Yeah same identical thing happened to me. There was this duo (bass-guitar singers) had this gig with a jam afterwards. So I'm playing bass at the jam (usual Carvin AC50 fretless with lines) and the bass player from the duo comes up and wants to try my bass. Sure, I say. He looks at it and fiddles around a bit and then really did a credible job playing a fretless for the first time. Always makes me think that going fretless can't be THAT difficult if a fretted player can just pick one up and sound decent.
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oposition to fretless basses>
- Thread starter steelhead2
- Start date
Yeah same identical thing happened to me. There was this duo (bass-guitar singers) had this gig with a jam afterwards. So I'm playing bass at the jam (usual Carvin AC50 fretless with lines) and the bass player from the duo comes up and wants to try my bass. Sure, I say. He looks at it and fiddles around a bit and then really did a credible job playing a fretless for the first time. Always makes me think that going fretless can't be THAT difficult if a fretted player can just pick one up and sound decent.
+1 for fretless being great for blues.
some of the fretless vibrato and slides, are just plain down in the delta dirty!
Fretless dosnt sound like fretted. The vast majority of music is done with sounds better suited to fretted imo. Fretless is good for doing notes you cant play on fretted but then your gonna have problems finding other instruments to join in with since fretless guitars are extremely rare. Most synths can detune to those other foriegn scales useing notes not found in western scale. But most instruments cant. Unless theyre made for that other scale.
Some will see a person playing fretless as palyer purposely trying to make playing harder since much more precise fretting is required. Thus they may see player as making playing harder then it needs to be.
Jazz is the only music where fretless bass is somewhat common so of course most people are gonna think your jazz music oriented. No reason for them to think otherwise on average.
Fretless bass can be good choice if you want that sound and it goes well with the rest of instruments.
To be perfectly honest, the only fretless player whose impressed me both sound and music wise a lot is Jonas Helborg when he does stuff with his doubleneck fretted/fretless going back and forth between the two for sound change emphasis. Burt thats allways in a jazz music setting.
Some will see a person playing fretless as palyer purposely trying to make playing harder since much more precise fretting is required. Thus they may see player as making playing harder then it needs to be.
Jazz is the only music where fretless bass is somewhat common so of course most people are gonna think your jazz music oriented. No reason for them to think otherwise on average.
Fretless bass can be good choice if you want that sound and it goes well with the rest of instruments.
To be perfectly honest, the only fretless player whose impressed me both sound and music wise a lot is Jonas Helborg when he does stuff with his doubleneck fretted/fretless going back and forth between the two for sound change emphasis. Burt thats allways in a jazz music setting.
I couldn't disagree more, especially the part about fretless purposely making it harder to play, I find fretless easier to play then fretted, fretless just feels more natural to me!
and I really don't understand what you mean about foreign scales, and what non western music has to do with playing a fretless bass!?
As the only common instruments in western music with frets are guitar and bass guitar. Are you trying to say that upright bass, viola, cello, violin, ect, are also not suited to most western music??
every one is entitled to their opinion... I just don't understand your's... can you please clarify?
+1.
Not always. My fretless and fretted sound remarkably like each other, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in a recording, especially with EQ applied. The graphite necks and phenowood fingerboards help.
You don't have to use those notes simply because they are there. Classical string players (violins, violas, etc.), slide brass (trombone), tuned percussion (timpani) all are capable of hitting those in between notes but you don't see them doing so in an orchestra. Why would fretless bassists in a band be any different? Even guitarists are able to hit pitches outside the 12-tone chromatic with slides and the whammy bar. On the other hand, fretless allows techniques such as vibrato and long slides.
My fellow bassists who pick up my fretless have no problems playing most of their notes in tune. That being said, playing bass is more difficult than not playing bass.
Stereotyping players based on "averages" is ignorant at best. FWIW, I play mostly rock on my fretless.
As I said above, you won't be able to pick out my fretless in a recording.
Perhaps you should listen to more music. There are fantastic fretless players out there in many different genres.
+1 The longer I listen to music, and the more I am able to get out of my fretless, the more I am able to hear what sounds to me like fretless bass in songs. It is usually very subtle, not like Pink Floyd or Jaco where it screams at you. I (of course) can't think of a specific example, because they sound like straight fretted bass lines with just the tinyist hint of the blossoming note.
Last couple times I played my lined fretless with new players, when it came out that it was a fretless (after a couple of tunes) they were all surprised by it. Rock bands both of them.
My fretless screams "fretless!" visually, but even then few people (mostly musicians) who heard me play have noticed it is fretless, unless I am absolutely abusing slides and vibrato.
Anyone who voices opposition to you playing fretless isn't worth playing with - if, of course, you can play it with good intonation! Fretless is the purest way to play the bass and sound beautiful when done well.
