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Fretless disease

4bluestrings

4bluestrings

Jan 4, 2019
62
86
Hartford Area, CT
#1
So I played a fretless for the first time today. Really played it. It was a really nice Moser. Now I have to have a fretless. I didn't buy it as it is a brand new bass in the shop, but had scratches and dents in the wood and for that money, it better be perfect. They weren't willing to come down, so I left. No worries, but it now infected me.

It had no fret lines and wasn't too bad to get used to. Kiesel will be getting a call on Tuesday for a PB4 fretless. Then the wait.

Is this how it happened for other fretless players? You tried it and it was over?
 
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#3
4bluestrings said:
So I played a fretless for the first time today. Really played it. It was a really nice Moser. Now I have to have a fretless. I didn't buy it as it is a brand new bass in the shop, but had scratches and dents in the wood and for that money, it better be perfect. They weren't willing to come down, so I left. No worries, but it now infected me.

It had no fret lines and wasn't too bad to get used to. Kiesel will be getting a call on Tuesday for a PB4 fretless. Then the wait.

Is this how it happened for other fretless players? You tried it and it was over?
Click to expand...

I started on fretless and basically never looked back.
Yel_wink.gif


Best of luck with your new affliction!
 
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#11
I heard a couple of fretless players on records (but, oddly, not Jaco) and liked it so much I ordered a fretless I paid for on layaway, and played only fretless, on every gig I could, for six years.
I'd never be without one, if possible, and would happily play only fretless if forced to.
 
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#15
4bluestrings said:
So I played a fretless for the first time today. Really played it. It was a really nice Moser. Now I have to have a fretless. I didn't buy it as it is a brand new bass in the shop, but had scratches and dents in the wood and for that money, it better be perfect. They weren't willing to come down, so I left. No worries, but it now infected me.

It had no fret lines and wasn't too bad to get used to. Kiesel will be getting a call on Tuesday for a PB4 fretless. Then the wait.

Is this how it happened for other fretless players? You tried it and it was over?
Click to expand...

You don’t know how well you can handle fretless until you play with recordings or other players. Unless you have perfect pitch, you cannot tell how off you are playing by yourself.
 
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#16
Dr. Cheese said:
You don’t know how well you can handle fretless until you play with recordings or other players. Unless you have perfect pitch, you cannot tell how off you are playing by yourself.
Click to expand...
Oh I 100% agree. I know I missed plenty when playing it, however it also wasn't impossible. I'll be playing the heck out it... in about 8 weeks.
 
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#17
Dr. Cheese said:
You don’t know how well you can handle fretless until you play with recordings or other players. Unless you have perfect pitch, you cannot tell how off you are playing by yourself.
Click to expand...
Well, you can if you work at it with a tuner (or have some ear training to begin with), but yeah, it's slow and tedious, much faster playing with someone / something that's known in tune. :)
 
#18
I love playing fretless and every time I pick one up feel so much more at home than I do on a bass with all those speed bumps.

It’s a shame that fretless is no longer featured in mainstream music. Sadly I think people find it to sound dated but I think that’s unfair. It’s not the fretless that is dated but rather the recording techniques that were used including and especially way too much chorus.

I dream that fretless will make a big comeback. If the cassette tape could join it that would be dope.
 
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#19
Started on the upright and played that exclusively for a few years, so my roots are in the fretless world. Moved from that to fretted electric and stayed there for many years more for reasons of convenience (and owning tiny cars) than anything else. But I eventually got a fretless electric once I found out there was such a thing. Right now I currently own three fretless basses. And I try to divide my time fairly evenly between fretted and fretless playing.

As a fretless player, I don’t really get the mystique surrounding upright and fretless basses. They’re just two more bass instruments with their own aesthetics, advantages, disadvantages, quirks, and vibe. No different than a fretted instrument - or a tuba when you get right down to it. And I personally think every bass player should take a stab at playing one (and everything else they can get their hands on) sometime or another. Because you just never know.

If a fretless bass speaks to you as a musician, then you have the single best reason in the world to get and start playing one.

Glad to see another fellow bass player is taking the plunge. :thumbsup:
 
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#20
4bluestrings said:
So I played a fretless for the first time today. Really played it. It was a really nice Moser. Now I have to have a fretless. I didn't buy it as it is a brand new bass in the shop, but had scratches and dents in the wood and for that money, it better be perfect. They weren't willing to come down, so I left. No worries, but it now infected me.

It had no fret lines and wasn't too bad to get used to. Kiesel will be getting a call on Tuesday for a PB4 fretless. Then the wait.

Is this how it happened for other fretless players? You tried it and it was over?
Click to expand...
What style would you use this fretless for?
 
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