickups with active/passive pull tap, bass, treble, balance and volume controls ,Bolt on Maple fretless neck, Rosewood fingerboard, black die-cast hardware. Kind of modern looking design which looks pretty cool.

I mainly play guitat and haven't played bass very muhc before but i have owned a couple of fretted basses. i always wanted to have fretless bass but it was hard to find since I'm a lefty. When i saw the righty version of HXB-405 at the Rondo Music web site, I knew instantly that I want this bass. I've been waiting for the release of lefty version and finally got it.
It is not noisy at all and active setup has enough level. The sound of the priginal pickups are not bad and actually quite good, but I replaced them with the Duncan Bassline Soapbar set. Then the tone of it became incredible. I could get all different sounds from the warm and rich tone to very punchy tone. I have a plan to change the bridge and tuners later to improve the intonation. It's worth it and this bass has great potential.

After I change the strings to D'Addario Flatwound, action got a little higher. But i could get it right with experiment and tweak for a couple of days. The feel of the neck is great so far.
The finish is the best feature of this bass. i haven't seen any other bass looks this great with this price range. is there any bass with real bubinga under $300? The finish makes this bass looks two or three times expensive.

Haven't played live with this one but it will withstand very well. Construction looks and feels very solid and won't break very easily.

Customer support has been great so far. I had chances to Rondo Music and also OEM factory in Korea (since I live in South Korea), they have veen really helpful and I'm pretty much satisfied.

I mainly playing guitar but having owned guitars and basses for more than 20 years so i know the instrument and good sound. I have GMW Custom Guitar, Hamer Steve Stevens Model and Custom Fender Style Bass that my friend made for me. If this bass is stolen, I would go crazy 'cause it must be out of production and won't be able to purchase. If it's still available, I'll definitely buy it again. About the sound, feel and looks wihin this price range, it can't be beat. I have a plan to purchase fretted version of HXB-405 in the future and definitely deal with Rondo again.

2003/04? - Korea, 35" scale, fretless. Great idea, bad realization. I mean, amplifier is built in the "box"? Tuners and bridge are fine, neck very nice. Instantly replaced "tension" strings from factory with brand new DR "Black beauties". But even strings cannot hide bad pickups and weak electronics. Is it worth to invest additional $300 for Bartolini pickups and electronics or instantly go to buy something else? That's up to you.

Sound? What's that? From the box, it had to be carefully adjusted. It took about 2 hours detailed work. And than - result is just plain guitar with no power whatsoever. There is nothing below 100Hz! Electronic is noisy. Didn't try to record. But, I can imagine...

I can give even higher mark for action. From distance looks incredible with black DR strings. But, closer look will show bunch of imperfection in details. Looks like some advanced kids made it. Finish is already damaged. Whatever touch that thing it stays there. CUT YOUR NAILS before you touch it, take off belt and watch or wedding ring!

Looks steady. But, I am afraid, it's not gonna last for a long time. Suplied case is good just for protection against UPS. When it comes throw it in the garbage and buy somehing what actually can survive. DON'T BUY CASE. It's falling apart.

Well, that was the story......Kurt looks like trying to do something. But, first delivery was wrong. I bought 35" scale, they sent 34". Returned it and all together it took like 3 weeks to get that thing back in the house.

God knows how many people worked on that thing? I hope they believe in their working skils. They succesfully made someone's "first fretless bass". If you need nice guitar to make front page in local newspapers - it's worth every single dime. Otherwise, don't use it in real situation.

I paly bass from 1972. I regret reading incredible good ratings for Brice "thingies". THat pulled the money from my pocket. Nothing else. I like look, I like design. Neck is great. Tuners are OK. But, for cheep giggling bass, check out Yamahas! They are just incredible built guitars. I owned Yamahas, Rickenbaker, Aria... Great guitars. This one was a mistake. I should listen my better half: "Get something solid!"

5 strings, 34inch scale, 2 humbuckers, active 2 band EQ, push/pull active on/OFF on volume. Pickup blend. Maple neck, rosewood f-board, alder(?) (stained) with bubinga top. Heavey duty bridge with string through.

Initially came with some awful flatwounds. I immediately upgraded to some SIT silencers. Massive difference. The whole bass came alive.
B string sounds great. Good sustain and harmonics. Bridge pickup gets nice and growly. Rich,modern slighty compressed sound. Quite a lot of balls, no wimpyness.

Pickups are 'fine'. Without A/Bing against a better model I can;t say more than that. Its certainly not lacking in tone. Pickups are not especially loud, but that can improve tone actually. Active EQ is noisy with overdrive. The treble control adds hiss and fingernoise more than anything. The bass is handy though, deep and powerful. I like blending to bridge pickup and boosting the bass. I often just use it passive.

Biggest issue was a roughly nut - it had been cut for a fretless.
Careful dremel work and setup on the neck has brought the action right done and made it a very playable instrument. Beginners may need to take instrument to a tech first though.

Tiny bit of missed wood on the back of the neck and near the truss rod compartment.

The electrics compartment features some neatly tied up cables (good).

Bass has a thin satin finish - no thick gloss here and I really like it. I like natural finishes a lot. It really looks nice and handles well.

Does not go out of tune.

Shame about the nut, some improvement at the factory would make a big different.

As I said, it stays in tune. Jack-port very solid. Bridge and tuners
very solid. Strap buttons solid.

Pickup selector is getting scratchy though. Either it was exposed to a lot of dust or its just low grade. I don't know.

So, seems first rate apart from electronics.

Accidently got the wrong bass at first (my fault) and Rondo reimbuirsed all shipping and got me the correct one. Can't argue with that!

I've been playing 16 years.

Pulling it out of the case for the first time, you are stuck by how solid, decent and attractive these things look and feel. Better than on the website .. kind of a "wow...these really ARE nice basses!".

I'd like quieter electronics - no they are no where near as noisy as single coils, but as I mentioned, crank up the overdrive and it becomes an issue when recording.

Other than that, it fits my requirements very well. I wish they made normal guitars like these - modern and elegant (rather than a load of Gibson copies ;-).

I'm a happy camper. But you do need to do some setup.

All in all this is a fine bass. After 6 months I still enjoy picking it up to play, and I think other basses I might consider with similar specs/style would be costing 700+ bucks. If it were stolen I'd get another.

Those that get a bad one, make sure to send it back.