Mark Egan video

[PrimitiveMan]

Here is a cool instruction video by Mark



I thought it was cool to hear him talk about all his gear. His honesty was refreshing also, he says that he loves fret lines and can't play in tune well without them!

His double neck Pedulla is gnarly

 

[CatOnTheBass]

Thanks for sharing that! I bookmarked it for later digestion.

Little known fact, Mark Egan also made a yoga instructional video:

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I will never get the fuss over lines or no lines. Jaco, Mark Eagan, and Marcus Miller use lined fretless. Percy Jones, Pino Pallidino, Bakithi Kumalo, and Michael Manring, play unlined. They all get great results.

 

[deckard]

I will never get the fuss over lines of no lines. Jaco, Mark Eagan, and Marcus Miller used lined fretless. Percy Jones, Pino Pallidino, Bakithi Kumalo, and Michael Manring, play unlined. They all get great results.

Add Gary Willis to the list of lined fretless players...

My fretless pet peeve is those who declare: "Don't look at your hands!" and then go on to claim they don't look at their hands and have adjusted fine to playing in tune w/o having to look at their hands. (rolls eyes) This isn't the Olympics, folks - we don't get extra points for difficulty - the idea is to be in friggin' tune regardless of how you do it, capische? Gary Willis has said repeatedly: "Look at your hands!" - how many of those great players mentioned above don't look at their hands when playing fretless, especially when soloing?

I rest my case.

 

[Indiedog]

An excellent video! Thank you!

 

[PrimitiveMan]

I will never get the fuss over lines of no lines. Jaco, Mark Eagan, and Marcus Miller used lined fretless. Percy Jones, Pino Pallidino, Bakithi Kumalo, and Michael Manring, play unlined. They all get great results.

Yeah it's totally a personal preference. It's just cool to hear Mark say it, as I definitely need to look myself!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Yeah it's totally a personal preference. It's just cool to hear Mark say it, as I definitely need to look myself!

All of my fretlesses have lines, from my perspective, some unlined players seemed to suggest that using lines is inferior. I can only say that the method may be inferior, but the results are often superior, given the caliber of some of the great lined players.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

All of my fretlesses have lines, from my perspective, some unlined players seemed to suggest that using lines is inferior. I can only say that the method may be inferior, but the results are often superior, given the caliber of some of the great lined players.

Totally gotten the same vibe from a rare few.

Lucky for myself the older I get the less I care what others think of me!

I just got back into the fretless, I bought a factory fretless 1995 Ibanez ATK 2 weeks ago.

I actually learned to play on a fretless in high school, and played only that bass for about 3 years. I am definitely a better player now in almost every way but my intonation was better then (judging by some old 4 track tapes).

But it's getting better steadily now. I find I'm only good on fretless if I play it regularly

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Totally gotten the same vibe from a rare few.

Lucky for myself the older I get the less I care what others think of me!

I just got back into the fretless, I bought a factory fretless 1995 Ibanez ATK 2 weeks ago.

I actually learned to play on a fretless in high school, and played only that bass for about 3 years. I am definitely a better player now in almost every way but my intonation was better then (judging by some old 4 track tapes).

But it's getting better steadily now. I find I'm only good on fretless if I play it regularly

I think that is pretty universal; intonation requires regular practice.

 

[mrufino1]

I had the pleasure of recording him once for a live album done by a friend is mine. Mark is a super nice guy and a great player. He gets a very powerful sound live. I remember that he played 2 acoustic image heads in a stereo rig, don’t remember the cabs, and he brought his own DI’s. I used a mic on each cabinet and his DI lines. That was a fun night!

 

[dougjwray]

Lines won't help you if you're reading music and can't look at the fingerboard.
I think "playing fretless without looking" is easier on an upright... Something about gravity telling you where you are...
But back to Mark... I once saw him trying something out at Manny's in NYC. I didn't want to bother him.

 

[CatOnTheBass]

Lines won't help you if you're reading music and can't look at the fingerboard.

A good sight-reader is looking several measures ahead, and doesn't have their eyes glued to the music stand. Classical musicians can read music and watch the conductor at the same time, right? So there's no reason why a lined fretless player can't sneak a peek at their left hand when they need to make a big position shift, without losing their place in the sheet music.

 

[Michael Case]

Lines won't help you if you're reading music and can't look at the fingerboard.
I think "playing fretless without looking" is easier on an upright... Something about gravity telling you where you are...
But back to Mark... I once saw him trying something out at Manny's in NYC. I didn't want to bother him.

No, it's not easier. Playing the double bass is 100% about intonation so you spend most of your time practicing focused on intonation in one way or another. It becomes a matter of working the note, but usually on double bass the time in the shed has helped you get close enough that the adjustment of the note is barely noticeable to the listener. I believe that if electric bassists started with a fretless they'd reach that point too. It's all practice, the lines/no lines debate is pointless. If lines help someone play in tune, then hey who cares.

 

[duncmill]

I got my first fretless bass in 1971 and it was my only bass for 25 years(I got another in1996). About 10 years ago I bought a short scale fretted bass and have been playing that more and more. My intonation on fretless is lousy unless I play a bit every day or so. It does come back fairly quickly if I haven't played for a while. One of the keys for me is being really honest with myself when I'm not playing well.

 

[Michael Case]

I wanted to add, that for MOST double bassists, reading music is how you learn to play the instrument. Unless you're solely a jazz or blues, or bluegrass player completely self taught by ear you've learned to read and play. The double bass doesn't work with tab.