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I am thinking of selling my Gary Willis 5-string Fretless and ordering a 5-string Streamline Fretless. What experiences do you all have the this Status bass. How strong is the fretless sound and how does the fretboard hold up with roundwound strings?

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Anyone have comments on any of the graphite fretless basses? Please help me justify the inevitable Status bass guitar order, LOL.

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I think Flat wounds sound great, do to the added zing of the phenolic fingerboard. Ended up settling on Thomastik .096-.044's (headed 4-stringer). LUV-IT

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I received a 5 string KBII Headless with nylon coated Hot Wire strings 2 weeks ago. Awesome sound, endless sustain and you can feel the growl in your fingers. I ´am really excited. Thanks to Rob

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Agreed. The phenolic fingerboards with roundwounds are way too bright for me in most musical scenarios. I got a bulk pack of double ball flatwound Live Wires from Rob and also one set of the flatwound nylon strings and I am quite happy with them and consider them as my 'normal' strings now. The nylon string/phenolic fingerboard combination may sound and feel 'plasticky' to some people. I tried the nylon strings on my 32" scale KB and they feel and sound great except for the G string beyond the 24th fret where it gets kind of loose and noodly. Perhaps a thicker gauge string may offset this?? There is a notice on the package that says the nylon string output will be lower than the steel strings. I really enjoy how 'quiet' the flatwounds are when I move my hands up the neck, no 'finger scratch' sounds that is so characteristic of roundwounds. All my Statii are fretless and headless, so its really easy to switch between the different types of strings depending on the gig sitch and reuse them. The only glitch in this system is with my six string fretless. Rob said that the high C string is too thin to make as a nylon flatwound, so I am stuck with steel flatwounds for that particular bass. Eventually I want to give the half wounds a shot.

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I'll go along with those who like flats on a phenolic board. I have used them on my S2 fretless and one drummer I play with commented that it was the most upright electric sound he's ever heard. If it were me I wouldn't be in a hurry to sell the Gary Willis bass. I love the sound they make. A phenolic board won't make the same sound at all due to the lack of wood. My wooden Electro gets a lovely warm woody sound with Thomastic Jazz Flats. If you want something of the woody sound might be an idea to have wooden board put on it.

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Tut Tut!!! New bass and you haven't posted photos yet.

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I've a Series 1 6 string fretless with a phenolic board which has lots of mwah but sounds a little clicky and plasticy particularly, on the bridge pickup so I specified a rosewood fingerboard on my S2 Classic 5: This has resulted in a darker woodier tone but with the note definition and clarity you'd expect from a Status without any clickyness. With flats and groundwound / halfwound strings it's almost too dark sounding, with fresh D'Addario halfwounds (the brightest halfwounds I could find) it sounds stunning, sounds great with roundwounds too but I tend not to use them to protect the finger board. The rosewood board cost a little extra but it's resulted in the best fretless bass I've ever played.

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Tut, tut, here we go with a pic of my new beautiful baby, left UK end of oktober southbound to germany and makes me happy.

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OOO! That is nice. Looks even better with the black nylons on. Bet that sounds good.

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Sounds great, even playin´without amp you can feel the growl in your fingers, think it´s the same with all of you, once playin´ a status and you think about ordering the next one, right (and sellin´ all other stuff), feels like a virus?

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It's something Rob puts in the lining of the cases. Every time you open it you get a whiff and it makes you want more.

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I a have a Streamline fretless 32" 5-string and use half-wounds. As I expected the sound to be "darker" compared to a 34" with round-wounds I asked Rob to move the neck pick-up towards the bridge and to add single-coil switching. This makes me more flexible to get the snappy punch. With the half-wounds I do not get so much of the typical "mmoouaa" compared to round-wounds, but instead there is a really big, fat tone - across the whole fingerboard! And no marks on the fingerboard (although to my experience these round-wound marks are only superficial and therefore cosmetic issues)! The most unbelievable thing: The B-string is fat AND extreme tight - with 32". Definitely the best fretless I have ever owned or played.! Go for it