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Stoner/Doom Bassists Thread, Part 90: Maxed Out

#56,081
I have a lined fretless jazz. Lines are good; no question. I highly doubt I could play an unlined without a lot of practice that is, ultimately, not where I’d want to focus my time. A lined fretless is only ballpark when playing on the line itself. I made myself play shows with only the fretless where I’d normally only play fretted. Intonation is paramount and can put you in fits until you get a feel for that close to, but not on the line. If you were to get one, I’d suggest sitting down with a tuner for a few days and knock out the note to finger intonation first thing. IMO, ymmv, etc…
 
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#56,082
Fretless is cool. I don’t have a fretless bass guitar currently, but have electric upright I’ve got a lot of time on. I played trombone in middle and high school, so fretless was less intimidating for me. I totally agree excessive muh-wahing and glissandoing about can get old real fast. I have a buddy who’s a bit of a monster that some nights you’d never know was playing fretless, which I always thought was sick.
 
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#56,083
I've not played a fretless bass, but this should change at September's bassists gtg. There's sure to be some fretlesses, and someone has already sparked my interest with his, although he's not sure he'll make it yet. Either way I'm determined to give fretless a good try. (More gas! Aargh!)

As for the intonation thing, I'm optimistic. After all I used to be a pro Viola player. But maybe that's me being arrogant.
 
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#56,084
Flamingo21 said:
I've not played a fretless bass, but this should change at September's bassists gtg. There's sure to be some fretlesses, and someone has already sparked my interest with his, although he's not sure he'll make it yet. Either way I'm determined to give fretless a good try. (More gas! Aargh!)

As for the intonation thing, I'm optimistic. After all I used to be a pro Viola player. But maybe that's me being arrogant.
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Not arrogant at all! You have a trained ear for intonation, fretless should be a pretty easy adaptation for you.
 
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#56,085
Kaa said:
Not arrogant at all! You have a trained ear for intonation, fretless should be a pretty easy adaptation for you.
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This brings a question to mind. Is playing fretless more about muscle memory in your fretting fingers or ear training to be able to hear when you're slightly off?

(I'm guessing it's actually both and not one or the other, but I'm interested to read the responses anyway.)
 
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#56,087
lucas303 said:
Is playing fretless more about muscle memory in your fretting fingers or ear training to be able to hear when you're slightly off?

I'm guessing it's actually both.
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I'd agree that it is both.

On the one hand, you need to hear when you're off, in order to be able to correct it. On the other hand, music often goes too fast to correct every wrong note, so that's why you need muscle memory.

Thus, practice becomes a continuous back-and-forth. Play it slow, so you can hear whether every note is in tune, and teach your hand and fingers the right places and motions. Play it fast, so your hand gets used to the motions at speed, which is when muscle memory develops.

It is detrimental that beginners on an instrument are often told they should play slowly for weeks until the piece is ingrained. This gives the fingers the false impression that there'll always be time to adjust every note that's off. Then when fast playing is finally allowed, the fingers just keep adjusting because they're used to it (I've heard it happen many times) destroying the flow of the music.
 
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#56,088
lucas303 said:
I'm going to say Alice in Chains.
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—————
100% agree with this…

I feel like you can almost hear the Sabbath influence coming thru in some of their songs…

One of the most underrated band by the mainstream that I can think of…

Realize they’ve had their share of commercial success, but somehow I feel like their significance in the Seattle Grunge movement gets frequently glossed over in favor of Pearl Jam or Soundgarden (which is really a shame IMO bc they are LIGHT years better than either of those two bands)…

Also-Before I inadvertently upset someone here-Nothing against those other two bands-Music is subjective so my opinion in no way is fact-I’m just stating that for my personal preference I personally would pick AIC over either of those bands (or any other Seattle band from that era) every day of the week and twice on Sunday…

Have seen them twice live…PHENOMENAL both times especially the smaller venue…Can’t even begin to imagine how good they would’ve been in their prime with Layne…

Pardon my temporary geek out, but they are HEAVILY featured in my weekly rotation and one of my favorite bands ever…Something about their music just connects with me spiritually and emotionally…Was trying to play along to Nothing Safe tonight…lol-I think I butchered a good 75% of everything I tried to play, but that’s why it’s called practice right???

Thanks! \m/
 
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#56,089
Can't remember if I posted this before, but HM-2 reissue pre-orders are open now...so tempted. Anyone else thinking about getting one? I'm torn, I havent looked but at $180 that's in the ballpark of an original right?



The Fender Kingman's I've played sound great, might not be super loud if you're not heavy handed, but seem to be enough for me. I think to be heard well with any ABG, it needs to be an upright or have amp support. The Dean acoustic I had was probably second loudest behind Tacoma's in my limited experience. Granted it was fretless and the neck was super chunky, but it did sound awesome and loud. I gotta say though, after all the Martin's, Taylor's, and other high end ABG's I have been fortunate to try, I'd rather have the Fender, Dean, or Tacoma. The tone, IMO, of all the high ends were nothing special or better and although I'm sure they're built very well, didn't feel much better than the mid priced ones.

That Dean was my only personal extended experience with fretless and I dig it. A couple of the guys I played with in school were monsters on upright. Can't imagine the time it takes to get the intonation right without the practicing imparted in school.
 
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#56,090
Novarocker said:
Can't remember if I posted this before, but HM-2 reissue pre-orders are open now...so tempted. Anyone else thinking about getting one? I'm torn, I havent looked but at $180 that's in the ballpark of an original right?
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I've thought of it, yes. An original MIJ is usually $200+ these days. I'd say about $225-250 depending on condition. I'm tempted to get the Waza, but at the same time, have almost given up on HM-2 on bass (at least the "sonic destruction" form of HM-2, I still love my Throat Locust on low gain on bass). I also prefer the Arion Metal Master HM-2 clone on bass - it seems meatier to me than the original (though the housing is plastic and therefore suspect). Also, if it's a pure clone (which I'm sure it is!), I have an old HM-2 I don't use that I can always throw on the board. I will likely pick one up in the used market later, if I'm being honest.

Currently, my favorite HM-2s for guitar chainsaw are actually clones, and I don't use the original for anything. I got them both for less than $100, and have no complaints. They're the Peper's Pedals HM-Too Many Clones (or HM-TMC) four knob version (there's also a 6 knob version with mids and blend) and the BYOC Swede. Both are used for chainsaw, but I typically leave distortion about 10:00 and highs just short of max. Plenty of chainsaw for my needs.

Off the top of my head, I have the following HM-2s and clones:

MIT HM-2
Behringer HM300
Earthbound Throat Locust
DOD Super American Metal
BYOC Swede
Peper's Pedals HM-TMC (4 knob)
Arion Metal Master

I used to have the Lone Wolf Audio Left Hand Path, but I couldn't gel with it and passed it on.

I also just realized how many parentheses I just used... Sorry about that.
 
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#56,092
Got a straight trade offer for my 1997 Jazz Deluxe. What say y’all? My bass for this amp and cab. Says it’s a 1971 50w and stock 215 cab.
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#56,095
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#56,100
JBOWLES said:
Got a straight trade offer for my 1997 Jazz Deluxe. What say y’all? My bass for this amp and cab. Says it’s a 1971 50w and stock 215 cab.
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Those cabs are supposedly the weak link, IIRC they're on the shallow side, so maybe not an ideal bass cab. Some guitarists probably like them. I'd be curious how it all sounds together if it's truly stock. 50w might be loud enough with a more modern 2x15, but is that cab loud enough? Probably a good low volume head.

FWIW I had a Bassman 100 from the same era for a short while. It sounded good through a modern 1X15 in a semi loud band.
 
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