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Does fretless really give you that much more freedom?

#61
SirChronique, iam indeed looking for my sound, and sofar i havent got that from my fretless, wich might be becos, crap setup,crap bass, crap amp, or just something else.
And im def in for the fretless vibrato and sliding etc, but i still dont like the creamy sound wich from what ive heard def can be rid of.
 
#62
But that creamy sound is what I enjoy so much!!!:)

Take it to somebody experienced with basses and have them set it up according to what you want, then experiment with it for a year or so and you might find it useful! I absolutely loooove fretless!

What do you dislike about that melty fretless sound?
 
#64
On my fretless 5 I use a rat deucetone (two rats in one) with one side set to slight overdrive and the other to crunching distortion. I run it thru the slight overdrive most of the time just enough to make it edgier and to grind on chords. I use the full distortion on slower parts, heavier parts and on my bands cover of "Go Crazy on you" by Heart.
I also use a moogerfooger lowpass/envelope filter to give it more of a popping, boingy sound like Bootsy.
 
#67
And also, is it really a big problem keeping intonation goodwhile playing fast onstage in a metal band? ALex webster said one of the reasons he dont use a fretless in the band is cos itd be hard to keep intonation correct. And gooey, Metal aint about getting as much attack as possible btw-.-
 
#68
Demon said:
"you can play inbetween notes", wats the point on making a note between A and A#? Is it something ive missed?
Click to expand...

Well, if you ever want to play music or get a sound that is not based on the western tonal system - like Arabic, some African music, some Persian music and possibly even certain older styles of Eastern European music, it helps to be able to play these other tones, heck you can even invent your own tonal system, but most likely it has already been done before.

Just another degree of freedom in the pursuit of "World Metal" ;)

Peace,
S
 
#69
Demon said:
And also, is it really a big problem keeping intonation goodwhile playing fast onstage in a metal band? ALex webster said one of the reasons he dont use a fretless in the band is cos itd be hard to keep intonation correct. And gooey, Metal aint about getting as much attack as possible btw-.-
Click to expand...



fretless is going to be more difficult than fretted...with frets you have so much room to get the note right (hit between the frets)..its different with the fretless...there is just one spot that will be the correct note, and the others will be a tad sharp/flat..thus the "inbetween" notes....it all takes practice...i remember reading somewhere that les claypool had trouble with some of his songs live sometimes, because his "voice would go one way and the bass would go another".....
 
#70
Demon said:
And also, is it really a big problem keeping intonation goodwhile playing fast onstage in a metal band? ALex webster said one of the reasons he dont use a fretless in the band is cos itd be hard to keep intonation correct. And gooey, Metal aint about getting as much attack as possible btw-.-
Click to expand...

I play both DB and fretted BG in a metal band. In my experience the frets don't detract too much from the freedom though they do make vibrato more difficult, especially with flatwound strings. But not being able to bow the BG takes away a LOT of freedom! That's my take on things.

Intonation is something you just need to practice your whole life. I'd suggest practicing scales and intervals using consistent and disciplined fingerings. Perhaps exercises from a DB method book such as Simandl vol. 1. Practice the exercises s-l-o-w-l-y to get the positions ingrained into your muscle memory; if you only practice playing fast you'll be reinforcing bad habits and sloppy playing.

You'll need to hear both yourself and the guitars onstage, too. If everyone is playing too loudly that can get very difficult. But excessive volume is a problem anyway even if you're playing fretted.
 
#71
Well I read through your posts and as someone beat me to it but in Eastern Music Indian,Arabic etc they have more notes than us. I don't know if you can hit these notes between C and C# on the fretless but it sure would be useful. In Western Culture there are 11 semi-tones in one octave in Eastern Culture there is 23 semi-tones in one octave and I tihnk this has sometihng to do with tunings based on tetra=chords in the early days but om not sure. so in the middle of c and c# their may be a note called C+ or something to that extent. So as someone ele stated you can do like "World Metal" or Progressive Metal and add in styles of Eastern Music with Eastern principles. That's why a fretless mayb e useful because Eastern and Western music differs in many ways another eing that in Western Music it is not "proper" to have sharps and flats in the same scale but in a Phrygian "Harmonic" scale (Middle Eastern Scale) there is a sharp and a flat in the same scale so thats another exdample of diffrences in Eastern and western culture and on a fretless sliding from a flatted second degree to a sharped third degree on a linear scale may soind quite cool. So I urge you to find your "voice" on a fretless and fretted so you can be musically proficient in every style/type of music East or West
 
#73
Here's Steve Digiorgio using a pick with his fretless with Testament live at Wacken in 2003, playing Alone in the Dark:

If he's not getting attack with that pick, don't ask me what he's getting.



BTW, notice when he plays with a pick, despite that he sings, the cameras are a little friendlier to him compared to the other videos? :eyebrow:


...and also, as I've said, I'm eventually going to be switching to a six string unlined fretless, and I don't see too many issues with moving around playing it. I've learned to watch my positioning with my ears instead of my eyes as has been suggested earlier, and it's all nothing that doesn't come with time.
 

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