F Bass 1982 Fretless 4 string short scale bass

Starting in 2021 we are exclusive distributors for F Basses in Spain. Of course we ship worldwide too. 

We have gathered most of this information from F Bass' website. 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.  

Custom made 1982 fretless bass

We bet you have never seen an F Bass like this, have you? That’s because this is a prototype built in 1982 that has just been completely refurbished by George Furlanetto at this shop.

Here's George signing it for us just before it was shipped:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swrrhSXw3sI

This is actually the first chambered fretless F Bass ever to use a Piezo system and also one of the few F Bass to ever be made with a "lap cut". It is the predecessor of the AC series. Later models became all solid but then in the early 90's went back to a chambered body.

Years before Canadian bassist Alain Caron commissioned George to build his signature model, F Bass started experimenting trying to find the most organic and natural fretless bass sound ever. This instrument was created from the ground up to try and achieve that goal. Some aspects like the hollowed out body, spruce top and piezo pickups that are today an essential part of the AC model are already present in this particular bass. Here is George Furlanetto signing the bass for us before it was shipped:

The unique body shape is actually very comfortable and the neck feels great to play. The individual piezos come from a Yamaha CP80 electroacoustic piano (this model ruled the stages in the 80’s and 90’s and is still used a lot these days). Electronics are 100% passive so you get just Volume and Tone and we think that’s a great approach in order to maintain a truly natural sound. 

This is a really historical instrument, that’s for sure, but apart from that, and more importantly, it is a great playing and sounding bass that has a unique voice and looks terrific. Own a piece of history and enjoy an amazing instrument at the same time.