Sting's fretless tone, later Police days.

the low one · #1 10-01-2011, 10:19 AM

I think the tone Sting gets on the little known Police 'B' side, 'Once upon a daydream' is just so good. It's rich and fat yet sits in the mix so well. Can I get close with my fretless jazz and flats, maybe favoring the neck pickup or will I need more ?

"Once Upon a Daydream" by The Police - YouTube

Other songs such as 'King of Pain' have a great tone too

WalterBush · #2 10-01-2011, 10:31 AM

It's all the yoga coming out his hands.

pjspecial · #3 10-01-2011, 11:05 AM

I read that he doubled a lot of the lines with an electric upright for that beautiful fretless tone. I think he uses a chorus too -that new tech 21bass boost chorus without the modulation might emulate that sound

Mojo-Man · #4 10-01-2011, 11:16 AM

Sting used a maple neck fretless P-Bass for most of his Police days.

But as someone said, he sometimes doubled his upright on recordings.

He also had a electric upright, A Z Bass I believe.

the low one · #5 10-01-2011, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjspecial

I read that he doubled a lot of the lines with an electric upright for that beautiful fretless tone. I think he uses a chorus too -that new tech 21bass boost chorus without the modulation might emulate that sound

Yes, I believe you're right about that, I read it somewhere too.

dougjwray · #6 10-01-2011, 11:38 AM

Not sure about the later stuff, but on "Ghost in the Machine", he overdubbed an electric upright over a Steinberger to get the best of both worlds.

**ShoeManiac** · #7 10-01-2011, 03:22 PM

That particular song is from 1983. By then Sting was using a variety of basses. Like some of the previous posters said, he was known for doubling a bass guitar part with an upright, acoustic or electric. He had also used a number of different fretless basses, too. The fretless Precision is probably one of the better known ones, but he also used a number of Ibanez fretless basses, too.

Groove Doctor · #8 12-26-2011, 08:04 AM

I read he used an Ibanez Musician Fretless only on the album 'Regetta de Blanc' - Walking on the Moon, Message in a Bottle, Bring on the Night, etc.

I have one and it nails that tone perfectly. I think an MXR Phase 90 was used also at some stage - a blend for wet/dry signal works a treat!!