Stagg BC300FL-N

Fretless, unlined, high gloss black finish, generic pick ups, 4 string, P/J configuration. Company located in Montreal.

Bought it to compliment some of the softer sides to the band I play in. Using it through a SVT-6 pro into a 2X10 and 1X15 Behringer speaker config. Haven't had any of the buzz problems others have had. Very warm sounding, with lots of the MWAH on the D and G strings. Not bad for what it is, and fits well with most styles. Likes: no lines, nice deep thump from the neck pick up, easy to play. Dislikes: bridge pick up is pretty much useless. Maybe it would play a part in shaping tone with half/ground wound strings. Would rather they make it a P bass with a better pick up, and drop the J altogether. Also the body could be a bit bigger...it kind of looks like a guitar body from a distance.

Well, considering I have never played fretless before, I don't know much about setting up the action. That said, I can pull off a 4 hour rehearsal with it without any problems. The pick ups look fine, however they are pretty low output. There is also a noticable volume difference between the A and D strings, the latter being louder. Forces you to play with more dynamic, but that can be a good thing too. The bass came out of the box looking amazing. However the input jack keeps coming loose at the nut. No big deal there, more of an inconvenience.

This bass is built at least as well as my two Squiers, which is darn good. I will have no problem gigging this bass, and no qualms about actually adding another to my collection to use live. I never go into a gig without a backup, but I would feel comfortable with this one if it was the only one I had.

If I ever have a problem, I will report back here!

Been playing since Mobey Dick was a minnow. Without going into great detail about my other basses, I own about 8 now, and they range from a Ric 4003 to a Squier P. This bass was actually a bit more than I expected, so I am happy with it. I will at some point replace it with higher end fretless, but would definitely buy another one if this one got munched. Best thing about this bass is the range of features you get for what you pay. I grabbed this one because I have never owned a fretless, and didn't want to either rent one or break the bank to find out I suck at it....hehe. I wish it was active...the bass would simply rock then.

Bought late 1996 by mail order.

Fretless, 2 octaves.

A very striking-looking instrument. Natural solid wood finishes on a 3-piece alder body, bolt-on maple neck and dark rosewood fingerboard. (The "N" in the BC300FL-N s/n stands for "natural", it also comes in black and sunburst finishes.)

2 unbranded pickups, 1 Precision-style, 1 Jazz Bass-style. Volume control for each and overall tone, all passive.

Black Jazz Bass-style bridge. Black unbranded tuners. Tapewound strings.

Listed as the G2 "Fusion" style, the body shape is close to a Fender Jazz.

It came with 2 hex keys for truss rod and bridge adjustment, and a lead.

A fair range of tones are available by mixing the outputs of the two pickups. The tone control works OK. Output level is what you'd expect - perfectly useable.

The fairly shallow neck immediately felt comfortable. The balance and weight of the bass is excellent.

With the tapewound strings, it has a very rounded sound, though you can get a lot of bite and twang out of the bridge pickup if you want it. As supplied, the setup only gives the much sought-after "mwah" on the D and G strings.

It will be used as a general-purpose bass, but will let me explore my more jazzy side - even with the factory setup, its quite lyrical in the upper range.

The body sections are very neatly joined, almost invisibly, the neck has a small slightly raised knot on the rear towards the 12th fret on mine, and is very slightly rough towards the body. The roughness will almost certainly smooth with use, and if the knot proves distracting, it wouldn't take much to fix that. The fingerboard had some factory dust on it, and the strings were wrapped in greaseproof paper - it's obvious I was the first person to play it, or perhaps even touch it, after it left the factory. The fingerboard would benefit from some oiling once it's been played in a bit.

It may have suffered a little from shipping to the UK from Europe. It was well packed, but on arrival the rear pickup was depressed and wedged at one end under one of its adjuster screws (easily prised free by hand). Nothing was damaged, though.

The action on a fretless is quite a personal thing. On any instrument that's been shipped, I'd expect to give it some time to settle down, usually hanging it vertically from a wall mount, before worrying about fine adjustments. The relief will need adjusting as there is a buzz on all strings around the first fret position, and after that, standard adjustments, as described here, for instance: http://www.garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html Since the D and G strings already give a reasonable "mwah" sound, I'm hopeful it can be set up to make this consistent across its range. The pickup adjustments are secondary to getting this initial setup done.

The tuners so far seem fine - no sign of detuning even after quite heavy playing.

The main flaw is a buzz, in particular affecting the bridge pickup. I take this to indicate a faulty earth connection, as it goes away if I touch the strings. If I'd bought this from a local dealer, I'd expect them to fix this under warranty or replace the guitar, but I'm damned if I'm shipping it back to Europe now, and it's a fix I can easily do myself (I've dealt with this issue before on other basses). While I'm in there, I'll do some shielding and improve any wiring I think necessary (warranty be damned!). It does sound like this is a common fault with these basses, though, so watch out for it.

It's not been played live yet. I can't see any reason why it couldn't be used for that once the issues above are sorted, though. It feels solid enough, the neck/body fixing seems sound, and if the finish does wear, I think it'll probably do so in an attractive way, being natural wood. The laquering is even, and seems thick and hard enough to offer some protection. The strap buttons are OK - I always use straplocks anyway.

Having only got it recently, I can't speak from experience about its need for adjustment or maintenance. Once I've done the work I intend on it, I can't see why it wouldn't be reliable enough for gig use (it's not the first bass I've fixed up, and I've made much cheaper and nastier ones than this play well and last for years without needing anything major done).

EMD Group offers a "limited lifetime warranty", but since the dealer I bought it from is in Germany and I haven't ever found or dealt with a Stagg dealer within easy travel of here, for the sorts of defects I've described, I'm happier dealing with them myself. If you bought yours from a local dealer and have similar problems, you'd probably be better going to them (though you should have noticed these sorts of flaws during a pre-purchase inspection).

I've played guitar for 30 years, bass more in my younger years, but now coming back to it. I've also been an amateur guitar tech for most of that time.

Its looks are stunning, the woods are lovely, and it feels like it could become a good friend in time.

For the price (and having seen identical basses on the web for up to 50% more than I paid for it), I'm quite happy so far - but then I always expect to do some setup and customization work when I buy an instrument (or pay someone to do the things I don't feel confident about).

I think you'll be lucky to find perfection out of the box in this price range especially, but generally, too. If you want that, buy from a shop with a good luthier on its staff who'll do a setup for you - but that will cost, either paid for separately or reflected in a higher price.

There are a LOT of these on the market at the moment - one reason I'm writing this review early, so other may get anidea of some of the issues to look out for, without necessarily being put off. I never buy guitars without playing them. I was willing to make an exception for this bass (a) because the price was so good, and (b) because I felt there was less to go wrong with a fretless that I couldn't put right myself (I'm not into re-fretting etc.).

Bought new in 2006, but not sure where it was made. Fretless with P and J type pickups having a volume control for each pickup, passive electronics, 1 tone control. Body: solid alder wood, clear lacquered, colour: natural. Neck: hard maple / 867mm/ 34'' 1/, bolted on. Fingerboard: rosewood, black stained / 2 octaves - Bridge: "jb" classic, diecast, black. Machine heads: diecast, black. Accessories: cable and 2x hex keys for truss rod and bridge action adjustment.

Have played fretted bass since early 1980's but always wanted to try fretless, without having to part with too much cash, in case I didn't take to it. This bass appeared on Ebay at just 99 UK pounds. My music style is varied, but only play through a Behringer BX108 practice amp at home at present. I have to say that the look of this bass is on a par with instruments costing many times its price and it's only when you play it that you have to accept that this is the real world after all and at this price, some corners have to be cut. Unfortunately, the pickups are noisy, particularly when the tone control is set towards treble. A look inside the plate on the back of the guitar reveals that the internal cavities are not screened and I reckon that if you take the time to do this (or have it done) the problem will be fixed. The output of the pickups also seems low compared with my Westone Thunder 3 fretted bass in passive mode, (this bass also has P and J type pickups), so I agree with other reviewers that better pickups might be a worthwhile investment. The machine heads too, seem a little rough, like they need a bit of oil or grease somewhere! Still, at the price, I really can't mark the guitar down too much here - It sounds fine and I'm delighted with it.

I found the action of the guitar spot-on and all other adjustments fine too. The packaging and presentation on arrival were excellent, adding to the impression that you have bought a quality instrument. There's nothing else to say here really.

It is well built and should be fine for live playing, though the strap buttons could do with being a little wider. At the price of this guitar, especially if it's your main guitar, it shouldn't break the bank to buy another as a backup anyway?!

Never needed customer support, but the construction and wiring look straightforward, so when the warranty expires, I'd have no hesitation in carrying out most repairs, maintenance or pickup upgrades myself.

Been playing since 1981. My main bass is a Westone Thunder 3 (fretted), playing through a Behringer BX108 practice combo. I would certainly try to replace this bass if lost. It looks great - the real wood on show everywhere makes it look expensive, but the real trick is that it ain't! Its features have to be basic at this price, but having bought one of these, there's nothing to stop you upgrading bits and pieces to create something totally unique.

New Stagg fretless 4 string. Dots on edge of fingerboard in position where lines would be (not between where the lines would be. J pickup vol, P pickup vol, Tone. 2 octave fingerboard. Solid natural light wood body with gloss finish. All black hardware. Bolt-on neck. Smallish body like Bass Collectection or Ibanez SoundGears. Badass-type bridge with length and height adjustment, but not for string spacing. Looks like own brand tuners. I'm giving it a 7 here, mainly cos the pickups are noisy and the tuners don't feel very solid.

I play in a covers band that will try anything (next rehearsal includes The Faces, Stevie Wonder, The Police and U2...) I have achieved a few sounds I like using a Digitech BP200, but without that, it's hard. The tone pot seems to do nothing. I'm using a Peavey TNT150BW bi-amped with a Trace Elliot BLX80, with the crossover at about 300hz. Without processing, the bass has a warm bassy sound, even on higher notes. With the volumes up while not touching anything it's quite noisy, but even before I bought it, I knew I'd probably be putting better pickups in.

Finish is superb for ?220. And I mean superb. No rough edges anywhere, great balance (no neck-drop either standing or sitting). It's light - I'd nearly prefer it to be a little heavier to FEEL more bass-ish. The action is a little low, but I've never played a fretless before, so that may be the norm. It's got individual adjustment for height anyway.

I've had it 2 months, so I don't know. The shop threw in a padded gig-bag which should help keep it intact (to an extent - I'd prefer a hard case). Tuners may be a weak point. It hasn't really detuned, but they seem a little too easy to turn. I'll be using this live once I throw in a couple of BassLines pickups. I'm giving it a 7 cos it seems to be as well built a bass as I've seen, especially at this price. That said, a friend of mine who's a manager in a big Dublin music shop reckons it'd be hard to buy a crap guitar these days...

Haven't had to contact them. If anything goes wrong, I'll be going back to the retailer. I know it was cheap, but I still have rights...

Been playing bass since 1986, in gigging covers bands for about 3 of those years, with a break of three years or so when my kids first came along. I also have a Westbury Track 4 4 string fretted bass, and a Yamaha FG620 12-string acoustic guitar and I'll probably be buying an SX Bass Collection 5-string this weekend. If I'd had the money, I'd have gotten the shop to put BassLines in it before I bought it. I'd have to buy another if I lost/broke it - there's nothing else like it for the money... It FEELS great - it has great balance and I really enjoy playing it. The sound can be improved by better pickups. Didn't compare it before I bought it - like I said, there's nothing on the shelves at the price.

This is the cheapest bass I ever played, but what a great experiance! I bought it because I wanted to learn to play a fretless bass. The bass is very basic the following information is taken from the website www.emdmusic.be :

Fretless, 4-String "Fusion" Bass electric guitar - Pickups: 1x JB + 1x PB - Controls: 1x Volume + 2x Tone - Body: Hard Wood - Neck: Hard Maple / 867mm - Fingerboard: Rosewood - Bridge: "JB" Classic - Machine heads: diecast, black, - Colour: Natural.

Very clear and deep sound. A little noisy when your not touching the strings. As i said it is a very basic bassguitar so there is not much variaty in sound. On my Trace elliot V-type combo it sounds very good.

For the amount of money I payed, it is delivered very properly.

I'm using it on stage and I think it's gonna last a long time.

Never had any problems with it.

I'm playing it for about 6 months and if it broke down at this moment I would certainly buy one again. Too bad there is no 5-string available. Best buy for this money