Exclusively fretless??

[Mulebagger]

Exclusively fretless... why?

I've played fretted and fretless about equally since I started playing 20 years ago. Playing both can give you more sonic options so why be limited. If you are feeling particularly inspired by a bass play it all the time. But change is good.

As for lines vs no lines...
I have a lined Modulus 5 string that I use a ton on gigs. I love the way it sounds and because i have a reference if I can't hear myself well I can stay in tune well. This bass also can sound more fretted based on how I play it. ( kind of like what Brad said with his beautiful Bruebaker 6)
I have a Status Empathy 6 that has a more distinctive fretless sound. So that one is harder to make sound "fretted". It's also unlined which is the look I prefer. It can be intimidating playing a 6 unlined fretless at first, but if you've used good left hand technique all along it comes to you easier than you might expect.

It is a pet peeve of mine when I see a fretless player all out of tune all over the place. Kind of distracts me so much from the music that I have difficult enjoying it.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Have a recording of that? I have yet to hear anyone be able to do that...unless you have a different definition of a slap sound (eg Marcus).

Don't have any recordings here, I'm out of town and away from my main PC. Here's a clip by Malcolm Hall with an older Brubaker fretless 5 to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. And this bass pales in comparison to my fretless five and six.

YouTube - 46 BRUBAKER BASS Malcolm Hall FRETLESS EDEN RIG /// WRONG NOTES

 

[cassius987]

Okay, I am terrible at slap, but this thread got me wondering how fretless slap can sound. I recorded a file on GarageBand as a quick demo for curious people (and remember, I am not an inspiring slapper, so others can probably do it a lot better than I can). I went up to the IV as I began to get bored during the take so if you're patient you can hear how that sounds--the timbre seems to change a bit as I move away from the nut, and that may be a weakness of the technique on fretless, or maybe something a setup can get around. Anyways, here it is.

SoundClick artist: Joshua Chandler - page with MP3 music downloads

Oh yeah, credit where it's due--the riff is something from Ed Friedland's "Groove" book.

 

[SantiagoGT15]

From my experience I can tell you that fretless is frowned upon many times , just because you know... It's not a "normal " bass , I play at church ,the director told me to only use fretless on certain song lists (jazzy lists he said) so I decided to play a normal list with it (rock-pop-funk-etcetc) and not a person , not even band members noticed the fretlessness...still they frown at me for preferring fretless over fretted, and I have told them the thruth, I feel more comfortable, free, creative , with more control over my sound on fretless...

And I dre you to try a fretless and not like it , even a defretted ibanez poc works wonders for practicing


Good luck on fretless Bro !!!!