Starting in 2021 we are exclusive distributors for F Basses in Spain. Of course we ship worldwide too.
We are really excited to offer these really fantastic basses to all of you from now on.
History
F Bass Inc was founded by George Furlanetto in 1978, way back when 5 and 6-string bridges had to be fashioned from two 4-string bridges. George’s life path towards luthiery was inspired by his father’s craftsmanship and his mother’s musical talent. He started out by restoring instruments for a local music shop during the late 60’s & 70’s. It was here that he discovered that basses needed much more attention and had significant room for improvement. So he set out to create his own unique basses with “modern” appointments like a 5th & 6th string, fast action, and discreet wooden pickup shells. The company operated out of small workshops in Hamilton for several years to build upon this foundation. In 1986, F Bass grew into our current 5,000 sqft factory on McKinstry Street, becoming a hub for creatives and musicians alike. Four decades later, F Bass Inc continues to be family owned & operated with George’s son Marcel carrying on his vision.
Handcrafted
To this day, our basses are handcrafted in small batches in our hometown of Hamilton. Our basses are still built by George and his highly trained and dedicated team, many of whom have been honing their craft with us for over 15 years. After decades of evolution, we’re in constant R&D to improve every facet of our builds. Whether it’s tweaking our handmade pickups & preamp, experimenting with finishes, or improving neck feel by just a few passes of the rasp. We’re never happy resting on our laurels and will continue to create some of the most refined and respected instruments in our industry.
Quality Components
All of our carefully selected lumber is aged in-house and never used prematurely. Whether it takes a few months or a few years, we’ll only use lumber that meters within our strict 4-6% moisture content requirement. This means most of the moving our wood does is in our hands and not in yours. We source our tone woods from local mills, while our exotics are sourced globally and are fully CITES & LACEY compliant. To complete our builds, our pickups, preamp, and even wooden knobs are handmade to our specification right here in Hamilton. We also only use quality hardware from proven industry leaders in the US & Japan.
Built For You
Our passion for luthiery goes well beyond the builds themselves as we obsess just as much over the bassists who play them. A beautiful boutique instrument is one thing, but we also firmly believe that it needs to be incredibly dependable and gig worthy — for the weekend warriors or those selling out stadiums. If it can’t last a lifetime then it’s simply not worth building. We’re always open to discussing basses, gear, life, (and dogs) with our players and love incorporating their feedback into our designs.
AC6 Fretless Bass (1997)
This impressive AC6 is the signature model for Canadian bassist Alain Caron. It was made in 1997 so it is obviously a used bass but it has been completely refurbished by George Furlanetto himself. This is also ahistorical model as it is one of the first AC models and this is something that adds to the value of the instrument.
It's not easy to find an example of this model with so much flame in the body and neck. Unbelievable.
Here's George signing the bass for us just before it got shipped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdXKNc_vnQo
This model was developed in collaboration with Alain Caron. The AC line was inspired by Alain's desire to have one bass that could do it all, having an extended range with easy access for soloing and being able to produce anything from acoustic to modern electric tones. This wide variety of tonal possibilities is mainly due to the configuration of pickups and controls (and chambered Maple/Spruce body). As well as offering a "standard" magnetic tone, the piezo pickup and chambered body allows you access to acoustic tones, and the attack that an acoustic instrument offers. Two separate volumes allow you to blend the magnetic and piezo pickups in any amount of each, not limiting you to the fixed levels of a blend control. The passive tone control functions whether in passive or active mode enabling it to modify a different set of frequencies than the ones affected by the active tone controls. The piezo pot in this bass is Push-Pull and this allows you to completely remove the piezo from the circuitry. Cool! You can just set your favorite Piezo volume and push the knob to engage the piezo at the desired level. The magnetic pickup is Single Coil so it sounds really open and beautiful but it’s also hum-cancelling, so no need to be afraid of 50/60Hz hum. Great.
The asymmetrical neck and compound fingerboard radius (10"-16") combined with a neck that is just perfect in thickness (not too thick but also not too thin to prevent from hand cramping issues) make for an incredible playing experience. The 3-band preamp controls Bass Boost, Mid Boost, and Treble Boost. When all are set flat at 0, there is no perceivable difference from your passive tone. This makes for an extremely predictable and shape-able tool to explore tones or to simply cater to various gigging environments. The 9V pre has a low draw allowing for approximately 500 hours of play. Now if your battery happens to die in the middle of a gig—don’t fret!— you can pop up the passive tone control to engage passive mode Through careful design and consideration of each component’s weight (down to the ounce), we ensure perfect balance whether playing in the seated position or strapped in. While we take on requests for a slightly lighter weight, we don’t shy away from a medium to medium-heavy build clocking in between 9.25-9.5lbs (4 string), 9.5-10lbs (5 string), and 10lbs-10.25lbs (6 string). This gives the bass a commanding rather than toyish feel and avoids dreaded neck-dive. We also find it adds solidity to the low end and packs serious punch through the mids. To maximize comfort in the seated position and to allow for easier access to the end of the fingerboard, our treble horns are curved outwards and set further back into the body.
Conclusion
Our personal impression is that this is an incredibly well built and extremely comfortable and ergonomic instrument that really delivers the fretless sound that most of us have in our heads.
It really is a bass with a beautiful vocal like sound voice that plays like few basses out there. It really is a bass for a lifetime. We think that the price is more than fair because you are not buying just an exotic bass that looks nice.
Also it is one of the most comfortable 6 string basses we've ever put our hands on. The narrow nut and sider spacing at the bridge make for an incredibly easy to play bass. The 34.5" scale seems like the perfect compromise between tension for the low B and ease of playability. And of course the low B sounds terrific while the High C sounds fuller than on most 6 string basses.
This is a true working bass player's instrument that will give you years of trouble free operation, will be incredibly inspiring night after night and will last for a lifetime. Check the price tag again. Do you think that's a lot of money for such assets?
To sum up: This bass is the "King of Fretless" with a very "BIG" sound!