Ibanez GWB35 Gary Willis Signature Fretless 5-String Bass  

First, a suggestion for those finding the pickup lacking in power.  It's not.  Please watch the Gary Willis setup of this bass on youtube.  You can adjust the output.  I agree with another reviewer that this bass sounds better than a great many very high-priced instruments.  I set this up myself to have some very slight string buzz above the 12th fret unless played lightly (so I have a choice), and the fretless growl, coming through a superb amp like Markbass, is really nice and much like an acoustic string bass.  Easily my favorite fretless, and several thousand less that some of the axes now sitting in my closet.

The good: Warm sound, thin neck, great action. I love the was this bass plays. The markings where the frets would be are great for someone who's never done the fretless thing, but I took to it like a duck to water. I recommend immediately switching to flat-wound strings, as that completely eliminated what little string buzz there was, and made the bass a joy to play. The bad: The pickups stink! Mind you I'm spoiled, as my other basses are a Fender P-bass & a Rick 4001, but.... Can't get the volume or punch out of it that I get from my Rick. I'm playing through a Genz-Benz 300W, and I don't have to change the settings going from the wireless on the Rick to a cord on the wireless... that's about a 30% drop in output power. Overall, though it's a great instrument, but I know I'll be upgrading the pickup soon.

First, the good.I love the features on the Gary Willis bass. Greatest of these is the ramp. It makes playing so much easier. I wish it came standard with other basses or ramps were available on retail. The bass looks great and feels great .I also love the fat tuning pegs, they are probably my favourite pegs on any bass. The controls are simple and responsive the fretboard looks great and the markings help a fretless novice like myself. And, I love the sound. This bass can sing. The sound is warm, woody and resonant and beats other fretless basses I have tried by a mile (Warwick, Fender production model fretless jazz-not the Jaco bass). This bass can duplicate Jaco's much sought after tone. (I play it through a Fender practice amp and a GK 500 Goldline amp). Now, the bad. The bass was very hard to set up. The action was too high when I took it out of the box and when I lowered it a few times, the truss rod got stripped. Mind you, I did not force the truss rod, use inappropriate tools or mishandle the bass in any way. The truss rod of my bass is now stripped and so I am no longer able to adjust the neck. Also it is hard to claim the factory warranty. I am not sure if I registered and have had trouble finding out. There is no online system that I can find to confirm my registration and no numbers I can call. All  I have is an address which I have been trying to contact. The neck also marks easy because of the glossy finish (but I actually like this). This is not a bass for slap and pop but if you want a good fretless, this bass may be the way to go. I hope I just got a defective instrument and that this is not the norm, because I really do think this is a great fretless bass.

Big sound and fast action, great for recording, very transparent. For that price you can't go wrong. Mike Peters

The good: 5-string fretless that is a real bang for your buck. The neck is thin and plays fast. Tri-wing tuners are convenient. Ebony fingerboard is smooth (although scratches slightly as you play). Limited knobs make volume and tone control straight-forward. The action is great; I would even set the string height lower. The ramp helps, however gets in the way if you want to experiment w/ slapping on a fretless. Beautiful tone, although that is subjective. Not so obvious: Neck is maple, NOT matching the body color.  Pickup is NOT contoured like the ramp (as on the GWB1). The bad: The QC for Ibanez was horrible.  The pickup/preamp was blown, right out of the box.  There was a chip in the finish near the battery compartment. A small dimple in the finish on the front of the bass.  Rather than take the matter up with MF, I decided to take the bass to an authorized Ibanez repair shop.  I have played this bass for one day, and have not seen it in 5 weeks. Hoshino (Ibanez) says it will take another 4 weeks for my pickup replacement to arrive to the repair shop from Japan. I still recommend this bass however, caveat emptor (let the buyer beware).