Will Lee and his Sig. Sadowsky..

[ac3320]

Hey i saw this video of WIll playing a solo at the beginning. It almost sounds like a fretless bass or something...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjv01abUFhk

i think he's dialed down his VTC almost all the way and is adding a lot of bends on the "final" notes of each stanza...

Or maybe a pedal? Digital "Fretless" effect?

What u guys think?

[the JT]

It could almost be a defretter effect I reckon. At 0.44 there is some very obvious 'mwah'.

[ac3320]

Originally Posted by the JT

It could almost be a defretter effect I reckon. At 0.44 there is some very obvious 'mwah'.

i think so too. I mean, even with my cleanest, quickest bends or trills, i can't get that mwah.

[JimmyM]

I don't hear any defretter action going on. That sounds like all Will to me.

[JohnDavisNYC]

some fret buzz here and there adds some of the 'mwah'... but otherwise, just sounds like a good bassist playing a melody on a fretted bass!

john

[basslinejam]

It's not a cheesy "fretless" effect, but there is some processing there, maybe a delay/chorus combo. IMHO as the engineer ^^ has already weighed in

BTW, That WL signature Sad. sure reminds me of an 80's "boner" jazz no?

I also got a chuckle when I saw Dennis Chambers behind that death star drum rig quietly playing his brushes He is one guy who can and will use all those drums and cymbals

[DWBass]

I thought I saw a closeup (@ 4:13) and it looks to be a fretless to me. Then it looks like a fretted in other angles.

[ac3320]

Originally Posted by DWBass

I thought I saw a closeup (@ 4:13) and it looks to be a fretless to me. Then it looks like a fretted in other angles.

there are two other clips on youtube of the same show, and he slaps a lot on the #1 clip. Same bass...def. fretted lol

[Steve]

A little chorus...a little stylistic emulation...a whole lotta Uncle Will...

[wolf7883]

Is that not a slight chorus on there?. When he picks up intensity it sounds like there's some doubling going on..I think it might be a chorus pedal...Plus it doesnt seem to keep that sound the whole time. If you look in some of the far off shots he's got his foot hovering over someting ready to strike!

[MikeBass]

Fretted.
Victor Bailey was great at that also- making his fretted bass sound like a fretless.
Another trick, although I don't think Will is doing it, is set a compressor with a very fats attack- to kind choke the note, but also with a fast release. It will soften the leading edge of the note, but not totally kill the dynamics.

[wolf7883]

with a slight delay as well

[smeet]

Yeah, it's just Will. And his bass. My Sadowsky used to fool people into thinking it was fretless when I had roundwounds on it.

[bassbmx]

Wow, that's a very cool tone! Thinking more and more about looking into getting a Sad.

[SnakeAnthony]

Coaxing mwah out of a fretted isn't that hard. When bending the string, don't think blues guitar (side to side), think cello (front to back). Even with the frets the tension on the strings will get you some mwah.

I wouldn't shoot the idea of some sort of effect going on there, though. Will is a known effects user. The only pedal I remember for sure on his board was a Whammy II, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had turned that to the detune setting at some point for a chorus sound, but if he did he kept it on a really subtle level. EDIT: And at the 4:17 mark he clearly starts using the 2 Oct. Up setting, so the Whammy is definitely there.

[tom_ric]

i think it might be a very gentle use of envelope filter.

[DrSmaggs]

Will Lee is awesome! I like the direct board mix on this video. It didn't let me watch the entire vid, just stopped loading partway in. I'll try to finish it later