{"id":529,"date":"2017-03-13T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?post_type=bass&p=529"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:46:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:46:53","slug":"bass-of-the-week-lowdown-bass-guitars-special-custom-series-4f-fretless","status":"publish","type":"bass","link":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/?bass=bass-of-the-week-lowdown-bass-guitars-special-custom-series-4f-fretless","title":{"rendered":"Bass of the Week: LowDown Bass Guitars Special Custom Series 4F Fretless"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LowDown<\/p>\n

Wandering around the halls at the NAMM Show is great for finding unique instruments. While browsing Hall E this year I saw this killer four-string fretless built by Tim Seisser of LowDown Bass Guitars. With all the interesting body work and the stunning fingerboard, I had to find out more. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis bass started as an effort to use some really nice cutoffs I had in the shop that I didn\u2019t want top throw away or burn,\u201d Seisser explained. \u201cI had a decent sized piece of superior alder leftover from some previous builds that I knew I could use as a lightweight core. In addition to that, I had a bunch of nice Mahogany, Maple and Zebrawood leftover that I could use as alternating stripes to do a \u201crainbow bass\u201d inspired body, as the alder was too narrow to use on it\u2019s own. I used a bunch of layers of Maple and Mahogany veneers as well to accent the alternating layers. Then I just capped the body core with a real nice 2-tone Flame Maple top and very nicely colored Mahogany back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Its roasted ash neck is topped with a Marblewood fingerboard, which Seisser says is one of his favorites for fretless basses. \u201cIt is extremely hard and handles the roundwound strings fine with a nice bright and clear tone. I initially chose Marblewood because it\u2019s Janka rating and the fact that it looks a lot like Zebrawood, which I knew would tie in nicely visually with the Zebrawood ramp and knobs. As with all my instruments, bolt on neck design with steel threaded inserts. This particular body actually features a slightly smaller lower horn for easier access to the upper portion of the fingerboard. I try to have subtle differences in all my builds to make each and every LowDown unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seisser finished the bass off with a set of Nordstrand pickups and electronics as well as Hipshot hardware. <\/p>\n

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Wandering around the halls at the NAMM Show is great for finding unique instruments. While browsing Hall E this year I saw this killer four-string fretless built by Tim Seisser of LowDown Bass Guitars. With\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1803,"template":"","meta":[],"builder":[],"class_list":["post-529","bass","type-bass","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/bass"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/bass"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"builder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassoftheweek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fbuilder&post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}