Well, I went and did it again folks... but I swear, this is it until retirement!   

Actually, I'd been putting aside a little bundle for a while now, working toward a vintage Series I, but this Custom Distillate won my affections. I just bought it from the original owner, who had it built back in 1985, but played it very little... said it was just too beautiful to take on gigs. The remarkable condition came at a bit more of a premium than current market prices, but it is essentially a new-old-stock bass.

So, here are the particulars... it's a medium-scale fretless Distillate, but has a custom body shape that melds features from both the Standard Point, and the later model Distillate with the extended upper horn. The top laminate is figured bubinga, over a mahogany core, and of course has the standard maple/purpleheart neck layup. Most importantly, it has all the same critical dimensions of my '81 Distillate, so the transition from these two should be as seamless as switching between the two fretted and fretless 5-strings.  

I'll take some more pictures after it arrives, and I've had time to swap out strings and do some basic setup. Meantime, these shots are courtesy of the original owner.


Without further ado, here's Distillate 85 D 3696 USA

Wow...that fretless finally gets to see the world.
(at least a little corner of it).


Can't wait to see it with your others, that's going to be an awesome family shot.


Congrats Greg,

Nice! Love that shape.

Cool looking bass, shape and wood grain, fretless too.  Enjoy! 

Beauty! Congrats!

Very nice, congrats! :-)

Looks great! Enjoy it!

Is that a standard, non adjustable nut?  Last image it looks almost like a bone nut.

Quote from: tbrannon on November 21, 2017, 03:25:59 PM
Is that a standard, non adjustable nut?  Last image it looks almost like a bone nut.

I noticed that too Toby... not sure, but I agree it looks like either bone or micarta. One of Jimmy J's basses has a similar 'mystery' nut. If memory serves, it's on one of his fretless basses too. Since this bass was a Custom order, maybe it was a request.

*Found it. Check post #15 on this thread, second bass down: http://club.alembicguitars.net/index.php?topic=22589.15

I'd never noticed that before on Jimmy's bass.  Good eye!

I can't say too much more about this bass except that it is a *brand-new* fretless Distillate that just happens to be 32 years old. There's not a scratch or ding to be found on the entire bass. Even the hardshell case is like-new, with scarcely a mark on it. The darn thing still even had the protective paper over the control cavity cover, so once I peeled that off (wasn't easy either!) the brass plate underneath was, well... good as new. Everything inside is all nice and orderly.
 
So, I spent most of the afternoon and evening oiling the fingerboard, changing strings, setting up the action and intonation, followed by a good wipe-down, and finally- plugged up and playing it! It's every bit as responsive as my custom fretless "Chain-Links" is... remarkably similar. (which I guess kinda' makes sense...) The controls all work flawlessly, and she's dead quiet, even in front of the television. 

I'll get some better pictures in days to come, but here's a few from the music room.

Beautiful looking bass. Looks to be in a lot better condition than the frteless I'm currently in the process of purchasing (a 1976 road worn Series I)

Congratulations!!  That's definitely a beautiful bass.  (I'm thinking perhaps at some point I should hire you to find me a fretless...!!!!)

Thanks Fellas. 

I've been playing on a set of D'Addario Chromes... still a little bit too bright for my taste, but the setup is spot-on. I may switch to Pyramids later.

Can't say I didn't think of this before- but I didn't fully realize how dependent I am on side markers. This bass has bronze dots where the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 12th frets (and so on) would be. "Chain-Links" has white holly fret sidelines all the way down and bronze dots between them at those same places. It's a bit of a head-game. 

I may eventually have some more bronze dot side markers installed at each 'fret' in addition to the intervals, but for now, I'm just going to practice more. 

Give the Chromes a chance to mellow out...