Fretless Jazz vs. Fretless P

[angrydad]

The cool thing about a fretless J,is that,besides getting the classic bridge pickup,"Jaco" tone,soloing the neck pickup gives you a very credible P bass tone,a little "leaner",but very P like nonetheless.
Have fun with your experiment.

 

[Engine207]

The cool thing about a fretless J,is that,besides getting the classic bridge pickup,"Jaco" tone,soloing the neck pickup gives you a very credible P bass tone,a little "leaner",but very P like nonetheless.
Have fun with your experiment.

Interesting take on soloing pickups. I'd get unnerved by the 60 cycle when soloing the single coils on my Squier Jazz fretless...and to my ear, the neck pickup doesn't come close to my P-Bass thump.

 

[Coop Soup]

I like the way my J sounds with the fretless neck. It sounded good with the P, but it was less "round" so to speak.

 

[mc_muench]

As someone once told me....

"Get a fretless p-bass with tapewounds....you won't ever have to worry about pitch!"

+1000

I'm GAS'in hard over a fretless P right now, 70's slab sunburst with a rosewood finger board.

 

[klaus486]

I own both and I'm torn as to which I like better. The J bass is definitely more versatile but there's just something about the P that seems to "work" especially in the band setting.
I think you'll find that switching the necks won't be a problem. Try 'em both on each bass and go forward with making music regardless of how they turn out. You can always swap back!

 

[RyanJD]

+1000

I'm GAS'in hard over a fretless P right now, 70's slab sunburst with a rosewood finger board.

Isn't that quote not such a good thing? If you don't have to worry about pitch you just get thump and no tone or something like that right?

Anyways, I bought a set of Fender tapewounds for whichever bass I choose to go fretless on. Hope they give me the sound I'm looking for.

 

[dougjwray]

Here's an old video clip of Tom Warrington playing a fretless Precision with Buddy Rich, just so you can hear how different it is from a fretless Jazz.
tom warrington solo with buddy rich - YouTube

 

[RyanJD]

Here's an old video clip of Tom Warrington playing a fretless Precision with Buddy Rich, just so you can hear how different it is from a fretless Jazz.
tom warrington solo with buddy rich - YouTube

Great example. That's a very unique sound.
And I love that drum beat.
Thanks!

 

[Derek Balonek]

Fretless P with the tone rolled all the way down=a good approximation of upright tone. Muting the strings and/or playing right up by the fretboard gets closer.

Fretless J makes me think solo playing. You get more mwah with a J.

It really depends on what your tonal goals are. I've got a fretless PJ so I'd say both.

 

[BassChuck]

I have both. When I play in pit orchestras for musicals I like the fretless J. For big band the J is still my go-to, but the P works well in that situation. The fretless P gets a great sound, but the J has more variety.... same old story.