Ventura EB-0 Fretless Wonder

I got this Ca. Late 60's/Early 70's Bolt-on Japanese copy of a Gibson EB-0 (SG-type with 1 pickup) from my homies at Atomic Music in College Park MD. They said they wanted $75 for it, but I was able to trade a pretty crappy conga drum and an old, wacky Crumar-type electronic piano for it and get some cash back. All I can say is this thing is crazy! I can't believe I got it for 75 bucks. Some previous owner must have really loved this bass, they removed all the frets (and did a good job), installed a Badass bridge, Schaller tuning machines, and redid the electronics, installing a coil tap switch into the MASSIVE humbucking pickup, turning what was once a standard quality Jap-o-phile bass into a slick, one of a kind, freaky, shortscale monster. Lord have mercy, this thing is not for the uninitiated! Conventional bass players beware!

I play in a fairly heavy, spaced-out, stoner-rock type band, so I kinda wish it still had the frets (but I'm not complaining, this is getting me prepared for an upright) because I sing and I need the bite of the frets to cut thru the band, so I really only practice with it now, but this thing really meshes with my personality, I've always wanted an SG, but don't play enough guitar to warrant owning one. The body and neck appear to be solid mahogany, and it has a very, very deep, dark, low tone with a unique midrange growl and not a whole lot of treble, and not a whole lot of varition (coil tap switch dosen't seem to do much, just more or less bass) but, that's Ok, I like it's sound just fine as I've always been a big fan of short scale gibson type basses. I think I might find some kind of J-bass style pick up to put back near the bridge if I ever find myself playing it a whole lot, just for some blending options and tonal varitaion.

The neck is very straight, and the Badass bridge is very adjustable so it plays great. The Schallers keep it in tune. My only complaint is that there is a flaw in the wood of the fretboard that wouldn't be a big deal if it had frets, but without frets it makes C# on the G string buzz. The electronics were rewired in a very professional manner and the poles on the pickup are as adjustable as you need them to be. Apart from the 30 plus years of wear and tear that you'd expect on a low-priced instrument, the finish is a very beautiful dark brown.

Like the previous guy with the green, fretted variation said, this is a very solid plank o' wood, and the aftermarket hardware really turns this into a quality instrument. If I was playing a gig that only required a fretless, I wouldn't even need to think about taking something else along.

All I can say is I wish the Japanese still made such quality, affordable copys of my favorite instruments. I've got a Cortley brand Bolt-on, Mono Knockoff of a Rickenbacker 4000 series bass that I've owned for years and swear by.

I've been playing for about 6 years, and apart from the aforementoned Cortley, I've also got a Mexican P-bass that gets the job done cause said Cortley is a little bit fragile, and play thru an Acoustic 370 head currently accompainied by a Peavey 1x15 cab. If the Ventura got stolen, I'd have to hunt somebody down and make them sorry. Great thing about it is, very few people would want to steal it because most bass players that take themselves seriously, take one look at this thing, and assume it's a piece of "Jap Crap" (little do they know). In my opinion, bass is bass (ie. an upright) and a bass guitar is...just that, a cross between a bass and a guitar, and these old asian instruments give me just the right amount of electric, midrangey personality that I so desire. Wouldn't trade em' for the world.