Looking at Fretless to Augment URB

[mikeoso]

One big difference is in the note envelope. URB has a lot of thump and short decay. Typically a fretless is going to lack the thump and have much longer decay.

When I'm playing my big ABG unplugged in a place where a DB would normally go, I go with a very simple line and use lots of palm muting. It's big enough to thump pretty good, and the muting gets rid of the sustain.

However, getting an abg to work unplugged in ensemble requires a very large high quality instrument, and a small venue. What I understand the OP to be after can happen with a decent midprice unit.

 

[Wasnex]

When I'm playing my big ABG unplugged in a place where a DB would normally go, I go with a very simple line and use lots of palm muting. It's big enough to thump pretty good, and the muting gets rid of the sustain.

However, getting an abg to work unplugged in ensemble requires a very large high quality instrument, and a small venue. What I understand the OP to be after can happen with a decent midprice unit.

I used to palm mute with BG to play standards out of the Real Book. I liked the sound but my hand got tired really fast.

 

[chilliwilli]

What about a Gold Tone Micro Bass? Because of the super-fat Thundergut strings, they sound way more like than an upright than any conventional, metal-string ABG, and are orders of magnitude cheaper than an RA Mouse. They come in fretless versions in both 23" and 25" scale and cost about $400. Loads of videos of them on YouTube. I have only played one in a store, but most owners seem very happy with them.

This is what I was gonna say.