The Amazing Marleaux Bridge and the Zero Fret
It is no secret that I love my many beautiful Marleaux basses. I am blessed and truly lucky to have collected all these amazing instruments over the years. There are several reasons why I like them so much: Superior comfort and playability, absolutely amazing craftsmanship, the versatile sound they produce that works with all styles and they have never ever let me down!
I get asked about them a lot. You may be in a location where you cannot try them out and have to rely on hearsay. I am happy to share my opinion, but pardon my excitement when I do 🙂
Recently, I got a question about setting up a Marleaux. Even though Marleauxs have a zero fret (a fret right before the nut), setting them up is really standard. You can set up anything from a super low tapping action to a very high groovy-dig-in set up. Go for it! The basses come with tools in a pouch that make it all easy. It occurred to me that the Marleaux bridge (as well as the zero fret!) may be worth its own video, because the Marleaux bridge offers adjustable spacing. So, Bob (who asked me on Facebook messenger), this video is for you.
I am sure there are other basses that feature zero frets and adjustable bridges. If you have one or know of any, pop them in the chat.
Wherever you stand on basses – from Fender purists to seven-string Fodera extravaganzas – Marleaux basses are worth checking out!
And for the record, I am an official endorser, but receive no compensation for this plug. Just love the Marleauxs (the Marleaux Family as well as the basses! 🧡)
Check them out at marleaux-bass.de
This bass you see in the video graces the cover of my new book, The Pattern System for the Bass Player – Sharpen Your Musical Mind through Fretboard Proficiency, Improvisation and Mental Practice.
0 Replies to “Two Marvelous Marleaux Details [Video]”
I just bought a Marleaux Consat. Looking at this wonderful instrument. I looked at the bridge and windered how I was going to make adjustments.
That’s was great information Ari Thanks so much.
Dana
Really nice hardware; I like all those cool things — zero fret and super adjustable bridge.
My current bass is hard to setup, and I have to keep the action high to avoid buzzing (especially on the low side, E & B). I’d love to find out if a Marleaux would work for me but I’ve no idea how to do that. There’s no shop within 500 miles that carries any Marleaux. 🙁
Dave, Happy you enjoyed the video. Sounds like your bass may need some fretwork done. As for trying out a Marleaux – where are you located?
Ari, I live in Houston, Texas, USA.
You might be right about the fretwork; I’ll look at finding some help with that.
Hm nobody coming to mind down there at the moment.
As for the fret work, my luthier told me to look for someone with a plek machine, they can perfectly shave down all frets to be even. Before you do that, check set up. Best wishes 🙂
This is great I just purchased a Marleaux Bass, and was a bit confused about the bridge. Ari thanks for putting this out there, great lesson on tuning up this bass for my specifications.
And yours is absolutely stunning looking! Happy you like it!
Hello Ari
Greetings from Down Under Australia.
Thanks for making this video; that’s much appreciated.
Does the zero fret create a stronger presence of overtones?
Cheers George. Happy it was useful. It’s possible that the zero fret does that. Several European basses have zero frets, would be interesting to see if they all have similar tone. Cheers to Down Under!
Thanks for your response, Ari. I asked about the stronger presence of overtones because I recently purchased a Sandberg bass which is made in Germany and has a zero fret. I have never owned a zero-fret bass before and this one has heaps of high overtones, which I love, but have added a fret wrap to tame the overtones as needed.
Now I’ll get onto checking out some Marleaux sound samples.
Congrats on the new bass! When they come straight outta the shop with brand new strings on things tend to sound a bit trebbly. I know of several folks who use the fretwrap to dampen overtones, so just place it behind the nut. Enjoy the Marleaux sound journey.