slapping at fretless; what do you think?

[Eduardo Martins]

I´d like to get and share some information about slapping at fretless. Tell me what you think. Also, would like to know if someone uses different amps for fretless and fretted;
Thanks in advance people.

[embellisher]

I slap on my fretless all the time. It sounds different from slapping a fretted, but still sounds nice to me.

I play fretless and fretted through the same amp. As long as the amp is fairly uncolored and has good frequency response, it should work equally well for fretted or fretless.

[Rob Terry]

It is dangerous unless you are rich enough to fix as it gets messed up twice as bad as regular playing. Even if you slap light it will smack harder then a nice little pluck. But it does sound cool.

[genesis6891]

I never play slap on my fretless. IMO a fretless bass's beauty is in the lovely nasal sound (mwah, whatever ) from playing fingerstyle.

[Wrong Robot]

michael manring does it a lot, and he gets a really clear sound, I don't know how he gets such a sound, but it's impressive.

[Matt Till]

Yeah, I thought when I picked up a fretless, the first thing I would do on it is slap, just for curiosities sake, I did... meh... fretless is all about smooth fingerstyle, IMO. Plus, I'd like to keep my fretboard in OK condition thank you very much.

[bye]

I slap often on my fretless i love it because
it ' s such a different sound.
( and i don't want to change basses between every song so i'll have to...)
I use a J -retro stompbox to EQ the lows less,
and more high/treble because i get more low on my fretless than fretbass if i slap
The Retro is by the way great for finger style
because of the parametric mid you can switch on and of.
My Amp is a Glockenklang Soul top with
Duo + Heartcore cabinets for both fret and fretless.

[Oysterman]

Have you guys heard John Turner? He slaps his fretless Conklin(s) quite a lot on his band's album. He gets a very clear and snappy sound from them.

[john turner]

Originally posted by Oysterman
Have you guys heard John Turner? He slaps his fretless Conklin(s) quite a lot on his band's album. He gets a very clear and snappy sound from them.

thanks man .

[nugget77]

its a muffled sound when you slap on a fretless. i have a nice warwick fretless and its some purpose is jazz for me and that crazy fretless sound.

[john turner]

Originally posted by nugget77
its a muffled sound when you slap on a fretless. i have a nice warwick fretless and its some purpose is jazz for me and that crazy fretless sound.

not when i slap on fretless, it's not muffled. a lot as to do with the set up of the instrument, and the fretboard material.

[Sharp]

...Claypoole...Tommy the Cat...

[Matt Till]

Originally posted by Sharp
...Claypoole...Tommy the Cat...

The e is silent... and invisible.

[secretdonkey]

Let's not forget Trip Wamsley, either, in the pantheon of fretless slap gods...

[nonsqtr]

"It is dangerous unless you are rich enough to fix as it gets messed up twice as bad as regular playing. Even if you slap light it will smack harder then a nice little pluck."


Yes, that is a consideration. Many fretless fingerboards are sensitive and can be easily damaged. Even by roundwound strings.

My solution: diamondwood! I have a Roscoe LG-3005 fretless with a diamondwood fingerboard, that I absolutely love and adore. It sounds fabulous with ordinary fingerstyle, and has gobs of mwah, but it also sounds pretty cool when it's being slapped.

The thing is (and John Turner, I don't know you and don't know what you're into musically, so I don't mean to be rude with what I'm about to say), that slapping a fretless should be done "tastefully". In other words, don't do it too often. If you do, it'll sound like you're trying to do something you're not supposed to be doing, and on the wrong instrument. But boy, there's nothing like surprising the audience by pulling a fretless slap groove out of your back pocket. A short blazing slap segment can be totally amazing in the context of an otherwise "normal" fretless performance.

And John, I'd love to hear your stuff, where can I listen to it?

[thekingbassist]

i love to slap on fretless basses, in fact i get more cheering when i do. a fretless was meant for it, its the jazz slap with out the preamp. however i dont go for the slap noises most of you guy ooh and ahh about, its just a neet way of pouncing on the attack. with a fretless you can get way more funky, too! on the topic of fretboard wear i sadly must agree. it took me about three quarters of a year to run down my fretless j bass, it was great while it lasted. the fretboard had emmense string lines (some what string grooves), and the pickups are comepletely gone now... ah but it was great while it lasted!!




sadly slappin on an ibanez 5 string, lame...

[43apples]

Hey guys, why dont you get your fingerboard coated at http://www.woodwiz.com/guitarlab/epoxy.html ?

That guy coated Jaco's fingerboard .

That "Diamondwood" sounds interesting, because i've always found "bare wood" too mellow and muddy, and epoxy coated wood too buzzy and "meeeow"-y.

Cheers!
-Erlend

[Pacman]

Originally posted by Erlend_G
That guy coated Jaco's fingerboard

No, he didn't.

[Eduardo Martins]

So we have all to agree that fretless was not made for slapping, thought it sounds awesome for some high grooved songs. In this case, I´d like to know of you all, if tapping causes the same harm as slapping; what do you think?
Ps; Michael Manring should really post something at this thread!

[bye]

Next Wednesday i gonna take my Fretless bass to the guy who always repairs fret/defret my basses and he is gonna put a fret-end
on my bass.( he has done that before with my
teachers bass)
He puts at the beginning of the neck ( highest note of course....) a "fret"
so when you slap you get that "snap " because the string hits on the end-Fret, that's great for the sound but it also protects the neck!!
When i play "normal" the end -fret does not interfere with the fretless sound.
As soon as i can i will put up a picture so you can see.