We picked this wonderful fretless Marleaux Diva bass after testing it at the 2014 Musikmesse in Frankfurt. It absolutely blew our mind. A fretless bass is a really unique instrument, quite different to a fretted bass. In this case the Diva model has been designed by German luthier Gerald Marleaux from scratch to be the PERFECT FRETLESS BASS and we think he has succeeded.
It combines neck thru body construction with a continuous fingerboard that extends from the bridge up to the headstock, providing a lot of sustain. The 3 Octave + fingerboard is only interrupted by the custom Delano Quad Coil that has been specially designed for this bass in collaboration with Gerald Marleaux. The result is an ultra sensitive bass that just begs you to play and play. You can dramatically alter the tone using your right hand's position and dynamics, and it responds effortlessly to the subtlest changes. Single Coil mode offers a pure sound with lots of definition; turn the Tone pot a little but and you'll get a more traditional sound; cut the tone completely and you'll get that trademark dark growly tone. Parallel mode yields a more open and bright sound and again the Tone control proves to offer a lot of variation. Series mode is darker and offers stronger low mids, making it ideal for band use with drums. Harmonics seem to jump off the fingerboard. You can set a ridiculous low action and get a million of great tones just by changing your dynamics. If you play over the pickup (it features a thumb rest) you'll get a great staccato tone, but if you move it towards the neck you'll get as much growl and "mwah" as you'll ever want. The side of the neck has both dots and lines making it very easy to play in tune while keeping the gorgeous hard rosewood fingerboard plain.
We were lucky enought to visit Marleaux's shop a couple of years ago when the prototye of this bass was being developed, so it is very special for us having this DIVA here. The name of the bass really fits such an elegant and expressive bass.