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Fretless in rock?

#82
fingerbun said:
They called it the Precision bass for a reason.
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So what do they call the fretless ones?
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#85
JTE said:
Hmm... I'd like proof (of the first one, not the second!). I've never seen any pictures of Dee with a fretless, and there's nothing in the sound or performance of "11/17/70" to indicate he's playing fretless there at all. Except for two songs, Dee didn't play on Elton John albums except "11/17/70" until "Honky Château" in 1972. He's not on the "Elton John" at all. He plays on "Amoreena" from "Tumbleweed Connection" (though he and Nigel sing on a few others) and on "All The Nasties" from "Madman Across The Waters". BTW, "All The Nasties" is the first recorded example of what became The Elton John Band of Dee, Nigel, and Davey Johnstone.

John
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Proof? That might be tough. His bass on 11/17/70 always sounded like a fretless Jazz to me, and then one day I read in some magazine (Bass Player???) that that was indeed what he was playing. If I knew where I read it I would direct you to it.
 
#86
I own a corvette standard (with frets) and a rockbass corvette (fretless). i'm doing a classic rock covers thing where I use the fretless rockbass because it just sits better in a rock mix, the corvette is more smooth and I love it but its more for modern/heavier stuff or jazz/funk
 
#88
Skokiaan said:
Proof? That might be tough. His bass on 11/17/70 always sounded like a fretless Jazz to me, and then one day I read in some magazine (Bass Player???) that that was indeed what he was playing. If I knew where I read it I would direct you to it.
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There are some things on "11/17/70" that might be a fretless with flats, but could just be fast glisses. The cool thing is, your post made me go back and listen to that album! Always a good thing for a bassist to listen to!!!

John
 
#90
JTE said:
Hmm... I'd like proof (of the first one, not the second!). I've never seen any pictures of Dee with a fretless, and there's nothing in the sound or performance of "11/17/70" to indicate he's playing fretless there at all. Except for two songs, Dee didn't play on Elton John albums except "11/17/70" until "Honky Château" in 1972. He's not on the "Elton John" at all. He plays on "Amoreena" from "Tumbleweed Connection" (though he and Nigel sing on a few others) and on "All The Nasties" from "Madman Across The Waters". BTW, "All The Nasties" is the first recorded example of what became The Elton John Band of Dee, Nigel, and Davey Johnstone.

John
Click to expand...

Old thread.
Dee did not play a fretless on 11/17/70.
In the early 80s, Steinberger gave him two L2s, one fretted, one fretless. He used both on the early 80s EJ albums and tours. Listen to "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" to hear the fretless one.
And by the way, here it is.
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deebass1.jpg

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#94
Raymeous said:
Steve DiGiorgio

He played a fretless on Death's "Individual Thought Patterns" album/CD. This is about as far away from where you would expect to hear a fretless as you can get. He plays fretless throughout and not on only one or two tracks. He has some crazy basslines on there too.
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Many of you don't know that Steve DiGiorgio also played fretless on one CD and one live album for QuoVadis a metal band from Montréal, Québec Canada. Here too he played some tasty fretless line.

Quo Vadis - On The Shores Of Ithaka (live) - YouTube
 
#99
Re: Andy Fraser,you, are correct,sir! I found some live footage of Free from that period,and he is indeed getting a somewhat fretless jack bruce sort of tone out of an EB3 through an Orange amp. But then, i also thought jeff berlin plyed a fretless until i actually saw him in concert....oh well,another perception shattered.....:hmm:
 
#100
Can't always trust the liner notes either, I have a few in my record collection that have blatantly wrong credits listed, a couple Joni ones with the most distinctive fretless tone and style around and Jaco's name nowhere to be seen in the notes. It wouldn't be the first or last time someone has made a mistake in their crediting, or had ghost players on a track. back on topic, sting also played a semi acoustic fretless bass on a couple tracks, most noticeable on some on Ghost in the Machine.
 

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