Godin A4 Semi-Acoustic Fretless Bass Guitar with Synth Access  

I've been searching for a bass that I can play "in the background" so to speak at a church I attend. I wanted to go acoustic and fretless which should meld better with the guitars. I've been playing 5 strings so long that I thought I had to have a five string. And I also wanted to have the electric option. After trying a number of basses in the $700 to $1400 price range I quickly learned that you give up things if you want enough acoustic sound, or if you want an a/e model. Most important to me was getting the stand-up bass sound. second was some versatility in the sounds, and third was playability. Let me tell you that the A4 delivers all that and more. I ended up with the A4 over the A5 because the string spacing was more playable (for me) and the overall sound from the guitar was nicer on the 4 string. I think that this is due to the difference in tension forced by the B string (which wasn't sloppy btw, but pretty strong in tone and tension. Still the A4 won out. I love it. I'm putting down my Alembic and my Sadowsky (ok, just for a while) so I can enjoy this little monster. Wah Wah. Try one. They're great.

I am very hard to please when it comes to additions to my bass fleet.  I bought the fretted version a couple months ago.  When my trusted bass tech told me the fretless version was at a local store, I went there, played it, and immediately traded the fretted one for the fretless.  This gem sounds more like a stand-up than a stand-up.  I can't seem to stop playing it!  Best innovation to come to bass players since the invention of the pick-up!