Ever since Jaco Pastorius whipped the frets off his pet Precision, there has been a mass of argument for and against this drastic measure. How should the fingerboard be cambered, what woods should the neck be constructed from, and whether or not special pickups are required to capture this essential sound... these are the sort of questions bassists are continually asking.

The Vox White Shadow series of guitars and basses was first unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Musik Messe, and they were received with reserved but not uncritical attention by players and makers alike. The styling of the instruments is pleasing, and the woods used are of good grain and a very pronounced lightness - more on this later.

The long-scale Vox fretless bass was one model that we specifically chose to review after seeing it at the Messe. The reasons for choosing this particular instrument will become obvious, but suffice to say that it and its fretted counterparts form some of the cheapest quality instruments on the market. As such, they are also aided by the Vox moniker on the headstock: a head start, you might say, though the origins of this range are far from the home of the AC30. They are made in Japan to Rose Morris specifications, and should be available in the shops around mid-April.

Materials

The body is made from a wood called Sen. This is a light, compact wood, similar in some respects to ash or alder. It's blonde, with the accent on peroxide! A single-piece bridge/tailpiece is fitted with individual bridges for string height. This system works well, and on the review model had been set up very well, though there was still room enough to change the intonation and string height quite radically.

The staggered twin-coil pickups are of unknown design and origin, but worked well, with a wide - though somewhat top heavy - frequency response. This is something I find a hindrance, since it is too easy to set it too high and end up with a rather powerful 'squawk' rather than the roar required. On the other hand, I think constant use would soon educate you into developing a tone control technique, though the actual pots should still be stiffer. The two pots (with nice refraction dials atop) are a little 'loose' and require some intelligent(!) use. The problem is, the volume control and tone controls are a bit too responsive: a touch can send the sound spiralling from a sweet funky treble to a good Lemmy impersonation, with stacks of dull sustain. I'll get on to the sounds later, but apart from the controls, all that graces the rest of the body are a booster toggle switch to enhance the crispness and vitality of the sound, and an output jack.

Devoid of scratchplate or massed dials and switches, the White Shadow looks just what it is - a straightforward, no-frills workhorse of a bass. The fingerboard is of fine-grained rosewood, while the neck itself is of the aforementioned Sen though the colour match was not 100% so I'm open to correction on that one. A plastic nut precedes a white headstock with four Grover-type machines and a string retainer on the G and D strings. The machines are about 20-to-1 ratio, and their heavy chrome exterior bodes well for the future. It is unlikely to flake, though I would try and keep them fairly dry to be on the safe side.

Dimensions

The neck is very thin. That's the first thing that strikes you after the realisation that the instrument weighs in much lighter than a Precision or a Jazz. This thinness could be a problem: fretless players need to use the flat of the finger to slide adequately, not the point of the finger like classical guitarists, and while it's nice for a guitarist/classical player to be able to get to grips with this, the hard-line fretless player may balk at the finger angles - which could be uncomfortable. Another aspect of this neck is the fact that a heavy finger pressure can be brought to bear on the fingerboard, and with coarse round-wound strings, this could tear up the fingerboard quite rapidly. It just takes some careful playing, and a spot-check now and again to see that the condition of the neck is as it should be. (The best way to do this, incidentally, is to use an anglepoise lamp shone across the neck, so that any rough areas show up in the sheen - or lack of it in very bad cases!) The strings supplied were similar to the lighter Rotosounds, but still looked capable of damage. If it does occur, try a finer-wound string, and/or some Fretfast or similar concoction. It sounds a bit daft putting Fretfast where there aren't any... but still.

In Performance

Anyway, to the playing. Well, the sounds at the bottom of the neck are predictable: a rounded treble sound, devoid of any real punch. This is a common problem with fretless basses, and is curable with the amp and effects set to compromise between this sound and that of the treble regions, which are very trebly indeed!

For reference we'll use the notes on the top string. So, at around the C position it starts to energise, at F it starts to break up, and above this, you need to take down the tone to prevent your ears getting scorched. It really is that sharp. The whole of the White Shadow's body seems to resonate, which is strange considering there are three pieces of wood involved in the construction and the neck is a bolt-on. Either way, it suits a slapping technique admirably, given that the action should be lifted a bit to accommodate the movement of the string.

The guitar itself balances quite nicely, and the fact that it is slightly neck-heavy simply means that you need to 'hang' it more centrally against the body. Short-armed players may find this a problem, but to ensure the stability needed for sliding around on the neck, there is no real alternative.

On 'pop' sounds, the Vox fares less well; the depth of the bass is not quite powerful enough to provide the necessary drive, but then again, a bass booster only costs about £25 and would change the basic sound sufficiently.

On the rock side it is pleasant - but not as bass! Instead, those Del Palmer (Kate Bush Band, you ignoramuses) riffs slide around very nicely, and the 'honk' sound so prevalent in funk lines is turned to a melodic level that makes an excellent foil for lead-guitar.

To conclude then, this is a basic (no pun intended) bass, but at the price it offers a lot more than many of its counterparts. The quality of materials and workmanship is high, and the overall sound of the instrument is versatile and relaxing. It takes a while to get used to the White Shadow, but the lightness of the body is a joy. And for the price, it opens up bass-playing at a quality level for almost everyone.

The Vox White Shadow Fretless Bass retails for £189. A fretted version is available at £183. Information from Rose Morris, (Contact Details).