Purchased it as a fretted bass, and we removed the frets, filling back in with strips of Purple heart. The construction is excellent on this bass, even given it was first year of manufacture (given the single truss rod). When we initially pulled the frets, it didn't sound that distinctive. However after I handed it over to a Luthier to have the fretboard worked on (in terms of action, leveling, etc.-- cost $50) it sounds better than just about any other fretless I've played. In terms of sound, this is one of the best sounding fretless basses I've played, nicer even than many of the "native" $2000-2500 fretlesses.

Living up to its name, it has a tremendous "growl" and "wah"-- that classic "fretless" sound. The controls are ample. The bass includes a single Bartolini pickup, but internally there are two "sets" of coils (I call them "head" and "tail" to denote position--not sure what the "official" term is). Each of these sets can have an EQ "curve" applied to it through a set of configurable three-way switches. There is also a stacked bass/treble control for each of the sets and a blend control. It's all driven by two 9-volt batteries.

Through playing with each of the controls, you can give this bass an incredible range of sounds, from a really "beefy" double-coil with bass and treble boosted all the way to a raspy single-coil sound and everything in-between.

The only drawbacks I can think of are that given the single truss rod it's not that easy to maneuver the neck (though admittedly that may speak more of my inability to do so as my luthier got it right on the first shot) and also the electronics are active whenever you plug in a cable, so if you leave your bass plugged in you'll drain the batteries in short order (a week or so).

Other than that, I'm absolutely thrilled with the purchase. For $1450 total (including luthier's fee) I've got the best sounding fretless I've played for anywhere near that price range.

Construction	90%
Playability	100%
Appearance	100%
Sound	100%
Value	100%
Overall	98%