• 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.

Fretless or 8-string?

Customizing an old bass: do I go fretless or 8-string?

  • Total voters
    67
  • Poll closed .
5

597feetdown

Aug 2, 2011
45
89
#1
Hey guys. Haven't been on here in a while. Keeping busy. I wanted to get you guys' opinions on something, though.

I have a customized Roger Waters bass copy made from an SX body, el-cheapo no-name neck and all-black pickguard via Warmoth. Well, just recently, I took the bridge off of it because the bridge on my main workhorse Squier P-Bass got bent up (never leaving it in a hot car again!). And really, I was fine with that, because I left the band that I was doing Pink Floyd tribute shows with anyway, so I don't really need a Waters bass anymore.

In other words, I have an opportunity to make that bass into something new, but I'm not sure which direction to go. Knowing that each would serve a valuable (but admittedly VERY different) purpose, and knowing that they'd cost about the same to make, which direction should I go? Fretless or 8-string?
 
#4
cfsporn said:
Why not both?
Click to expand...


tumblr_maiw6e9bjq1qjgutno2_400.png


I'd recommend converting the Roger Moore copy into whichever you don't have - fretless or 8-string - and if you have neither, consider which you want more, then how about both?
 
#5
597feetdown said:
Knowing that each would serve a valuable (but admittedly VERY different) purpose, and knowing that they'd cost about the same to make, which direction should I go? Fretless or 8-string?
Click to expand...

How the hell should any of us know? :eyebrow:

We don't know anything about your interests, your musical desires - or which modification you might find more fun and/or useful.

Where are you even coming from? :ninja:

MM
 
#9
Just to clarify, guys, one of my single biggest influences is probably John Paul Jones. I have a million-and-one influences, but he's near the top, if not THE top. So both of these options are coming from that headspace. As most of you probably already know, Jonesy actually used a fretless P-Bass when recording In My Time of Dying, which is such a great tone to my ears. Then, of course, he also used a Hagstrom 8-string to record Achilles' Last Stand (though he used an Alembic live). I'd love to, at some point, have both of those sounds in my arsenal.

Now, yes, the fretless is definitely more suited to modern jazz and a wider variety of other applications, while an 8-string would be more suited for a specialty tone (like Achilles' Last Stand, Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic" or even Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," which was actually a 12-string bass, but I digress). But there's also the fact that you can tune the octave pairs on an 8-string differently to create unique tones, like Chris Squire does with his Ranney (tuned eE aA aD dG, so the higher two strings are tuned in open fifth pairs).

So there's merit in both. Just a bit torn between the two. I only have the budget for one right now.
 
#10
Interesting about that Chris Squire tuning, I've never read that.

I think if you are primarily a rock player, the 8 string will have more uses for you than the fretless. I've owned an 8 string Rickenbacker since the 1980's and that thing is a HUGE sounding bass. Playing riffs on it is fantastic, who needs a guitarist!
 
#11
597feetdown said:
Chris Squire does with his Ranney (tuned eE aA aD dG, so the higher two strings are tuned in open fifth pairs).
Click to expand...

Never knew that! I've been a big Chris Squire fan forever, too.

I've got an 8-string and a fretless. I play the fretless frequently, but never play the 8. Unfortunately for both of these basses, you've got to be in a situation where the other musicians (especially the guitarist) gives you a whole lot of musical space. Otherwise the 8 just sounds like a regular bass guitar 99.99% of the time to the audience.

A fretless won't as much, but will sound like any bass guitar to the audience if you're pretty much playing root notes. When the rest of the band isn't giving you space, all bass guitars sound the same to the audience. A fretless at least lets you slide up to notes, etc.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back