lol, go get one, the Squire Vintage looks nice, had a try on that the other day in a music shop, too bad it's not a fiver, though hell in my case, I dont need another bass for some years now.. hehe.
D.Don
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How do you guys stand the frets?
- Thread starter D.Don
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lol, go get one, the Squire Vintage looks nice, had a try on that the other day in a music shop, too bad it's not a fiver, though hell in my case, I dont need another bass for some years now.. hehe.
D.Don
the thing is...with frets....you get used to them after a while...
expression on a fretted bass is done in a completely different way (manipulating the strings through bending and muting)...
I must agree that a fretless is much more organic and if you can pull off the music with a fretless, then go for it...
Yeah that I can imagine indeed, I guess I will be experiencing that as well during the time to come.
Dude, I like your signature, though collecting knowledge, is sometimes not bad at all, then when you need to apply it, you just got it there hangin around for ya!
D.Don
I play fretted and fretless basses and I play upright bass. I prefer fretless and upright , just more organic sound and sing. When I got one for the first time I found my sound on eletric bass. Yeah i keep my fretted basses , I tried slap but it is not my thing but tapping sound better.
Wow, such useful commentary...you must HATE Peter Hook with all that fretted bassline tomfoolery he carries on about....:scowl:
That wasn't cool!
Peter Hook probably couldn't play a fretless anyway. But he's still great.
I still hate frets.
Wow, awfully disparaging remarks about an idol...how would you even know? You're somehow better because you can then?
Not possible. If frets are the suck, then he sucks by association.
That's better and less irrational. Atta girl!
I'm basing my assumption on the fact that in 30 years of playing bass Peter Hook has never been seen playing a fretless in any way, shape or form.
Question is why would he WANT to play fretless when his SHergold does the job perfectly?
Well, if that's the case, then your logic is flawed, because how can it possibly do the job perfectly if it's fretted?
Unless of course you think his lines are perfectly sucky.
Well, if that's the case, then your logic is flawed, because how can it possibly do the job perfectly if it's fretted?
Oh ****!
What I should have said is that for his type of playing his fretted Shergold does the job correctly for HIM. If you gave me his 6 string Shergold it wouldn't.
exactly. change of heart then? or his "type of playing" still inferior? I mean, them frets are such a crutch...and mask your profanity completely...site rules, you know.
Then a piano would be...stiff?
Oh wait, that's the piano PLAYER.
Seriously, though, there should be a place for both fretless and fretted in this world. I want a fretless, but right now the wife doesn't see that I need more than the '67 P and the MIM Jazz I currently own.
I went through a ten year period where I didn't even own a fretted bass. I played chords, tapped solos, anything I had previously played on fretted, etc. Had to woodshed like crazy to do it all in tune, but got there. The chords can actually be better in tune on a fretless if your technique is up to it, because you're not limited to a tempered scale like you are on a fretted bass. You can use just intonation and play the true intervals required for the chord, rather than what the frets dictate. Of course, if you're playing with a guitarist or keys, they're playing in equal temperament, so it doesn't matter as much as solo playing. I also have found that right hand positioning and technique can allow me to play and attack lines a lot more similarly to a fretted bass than you might think. Fretless isn't all about 'mwah', or at least, it doesn't have to be.
All that being said ... I'll admit here and now that a lot of the chops I worked up as described above were done out of ego at the time. I really didn't have a concept of serving the song, and playing what was appropriate for the music. I just loved fretless, and thought it was cool to do things no one else around me was doing on fretless (Manring and Egan and others were, of course ... but they weren't "around me"). These days, when I'm not playing upright, I play mostly fretted P Bass. It's what serves and supports the music I'm playing the best. Funny thing ... one of the best fretless players ever, Pino Paladino, is doing the same thing. Even has a signature bass from Fender, a fretted P. And even Tony Franklin now has a fretted version of his signature P Bass.
So, after this long ramble, I gotta say, both have their place. Take some time to learn to play fretted as well, and use whatever best supports the song.
Cheers
All that being said ... I'll admit here and now that a lot of the chops I worked up as described above were done out of ego at the time. I really didn't have a concept of serving the song, and playing what was appropriate for the music. I just loved fretless, and thought it was cool to do things no one else around me was doing on fretless (Manring and Egan and others were, of course ... but they weren't "around me"). These days, when I'm not playing upright, I play mostly fretted P Bass. It's what serves and supports the music I'm playing the best. Funny thing ... one of the best fretless players ever, Pino Paladino, is doing the same thing. Even has a signature bass from Fender, a fretted P. And even Tony Franklin now has a fretted version of his signature P Bass.
So, after this long ramble, I gotta say, both have their place. Take some time to learn to play fretted as well, and use whatever best supports the song.
Cheers
Seriously, though, there should be a place for both fretless and fretted in this world. I want a fretless, but right now the wife doesn't see that I need more than the '67 P and the MIM Jazz I currently own.
I'll happily trade you a fretless for that '67 P, if that would help you out ...
Cheers
honestly, i started on fretless and played only fretless, and i thought i was all superior because of it...but once i started noodling on fretted basses, i realized how much easier i could hold down, and i had to get my own. i dnno i guess once you get comfortable with fretted basses (and it does take a while), you realize how much relative effort it takes to play anything on fretless.
so now i completely fail at fretless because i haven't been playing it...but i think i'm overall a better bass player because of playing fretted.
if that all makes sense.
i think that i liked the idea of fretless because it lets you have a very personalized sound. but after playing fretted bass in conventional groups, i realized how innappropiate a lot of those slides and vibrato and mwah and whatnot really are. like fretless bass can get really obnoxious if its out of context. so. just some thoughts.
so now i completely fail at fretless because i haven't been playing it...but i think i'm overall a better bass player because of playing fretted.
if that all makes sense.
i think that i liked the idea of fretless because it lets you have a very personalized sound. but after playing fretted bass in conventional groups, i realized how innappropiate a lot of those slides and vibrato and mwah and whatnot really are. like fretless bass can get really obnoxious if its out of context. so. just some thoughts.
