Waterstone was born out of passion and a simple idea. Armed with a pencil and butcher paper at his kitchen table, Singer (an avid guitar collector with roughly 85 in his personal collection) began sketching what would become the first designs for Waterstone—the culmination of his lifelong interest in music, art, design, and, of course, guitars. The young company’s instruments have already found their way into the hands of artists such as Cheap Trick’s Tom Petersson, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson. One of their most recent offerings, the Meaden bass (named after ’60s British mod icon Peter Meaden), is a fine example of familiar, new, and vintage—all rolled into one. Here we take a look at the fretless Meaden FL.
Mod and Proud
Despite what I said above, the Meaden
is, dare I say, an elegant bass. When first
inspecting it after opening the huge case
(storing it in an overhead compartment is
not going to happen), I was struck by its
classic look. The teardrop soundhole opposite
the eye-catching gold pickguard gives
it a sleek, Euro feel. I would have preferred chicken-head or more vintage-styled knobs,
given the Meaden’s old-school vibe, but
that’s an easy aftermarket fix for purists.
The off-white body, neck, and headstock
binding has a checkerboard pattern similar
to the trim on a London policeman’s
hat and, while the look of the bridge and
tailpiece takes you back 50 years, the setup
felt solid and reliable—unlike back in the
day when similar-style bridges felt like they
were going to fling off the instrument with
any degree of aggressive play.
The body and neck of the Meaden are both constructed from maple, and the size of the instrument echoes the dimensions of other hollowbody basses of the past. So if you’re a fan of that, it’ll fall right in your wheelhouse. Our review model was finished in stunning high-gloss black, but I should add that I noticed a small splattering of paint when I gazed in the soundhole. Though disappointing, it had no effect on playability or tone.
Gliss and That
For a larger-bodied bass, the Meaden FL
felt very comfortable in sitting position.
But, like many hollowbody basses of this style, there was some neck diving once I
stood and wore the bass on a strap.
The set neck is finished to match the body, so fretless players looking for a natural-wood, pseudo-upright feel are going to miss that. It shouldn’t be a deal breaker, however, and as I got to know the instrument a bit more while playing unplugged, the neck actually began to feel more “mature.” The unplugged tones sang with the swell and resonance of a classic fretless, although the growl sounded slightly midrange-y.
Ratings
Pros:
Budget-friendly entrance to the fretless world. Nice
playability. Classy tones. Great looks.
Cons:
Factory setup was a bit sloppy.
Tones:
Playability/Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$679
Company
waterstoneguitars.com
To test the plugged-in tones, I ran the Meaden through an Eden WT550 Traveler head and 610XLT cabinet. Right out of the gate, I was impressed with the deep, lush tones of the passive humbuckers. I love that Waterstone stayed away from getting cute with a piezo or active pickups. As I dug in, the 32"-scale rosewood fingerboard felt even and smooth up until the 12th fret, but from there on up the neck humbucker interfered with the 4th string, thus stifling efforts to unleash my inner Michael Manring. At that point, I lowered the pickup with a couple of turns of a Phillips screwdriver and was soon back in business.
With the 3-way pickup selector in the middle position, the Meaden FL’s tone was slightly throaty—true to its hollow nature—but it was also rich and smooth, without being bite-y in the upper registers. I got a more traditional fretless sound by switching to the bridge pickup, which had more presence without being overbearing. For soloing, this is your setting. And by switching to the neck pickup only, I got a deeper, slightly more aggressive kick that would be apt for a variety of rock settings. If you’re an experienced fretless player and aren’t intimidated by the idea of taking only a fretless bass to your next cover gig, the tones from the Meaden FL could probably carry the whole load.
The Verdict
By introducing a fretless version of the
Meaden, Dr. Singer and his team have
made a budget-friendly bass with a ’60s
vibe even cooler. Waterstone Guitars may
be a small company, but it has some big
ideas. The Meaden FL exemplifies how
Waterstone gives stylistic nods to the past
while keeping a keen eye to the future.
To that end, the FL is a classy, nicely
toned, functional tool that constitutes an
affordable entry into the world of fretless.
Whether or not you were around in the
’60s, this bass will afford you the opportunity
to pull on your winklepickers and
slide around on a bass that, playability-wise,
competes with other fretless basses in this
price range, but could probably win out just
by sitting there and looking so hip. Then
again, wasn’t that what the mod movement
was all about?