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Tom Warrington Fretless P-bass

#2
What do you think? Unlined ebonol or lined maple? Tort or no pickguard? The pickup route is done clean and control cavity from rear so it doesn't need a pickguard.
Fretless_P.jpg
 
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#4
That particular tort is a cheapy (the tort is printed - looks like a photo) that I just got to experiment with for another bass that needs a custom shape. It's just hanging there so I could see how it looks - there are no screw holes in the body yet. I'll have to get a better quality tort pickguard somewhere.

I had planned to try doing an orange burst with stain on that body (before I started thinking about using a fretless neck on it). I'll have to think about a darker stain. The body is totally raw - it had rattle can experimenting on it when I bought it from the classifieds here - I sanded it back to wood but have been waiting to figure out what I wanted to make out of it.
 
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#5
yowsa on that tonight show nugget! i love playing in piano trios, but all of my playing lately is in horn bands --- love them, too!

for your bass: since i can't play on a lined fb (brain too small) i have to go with the unlined fb. since the control cavity is on the rear: i'd personally be thinking about no pg. just me!
 
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#7
Siggy said:
I had an ESD problem with an Ebenol fretless neck. Not noticeable until I took in in the studio. It may have been the room but I had to redo the fretless passages with another bass.

Just my experience.
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did it show up as pops and crackles coming through the pickups? Something you didn't notice until playing back the tracks later - or could you hear it as you were recording?
 
#8
I actually had something constructive to say about the subject of your post until I watched the Tom Warrington clip you posted and my mind was blown. Not to hijack the thread but what was the amp he was using? It looked like a Peavey kilo- or sessionbass. The bass seemed to have a single jazz pickup rather than the traditional p dual coil. Please continue to discuss whatever you were discussing before I drooled all over my keyboard.
 
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#9
Five String said:
The bass seemed to have a single jazz pickup rather than the traditional p dual coil.
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The quality of the video is pretty poor and his fingers are constantly flying over the pickup. I couldn't see anything clear enough to tell but I thought it was a standard P pickup. Here's the best freeze frame I could find where his fingers were almost out of the way. It's too blurry to make anything out but I think it's a normal P:
Pickup.png
 
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#10
AndyPanda , i forgot to mention that i have that ebonol neck/fb on one of my instruments and it's nice (i'd easily compare it to my ebony fb in terms of stability and 'responsiveness').

mine is mighty mite: i think they only have the p-bass in fretlesses: if they had a j-bass fretless i'd get another one --- or two!
 
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#11
Tom Warrington must be one of the most underrated bassists out there for jazz / electric bass. There's a whole gig's worth of him playing fretless with Buddy Rich which i posted a while ago, i think he's an upright player so he nails the jazz vibe exceptionally well. Definitely a huge inspiration for me.

I'm not sure what he's playing through there but in other clips it's an SVT, and the musicality, tone and technique are amazing. Wish there was a proper recording somewhere, i've searched for his stuff and it's all upright (although it still kicks ass).
 
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#13
AndyPanda said:
did it show up as pops and crackles coming through the pickups? Something you didn't notice until playing back the tracks later - or could you hear it as you were recording?
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It was a "POP" that seemed to occur about every 30 seconds or so. I didn't hear it during recording only afterwords in the booth. This was a "live" recording, meaning that we were all in one studio with headphones. The bass was a MIJ P-bass that I had installed a fretless neck on (I think it was a Squire) I replaced the neck with a borrowed Ebony neck to finish the project and didn't have a problem.

FWIW, I really liked the ebonol neck. Played like ebony and sounded great live (I had been using it for about 6 months). I just wanted to mention this issue. I had never heard of any issues with ebonol before.

Maybe I shouldn't have used wool wrapped strings ;)
 
#17
Anyone feel free remind me what an idiot I was to trade the fretless P with plain rosewood board I bought new in '79. Lighter color body than the one Tom Warrington is playing but still a real beauty. I will be regretting that trade until the end of time.
 
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#20
AndyPanda said:
Came across this YouTube video of a 1977 TV appearance - poor quality video but terrific playing. Now I'm gonna have to build a fretless P-bass :)
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I've always been fascinated by this kind of playing. Aside from listening to a lot of this kind of music, what does a bassist need to study and be expert at to walk the bass like this guy does. I mean, I can handle much simpler walking blues stuff (much much simpler), but this is on a whole different level. I assume lots of modal practice.
 

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