Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
For you fretless players out there
- Thread starter In Absentia
- Start date
Of all the amps I have owned, the Glockenklang Heart Rock and Sould have had the best low mid range. The eq point is set at just the right spot and really juices up a fretless bass. That's my 2 cents.
It's in the fingers, my good man!
Any amp will growl. Strings have a lot to do with it, but again, I can pull mwah out of roundwounds or flats.
Roundwounds are a little growlier, though tend to tear up the fretboard.
I use HalfRounds mostly, although right now have BlueSteel Flats strung up. Going back to Halfies.
Any amp will growl. Strings have a lot to do with it, but again, I can pull mwah out of roundwounds or flats.
Roundwounds are a little growlier, though tend to tear up the fretboard.
I use HalfRounds mostly, although right now have BlueSteel Flats strung up. Going back to Halfies.
Yep, in the fingers.....
That being said (lol), I use a Crate BT220 w/ a Crate 4x10 cab, on clean mode, with my fretless Fender Jazz (w/ flatwound strings). I turn the neck pickup down(at about 6), and the bridge pickup all the way up, then turn my amps mid to 9 and bass to 10 with the treble at about 7, and then I add to the mix my Dunlop Classic crybaby, and some good ol' quick fingers. Creme smooth "mwah" that lasts for days.
That being said (lol), I use a Crate BT220 w/ a Crate 4x10 cab, on clean mode, with my fretless Fender Jazz (w/ flatwound strings). I turn the neck pickup down(at about 6), and the bridge pickup all the way up, then turn my amps mid to 9 and bass to 10 with the treble at about 7, and then I add to the mix my Dunlop Classic crybaby, and some good ol' quick fingers. Creme smooth "mwah" that lasts for days.
It's mostly set - up on your bass, technique, and boosting the mids around 600-800 hz or so. I mostly use an old Peavey Nitro into a 2x12 cab, but I change nothing when I switch to a fretted bass to use for the occasional slap tune or section of a tune - that should tell you something (maybe) about how unimportant amplification is in the equation.
Ya, you can get that sound on pretty much any rig by playing a fretless, rolling off the front pickup, and practicing 16 hours a day during your teenage years 
In order of importance, IMO, and amp is part of it, for sure:
-Good fretless bass that's set up well.
-Good amp with frequency response/eq that isn't overly bassy.
-Personal ability/technique/touch/style.
-Roundwound strings (maybe optional).
Without all of the first three, it's going to be hard to do, IMO. Not impossible, but harder that it would otherwise be if you've got the first three, for sure. Again, item #4 is perhaps optional, depending on the first three.
Now to the issue of amps, specifically. IMO, brand, wattage, speaker configuration (unless it's like a 1*18, which you don't want) are of little if any importance in getting that sound. What is important is the ability of whatever the amp/cab is to allow that natural midrange to come through. I've gotten that sound through my main rig, my keyboard amp, my Harkte combo amp, and directly through the PA. IMO, setups, whatever they may be, with the least coloration are best suited to a "great growly 'mwah' sound"... ...at least that sound as I understand it to be...
It's finger placement as well. The hard callouses on the fingertips will create more of a clean sound. The fleshier parts of the finger will give one mucho "mwaaa". There are several ways to do it. Experiment.
It's all connected, but IMO the amp shouldn't have a lot to do w/good fretless tone; if everything else involved is as it should be, a decent amp should just make what's going on between bass & player clear. THAT said, I love my fretless through my all-tube D-180.
