Bring your Fretless...

[hbarcat]

Its human nature to be pessimistic under certain circumstances. We're surprised when a politician supports a policy that is actually based on higher principle instead of political considerations. There are honest car salespersons who work in the customer's best interest but almost everyone who buys a car from a dealer expects the salesman to try to screw them over.

I've worked manual labor jobs most of my life and sone people I meet assume that I must be uneducated and maybe even a bit stupid. I enjoy proving them wrong.

Sound techs often insist that the bass player provide them with a dry DI signal because they assume the bassist will give them a muddy sound that's hard to work with if allowed to set their own tone post EQ.

 

[hbarcat]

Hi Brad



How can a fretless not fit? which musc?

I play both fretted and fretless.

When I have to slap (next to never, but sometimes it has to be) I will use a fretted bass.

Otherwise I play fretless (okay, I will play my fretted Jazz for Led Zep covers because…)


Wise

I play mostly hard rock in a progressive power trio. I do like fretless basses and even had one for afre years, but a fretted bass is way more practical for what I play.

 

[lokikallas]

I used to play fretless all the time in an original project. Unless I slid between notes on purpose or added some mwah by technique, you would never know. I would even slap and pop it regularly. It’s just like any other slide instrument. Nobody yells at the trombonist for sounding too much like a valve trombone do they?

 

[Samatza]

You followed the number one rule in the book:
Turn up prepared, kick @$$ and leave.
Well done!

 

[Chickenwheels]

So i get a call from one of my song demo clients about a session for today and he asked me if i have been practicing my fretless, 'of course I have' I lied, so he sez bring it. I do a little brush up over the next couple of days, get my tone dialed in, play through some jazz tunes the usual suspects.

Flash to today we set up and the piano player spots the fretless and gives me the stink eye, I say the producer requested it, he said don't trak it live. The guitar player, no slouch on fretless bass btw, threatened to play if it I can't hang. Damn. Like I needed this sort of pressure.

The engineer and drummer come out of the booth and hear the guitar player's comment. The drummer says he charges extra to play jazz sessions because the last time the bass player couldn't groove or play in tune and insisted on extra band trax that he didn't get paid for - more stinky pinky eye. The engineer grumbling about half cocked producer songwriters goes off to check to see if the auto tune is working and what the additional charges will be. Damn more shade.

Feeling less than comfortable I pull a gobo and sort of slouch down behind it an look over the charts. Not too bad and the one marked Fretless is a medium tempo Straight C&W tune with a simple turn in G, no problem.

First tune goes down without a hitch using my Incognito P. Second tune is the Fretless tune so I switch over check my tuning and listen while the guys talk over the arrangement. After a false start it's decide to have a drum pick up so we start over and run it down. Goes off with out a hitch, we listen to the playback there is even a nice little moment in the guitar solo where we happen to harmonize. The guitar player stands up to look over the gobo to give me a thumb up and gets a huge smile when he sees me holding the fretless. The producer starts cussing me out because I wasted a great take by not playing fretless. The engineer is telling him we can overdub, the drummer is throwing stuff and the piano player is kicking has bag around the room in frustration.

I stand up holding my fretless and say no need to worry I played it on fretless and it was fine. It took them 20 more minutes of listening to the track and soloing my part with a tuner to believe it was all played in tune.

Twelve years of classical training and 50+ years playing experience does count for something.

In this world of Alternative Facts sometimes Truth is the hardest lesson, again.

Sounds fun.
Good on you for hanging in there.