You've been bitten!
Enjoy the venom!
Enjoy the venom!
Last edited:
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played my first fretless this weekend.
- Thread starter flannel cat
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Now there's a BASS, fretless clean, no frills, 2 emg's dual V/T I imagine, pure wood, argggggh LOVELY
Fretlesses are to bass what motorcycles are to vehicles ... Which is why I love bothit was a fender squire ''precision'' and it had the cheat lines (which i am happy for) and some flatwound strings.. i have to say that it was so much fun to see what a fretless is all about, it was hard to put down, it was so smooth and silky i couldnt stop playing.
so i tip my hat to you fretless folks im starting to understand why you play them! cheers.
Glad you had fun!
3 challenges to anyone who plays fretless:
1) Play in tune. This takes some folks quite a while to learn, but you can get there - or at least very close, after a while.
2) Play octaves and fifths in tune. This takes a while longer.
3) Play sliding octaves and fifths in tune. I've had a fretless about 40 years, and this one...still not there.
1) Play in tune. This takes some folks quite a while to learn, but you can get there - or at least very close, after a while.
2) Play octaves and fifths in tune. This takes a while longer.
3) Play sliding octaves and fifths in tune. I've had a fretless about 40 years, and this one...still not there.
Yes ... Getting those two fingers to move different distances to keep things in tune is devilishly difficult.
This is absolutely true MirandM. I used to rehearse on a fretted with my eyes closed! This open the door for fretless.
I had been wanting a fretless since even before I started learning how to play. I finally got one maybe two months ago, and I haven't touched my fretted since. I don't know if I'll be able to get back to it.
For me, getting my intonation to the point of being able to play at my desired tempo for all of our material, and to basically take my intonation for granted, was a long uphill climb. AND it was totally worth it.
Flats, fret wrap, passive, P style pickup, and a fretless bare wood board (for me no lines) is tone heaven - when that's the tone your ear wants.
TB compatriot, fretless is worth the work for TONS of reasons that have everything to do with music and musicianship, as WELL as with improving on bass.
Cool post.
Peace.
Flats, fret wrap, passive, P style pickup, and a fretless bare wood board (for me no lines) is tone heaven - when that's the tone your ear wants.
TB compatriot, fretless is worth the work for TONS of reasons that have everything to do with music and musicianship, as WELL as with improving on bass.
Cool post.
Peace.
My first bass was fretless. I've had it since February 14, 1976
Sounds like the fretless squad got a new member. Cool.
Fretless is fun, with different expressive possibilities than the fretted. I see that there are quite nice instruments here, my fretless is a cheap P Bass copy that I converted to fretless. What I do want is an Ibanez SRF706 or a Marleaux Diva 6, but there are a number of other things that I want more.
Choice of string type (Rounds, Flats, Tapes etc) has a very important influence on the sound, there is no wrong just choices. I prefer flats on fretless (not really sold on the GHS precision flats that are on it now), while others prefer rounds which seem to be the classic choice, but Tapewound and Flatwound strings do seem be increasing in popularity for fretless.
Octavers and fretless bass are killer. You get the multi octave from the pedal and the pitch manipulation from the fretless, boom synth city. I've had good results for this with a Boss OC2, OC3, EHX Ring Thing, Hog 2, Pog 2, Digitech Whammy and a Source Audio C4. These days I use the Ring Thing and/or C4 for that sort of thing.
Fretless is fun, with different expressive possibilities than the fretted. I see that there are quite nice instruments here, my fretless is a cheap P Bass copy that I converted to fretless. What I do want is an Ibanez SRF706 or a Marleaux Diva 6, but there are a number of other things that I want more.
Choice of string type (Rounds, Flats, Tapes etc) has a very important influence on the sound, there is no wrong just choices. I prefer flats on fretless (not really sold on the GHS precision flats that are on it now), while others prefer rounds which seem to be the classic choice, but Tapewound and Flatwound strings do seem be increasing in popularity for fretless.
Octavers and fretless bass are killer. You get the multi octave from the pedal and the pitch manipulation from the fretless, boom synth city. I've had good results for this with a Boss OC2, OC3, EHX Ring Thing, Hog 2, Pog 2, Digitech Whammy and a Source Audio C4. These days I use the Ring Thing and/or C4 for that sort of thing.
A lined neck is not a "cheat" as someone mentioned.
thats a big goal to work for on my end,is to play without looking at my hand,,its like trying to quit smoking..cheers!
thanks Inara it was fun,i found myself at practice thinking about that fretless while playing my trustee G&l..cheers.Fretlesses are to bass what motorcycles are to vehicles ... Which is why I love both
Glad you had fun!
What strings are those?
[edit] I see I was a little late in asking that question.
maybe a better term is training lines,,when i think fretless i thinks just a bare fingerboard with no markers, and the people that can manouver them fingers on em tone wizards of high respects from me..cheers.
they look so sweet with a bare fingerboard,nice bass,cheers.
I have 6 fretless,and they're all fun. well except one. Its a POS
I have an old beat up PBass I'm planning a purple and gold refinish on, these would be great!
(I'm not an LSU fan but work in BR and figure the only way I'll be able to sell it).
I got turned on to fretless by Steve Di Giorgio in the 90s. I was big into that style as a teen, but in my older age avoid playing it as a form of respect to the genre. My MiM fretless is my go to bass. Our Cliff Burton era Metallica covers are a bit more difficult to play, yet I find practice a bit more rewarding. My technique has deff. changed a lot since switching to fretless years ago, yet I find it's made me a better player not having cheat bars to rely on. (I've always called them speed bumps, stole cheat bars from this thread).
I think a lot of what scares new people off from fretless is most reviews and threads always turn to Jaco. That seems to be the go to on the fretless sound when there's so much more to it.
I think a lot of what scares new people off from fretless is most reviews and threads always turn to Jaco. That seems to be the go to on the fretless sound when there's so much more to it.
