I'm saving up to someday purchase a Warwick fretless (I fell in love the first time I saw one!) and I was wondering if and how the flatwound and fretless combination affect a bass' sustain. Should I expect the sound to be a little or alot duller? The reason I ask is, say I hit the 9th fret on the G string (roundwound D'Addario), I expect it to sound out for a bit (nothing outrageously long, it is a bass after all!). Can I expect the same sort of reaction on a fretless with flats or will the note just fall right off? Thanks!
I highly advise you to try a set of flats before committing. Part of why i have 2 electric basses strung with flats is for the thumpier tone of them. I haven't really ever thought it in terms of sustain. There's strings that can do a compromise such as GHS Brite Flats and other ground wound strings.
That's too hard to answer in isolation. Fretless sustain depends on string choice, setup, bass and technique. If you want to maximize sustain, I'd recommend as low a setup as possible and a string like the GHS black nylon tapewounds, which are basically roundwounds with a nylon wrapper. Of course, if you have dead spots on your neck, there's not much you can do.
I don't fully agree to that- I usually use as low of an action as I can without excessive fretbuzz myself, but I have noticed that raising the action a bit can add a bit more sustain- maybe because there's more tautness to the string. Too low and the notes can choke out. If sustain is really important to you, I'd skip flatwounds altogether and get some nickel rounds or tapewounds as suggested. I can usually get about 7 or 8 seconds of sustain when fretting around the 8th fret on my fretless strung with nickel rounds. I honestly haven't found a use for more sustain than that other than when ending a song. I have a sound sample or two if you want to hear it.
youll get alittle sustain, not near as much as a fretted obviously...but probably a good 3-4 seconds (rough estimate). I will say that you'll love playin fretless....i wish i had one
I don't get much sustain on my fretless Carvin with an ebony board and strung with flats. It is also set up with medium-low action. I'd say 3-4ish seconds of sustain is about right
All of this is very dependent upon the bass/strings/technique you use. Certain basses are sustain machines regardless of the strings used. I have a fretless 6 that has amazing sustain with fairly old flatwounds on it and a fretless 4 with the same type of strings that has far less sustain. I also have a fretted 7 with the same string set that doesn't really have much sustain but yet is very punchy and crisp. If you can, try varying combinations of strings to see what works best in your case ....
I've played Modulus, Warwick, Fender, Yamaha, and EBMM Sterling fretless basses. I've just received my Lakland 55-02 fretless bass with ebony fretboard. It's better than any other fretless that I've played as far as sustain goes. Defretting a bass will cause a decrease in sustain. If you really want to use flatwounds, I was told by a bass luthier that D'Addarrio Chromes are good for the neck and you don't lose all of your treble like with regular flatwounds.
For sustain with flats, I definitely wouldn't want anything softer than ebony, epoxy would be ideal. I played a Brice fretless with flats and a rosewood board... ouch.
I like Chromes on my project fretless P, which has good sustain. The biggest change, though, was moving from the stock MIM Fender bridge to a Gotoh 201. That added clarity, sustain, and punch. Of course, on a Warwick you're starting with solid hardware so that shouldn't be an issue.
Here are some related products that TB members are talking about. Clicking on a product will take you to TB’s partner, Primary, where you can find links to TB discussions about these products. Browser not compatible