Jack Bruce played fretless from 1976 on. Worked pretty well for him.
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Do fretless basses work on a rock context? ((tl;dr) at the end)
- Thread starter FranTheReaper
- Start date
I noticed you listed JPJ first in your influence list. See if this works as an example of how fretless can work in a rock setting;
Check out Mick Karn from the band Japan, some great stuff there. Also Rick Danko from The Band used a fretless quite a bit.
I've had guitar players stop and say "hey man can you play that one instead" and point to the fretted. Why not get a fretless neck and switch.
Worked for Boz Burrell of Bad Company.
Also, although it's not the typical fretless technique that is thought of, much of Bill Wyman's bass work in the Stones was on a fretless (defretted) bass.
Also, although it's not the typical fretless technique that is thought of, much of Bill Wyman's bass work in the Stones was on a fretless (defretted) bass.
This is the album that made me play fretless- Hansford Rowe is a monster. Played every song on this disc relentlessly.
Played fretless exclusively for ~6 years, in almost every rock genre imaginable.
Never let me down. Well, that is, until I started to play in a funk-ish band that needed slap playing.
That's when the 5 string entered the picture...
Still a cool album- even has Allan Holdsworth on a couple tracks...
Played fretless exclusively for ~6 years, in almost every rock genre imaginable.
Never let me down. Well, that is, until I started to play in a funk-ish band that needed slap playing.
That's when the 5 string entered the picture...
Still a cool album- even has Allan Holdsworth on a couple tracks...
I believe Boz Burrel played an Ampeg fretless on most of the first 3 Bad Co. albums as well, but I'm not 100% certain of it.
EDIT: Sniped by Tanner!
EDIT: Sniped by Tanner!
Tony Franklin, Mick Karn, Tony Levin are my faves in heavier stuff. I love Pino's fretless work for more lyrical lines. Also, Rick Danko of The Band was a great and influential fretless player, if you go back a bit and are into that style of rock.
As for pulling it off, I went for many years with no bass but a fretless, playing progressive rock to jazz to blues to Celtic to Americana. It can work. Blues, roots rock, and walking jazz lines are pretty natural and straightforward on a fretless. If the type of rock you're going for is more complex, some dedication and practice will be involved. Worth it, to me, and it gives the band a more singular sound. IF you work it so that it fits the music, and your technique and intonation are rock solid.
I say go for it and best wishes!
~Lia
As for pulling it off, I went for many years with no bass but a fretless, playing progressive rock to jazz to blues to Celtic to Americana. It can work. Blues, roots rock, and walking jazz lines are pretty natural and straightforward on a fretless. If the type of rock you're going for is more complex, some dedication and practice will be involved. Worth it, to me, and it gives the band a more singular sound. IF you work it so that it fits the music, and your technique and intonation are rock solid.
I say go for it and best wishes!
~Lia
Was it that early? Wow I know he used his fretless Warwick in the later years, didn't know he switched early.
Sure you can use a fretless. Check this out:
I personally love the sound of fretless as the foundation under a good rock rythym or lead, but I've spent the last ~24 years on and off in a three piece rock band, and it's hard to hold down 1/3 of the song playing fretless. It's not impossible, but it is more work to sing and play in tune. I had the luxury to play in a five-member band briefly with a lead singer that did nothing but sing and two guitarists that sang all backup / harmony, so all I had to do was play bass. I played a lot of fretless and it was great, but the next three-piece gig had me grabbing for frets again. I guess if I played fretless a lot more, I'd get better, but the other band members prefer I perform & not practice at our gigs....
Jack was actually quite the fretless snob pretty early in his career.
There's also Rodger Waters using fretless in various places during The Wall:
And Stanley Sheldon on the Frampton Comes Alive album. He was one of the earliest rock bassists to go with a fretless.
^^^ Yeah, this guy. He is Frampton's current bass player as well, and played on some Tommy Bolin hits.
Adding one not mentioned here: David J used a fretless P-bass almost exclusively when he was in Bauhaus, one of the earliest and most well-known post-punk/goth bands. Sounds fantastic in that context.
Rudy Sarzo played a fretless bass for most of a tour with Ozzy before anyone (including Osbourne) even noticed...
Worked for Colin Bass of Camel. IMO it's a natural for prog. I used one quite often when playing that genre.
And it worked for bass legend Tony Levin with Peter Gabriel. That fretless MM Sabre of his defined the sound of Sledgehammer. Although Tony could pull a great performance out of a rubber band if he had to.
And Stanley Sheldon on the Frampton Comes Alive album. He was one of the earliest rock bassists to go with a fretless.
And...and...and...it just goes on...
So yeah, a fretless will work in a rock context.
But if you're not 100% sure, do not pull frets on your current bass. Especially if it's your main (or only) instrument. Either swap out the neck (easy if it's a Fender) or get something inexpensive but workable and give it a try first to see what you think.
Also be aware that even if you do fall in love with it, you may end up not playing fretless anywhere near as much as you'd like, or expected to. I started on upright so I was initially more comfortable with a fretless neck than a fretted one. But even though I love the sound and feel of the fretless basses I've owned, I maybe play them only 5% of the time - at most. The bulk of what I do - and am called on to do - uses a fretted bass. And that creates a minor problem...
Because, once you get fretless down, you'll have to make a commitment to stay on top of your skills. And that's because a fretless bass requires regular practice. More so than a fretted bass does. Go too long without playing one and it will feel like you're starting all over.
Most players who try a fretless either give up before they attain an acceptable level of proficiency; or end up not sticking with it even if they do, for a variety of reasons.
These are all things to think about before you pull the trigger.
But on a positive note, that's also what also guarantees there's a goodly number of decent fretless basses (and necks) out on the used market for reasonable prices. So be sure to shop for used first.
Good luck! And happy fretlessing. (Is that even a word I wonder?)
Thank you for a great reply to the op ed. This tells me to save my money, I have a hard enough time keeping the rust off my 4 string fretted skills.
Fretlessing is a word now, I just put it in my dictionary ;-)
Crazy John
That's not a fretless. Just a regular Jazz bass.
That's David Gilmour playing the fretless, not Roger.
