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Don't be scared to play fretless!

#121
luciens said:
I never said The FL was never the right tool for the job - I don’t know where you got that, but you didn’t get it from me. I also never said you didn’t have to like or love the fretted bass. You didn’t get that from me either.

As for attitude, yours comes across to me as clearly not one any professional outfit would want to pay good money for, so I’m skeptical of your claims of virtuosity and experience on the fretless bass too. A true professional, OTOH, knows when to use the right tools at the right time, particularly when someone else is signing your paycheck. Telling them what they want tends to be a career limiting move for you. If you have other ideas, they’re likely to just go find someone else to do what they need instead. That’s just how that pickle squirts, I’m afraid. Just some things to keep in mind.

Again, the unglamorous truth is that sometimes the fretless bass isn’t the right tool for the job, and the player needs to know when and where it’s appropriate or not.

L
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Again, I never said you that you said ANY of those things. But yet you keep saying I claim this or that? Maybe don't claim I'm putting words in your mouth when you're clearly putting them in mine. Lol

You start attacking me saying that I have "claims of virtuosity". Never did I claim that, never did I claim I've denied checks or any of the other hypothetical nonsense you're saying.

I hope you have a better day going forward, because you seem real mad that we disagree w all your self proclaimed truths.

Just know I still completely disagree w/ your opinion, and I still believe I'm probably better than you at fretless bass. ;)
 
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#122
luciens said:
It’s not impossible to get a truly fretted sound out of an FL, but it a) is a lot of work and b) defeats the purpose in the first place.
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Depends on what you consider the sound of a fretted is. There's just as wide a range of fretted bass sounds as there are fretless sounds (and yes, Virginia!, there is more than one fretless bass sound!).


luciens said:
As for attitude, yours comes across to me as clearly not one any professional outfit would want to pay good money for, so I’m skeptical of your claims of virtuosity and experience on the fretless bass too. A true professional, OTOH, knows when to use the right tools at the right time, particularly when someone else is signing your paycheck. Telling them what they want tends to be a career limiting move for you. If you have other ideas, they’re likely to just go find someone else to do what they need instead. That’s just how that pickle squirts, I’m afraid. Just some things to keep in mind.
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There are musicians who will play anything — instrument choice as well as music choices — that the person signing the cheques asks them to do. Then there are the musicians making an artistic statement, and will play whatever they please. There's room for all of us, and everything in between.


luciens said:
Again, the unglamorous truth is that sometimes the fretless bass isn’t the right tool for the job, and the player needs to know when and where it’s appropriate or not.
Click to expand...

I've lost track of the number of times I've had people — even other bass players much better than me (that's practically everybody else!) — come up to me and say "Oh, and it's fretless!". And this is always after already playing a set or two.

So... it is very easy to get a fretted sound from a fretless. And if you don't see the point in playing a fretless if you want it to sound like a fretted, then stick to fretted.

I'm sorry you feel so limited in your playing, but please, don't try and project your limitations on other people.
 
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#123
Fred Pucci said:
(...) there is such a smooth, buttery feeling grooving on a fretless.
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Once you reach a certain point, you'll need to be extra careful with your fretted bass(es). I mean, look what happened to my P the other day!

20211017_172219-01.jpeg
 
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#124
Abner said:
Depends on what you consider the sound of a fretted is. There's just as wide a range of fretted bass sounds as there are fretless sounds (and yes, Virginia!, there is more than one fretless bass sound!).
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Think about any fixed pitch instrument vs it’s non-fixed pitch counterpart, if there is one. The guitar, or the piano for instance. What qualities would their fixed intonation contribute to their sound? Why are fretted guitars preferred over non-fretted ones where they’re preferred? Not a trick question or thought experiment - just think about it.
There are musicians who will play anything — instrument choice as well as music choices — that the person signing the cheques asks them to do. Then there are the musicians making an artistic statement, and will play whatever they please. There's room for all of us, and everything in between.
Click to expand...
Nobody said there wasn’t.
I've lost track of the number of times I've had people — even other bass players much better than me (that's practically everybody else!) — come up to me and say "Oh, and it's fretless!". And this is always after already playing a set or two.

So... it is very easy to get a fretted sound from a fretless.
Click to expand...
The FL player that can intonate as precisely as a fretted bass, OTOH,… is a rarer bird than “easy” would suggest. Just a fact.
And if you don't see the point in playing a fretless if you want it to sound like a fretted, then stick to fretted.

I'm sorry you feel so limited in your playing, but please, don't try and project your limitations on other people.
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I never said I saw no point in playing the fretless, and I never said I felt limited in my playing. You’re the only one making up nonsense nobody ever said and projecting it onto other people.

L
 
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