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Is fretless decreasing in popularity?
- Thread starter darwin-bass
- Start date
I'd love to get an HH unlined fretless bongo... just gotta wait and watch the boards.. (5 or 6 string)
I don't see people playing them as much as in the 70s but companies always have something fretless on offer so I assume somebody's buying them. I must confess to owning a beautiful Overwater fretless and hardly ever playing it from being too busy with other axes. Wouldn't be without it though.
The fretless bass guitar was around in the 60’s; players, such as Rick Danko. But, the surge in popularity began with Jaco’s arrival on the scene. There were, of course, other fusion players, such as Mark Egan; but, there were also studio players using them in more pop oriented material. There are examples in the Nancy Griffith recordings and Van Morrison recordings. And, of course, there is Smooth Operator.
Since that time, there simply hasn’t been a whole lot of popular material to cover with fretless. And, that has been a while. I imagine players are using them in “original” projects to some extent; but, none of those have gotten popular traction AFAIK. And, if one can get a Jazz gig, which seem fewer these days, there could be some opportunities.
My gigs are increasingly playing “oldies,” because, that’s what the clubs I play in want to hear. I could probably play the fretless; but, it just doesn’t seem appropriate on “Takin’ Care of Business.”
I do have an outstanding fretless, which is a pleasure to play. It gets rave reviews from the audience when I take it out. It’s a great instrument, and will bide it’s time in my rack until if and when it may be appropriate. The bass needs to fit the gig. My gigs don’t call for them much these days.
I just got one built by Chris Stambaugh, I love it and I'm sure it will get used because it plays and sounds great. Doesnt really matter if it has frets or not, a little woodshedding and your good to go
I tend to think that I usually can - there’s just a different attack/decay/ whatever.....
Or like people who ride singlespeed mountain bikes - “never complain, never make excuses”.....
I never knew Bill Wyman, Rick Danko or Boz Burrell from Bad Company used one till I saw them. Actually you never saw Bill with his, so I had no idea till he talked about it in interviews.
BUT…
Had they used brighter tones like most fretless users these days since Jaco came around, it might be a different story.
It's a matter of fashion I think.
Jaco indeed made it popular in jass and fusion along the 70s. It quickly leaked into pop.
Then there was the ubiquitous tone of fretless drenched into reverb, octave and chorus/flange notably led by Pino Palladino.
In Europe Eric Serra made it immensely popular wit the OST to the Big Blue.
In the 90's Les Claypool helped selling a lot of fretless instruments I think.
Nowadays, meh.
All it takes is a producer to use it on a hit.
Jaco indeed made it popular in jass and fusion along the 70s. It quickly leaked into pop.
Then there was the ubiquitous tone of fretless drenched into reverb, octave and chorus/flange notably led by Pino Palladino.
In Europe Eric Serra made it immensely popular wit the OST to the Big Blue.
In the 90's Les Claypool helped selling a lot of fretless instruments I think.
Nowadays, meh.
All it takes is a producer to use it on a hit.
[QUOTE="JimmyM, post: 27185767, member: 55676"
Had they used brighter tones like most fretless users these days since Jaco came around, it might be a different story.[/QUOTE]
I don't really consider Jaco's tone to super bright. I'm basically shooting for Duff McKagan on fretless. I try not to sound like I'm hunting, with wide sweeping vibrato. But I do use a lot of what would be called a gliss on fretted. To me it doesn't sound the same as what most people would call portamento. I'm not trying to sneak up on my notes like I'm hunting wabbits. You just don't get the bumps on the way to your target.
Had they used brighter tones like most fretless users these days since Jaco came around, it might be a different story.[/QUOTE]
I don't really consider Jaco's tone to super bright. I'm basically shooting for Duff McKagan on fretless. I try not to sound like I'm hunting, with wide sweeping vibrato. But I do use a lot of what would be called a gliss on fretted. To me it doesn't sound the same as what most people would call portamento. I'm not trying to sneak up on my notes like I'm hunting wabbits. You just don't get the bumps on the way to your target.
i shoot for fret-like intonation on fretless.
my fretless character comes from my right (plucking) hand placement and technique.
my fretless character comes from my right (plucking) hand placement and technique.
Same here. I’m pretty successful too. There’s some flak I get. One situation I went for a guy kept asking if I could slap on it. Of course you can. At least I can. Sure, it’s not gonna be Marcus Miller bright, but it’s there and strong and I did.
I knew Bill and Rick did early on, but never knew Boz did. I used to knock myself out trying to cop his tone and phrasing. Even with the treble tone completely rolled off on my fretted. Especially on the Bad Co tune, “Ready For Love”. My god, his playing was impeccable. Then, of course, later on I discover he’s using a fretless! All the early years I’ve been
. Oh well. Play and learn.
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I love fretless. It was such a treat to hear Christian McBride playing his Fodera Emperor fretless for the bulk of the concert when I saw his newest band last year. If I had his tone and intonation I'd probably play fretless exclusively. My two basses are a P and a fretless J, so for me personally it's only a matter of whether I want the J tone on a gig. Unless there's going to be a ton of reading - I don't have the confidence to play in tune if I can't look at the fret lines while I play, so I'll bring the P anyway in that case.
Hard to believe something is remotely popular when you have never seen a single fretless player in over a half century played live on 2 continents and have only ever seen any fretless basses when GC was selling them at $600 or thereabouts to clear them out a dozen years or so back.
Where i live there is over 100 bands actively working a busy circuit with many doing over 200 gigs a year and never will you see a fretless.
Where i live there is over 100 bands actively working a busy circuit with many doing over 200 gigs a year and never will you see a fretless.
I been seeing more and more YouTube videos discussing and featuring fretless bass lately. If I didn't know any better I would assume they were more popular, but then again, they were probably even more popular when jaco pastorius became a hit.
I would say they come and go, and right now, they are on a rise again.
I would say they come and go, and right now, they are on a rise again.
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