Fretless
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thehenderson
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Bg
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Have to agree there. Some things a fretless just sounds wrong for - Grunge, Rock etc... sorry but no, I tried. I was using it for maybe 6 songs out of 50, not worth it. Might have been better if it was a Precision 
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.
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Zakk Wylde
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Bg
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no, like I say - it went the journey via trademe about 6 months ago.... it felt and sounded good but it wasn't for me 
I prefer having frets on my bass It wasn't a good bass to my ears and I never liked the feel of it so it was no loss 
I prefer having frets on my bass It wasn't a good bass to my ears and I never liked the feel of it so it was no loss So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.
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Zakk Wylde
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1964
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Rog
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That clip I posted was bassed on my '72 fretless Precision. In order to force myself to learn fretless, I only took that bass to a month's worth of gigs. It was learn it or screw up! That way works best for me - the pressure of playing live can really tame the learning curve.
I no longer have a fretless in my arsenal, as like BG, I just found I had no pressing need for one.
I no longer have a fretless in my arsenal, as like BG, I just found I had no pressing need for one.
He hit a chord that rocked the spinet and disappeared into the infinite ...
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1964
Victor Bailey's new Fender fretless has lines:
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0196808821
If lines are good enough for Victor Bailey, lines are good enough for me!
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0196808821
If lines are good enough for Victor Bailey, lines are good enough for me!
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1964
This is what Tony Franklin had to say in a thread on the FDP about his new Fretless P:
The fretless can be a full time instrument. The new TF bass can sound like a straight ahead classic P Bass, or the "Jaco" sound, and everything inbetween. This puppy growls yet sings. It's versatile but simple, which I love.
The thing is with a fretless, you don't have to slide all the time, "just because you can'. I use it as my main workhorse bass. I can slide if I want to or not. It gives the ultimate freedom of expression.
http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM06 ... -Bass.html
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0190085800
Unfortunately, Tony hasn’t got Victor’s good taste when it comes to lines.
The fretless can be a full time instrument. The new TF bass can sound like a straight ahead classic P Bass, or the "Jaco" sound, and everything inbetween. This puppy growls yet sings. It's versatile but simple, which I love.
The thing is with a fretless, you don't have to slide all the time, "just because you can'. I use it as my main workhorse bass. I can slide if I want to or not. It gives the ultimate freedom of expression.
http://namm.harmony-central.com/WNAMM06 ... -Bass.html
http://www.fender.com/products/search.p ... 0190085800
Unfortunately, Tony hasn’t got Victor’s good taste when it comes to lines.
Hey Rog I want to try a fretless BUT with the addition of changing the lowest string for a high one and then frailing it like a banjo (brushless frailing, IPIT etc) - since you've played banjo do you reckon it would work??? - could need some picks as I reckon it would stuff the nails quickly. That way you could pretty much approximate slapping and popping rhythms if not dynamics - plus with liquid smooth slides.Rog wrote:That clip I posted was bassed on my '72 fretless Precision. In order to force myself to learn fretless, I only took that bass to a month's worth of gigs. It was learn it or screw up! That way works best for me - the pressure of playing live can really tame the learning curve.
I no longer have a fretless in my arsenal, as like BG, I just found I had no pressing need for one.
Fancy doing 'Skewball, Fly around my pretty little miss' and the 'Gower Wassail' song that way - reckon it would be neat!
You can't do THAT on stage!
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Rog
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Ben - you worry me!
One thing worth mentioning is that Leo developed the Precision Bass because fretless uprights were not conducive to actually hitting the correct note at the correct time - hence the name - Precision, allowing players to hit the note accurately evry time.
To a large degree that still stands - people with pitch-perfect ears will have a far better chance of producing notes which are 'close' than the rest of us.
However, I've listened to a fair bunch of excellent jazz players etc and even I can hear the slightly-off notes which are tres common. It must drive the pitch police mad! However, it is dismissed by using the old "close enough for jazz" axiom - which works just fine.
All of that helps in forming my opinion that close enough really is good enough for most of us, therefore I can't get my tits in a tangle if I'm playing fretless and worring about whether my finger is slightly before, on, or after a fretline.
Its just music.
One thing worth mentioning is that Leo developed the Precision Bass because fretless uprights were not conducive to actually hitting the correct note at the correct time - hence the name - Precision, allowing players to hit the note accurately evry time.
To a large degree that still stands - people with pitch-perfect ears will have a far better chance of producing notes which are 'close' than the rest of us.
However, I've listened to a fair bunch of excellent jazz players etc and even I can hear the slightly-off notes which are tres common. It must drive the pitch police mad! However, it is dismissed by using the old "close enough for jazz" axiom - which works just fine.
All of that helps in forming my opinion that close enough really is good enough for most of us, therefore I can't get my tits in a tangle if I'm playing fretless and worring about whether my finger is slightly before, on, or after a fretline.
Its just music.
He hit a chord that rocked the spinet and disappeared into the infinite ...
Oooooh that's naughty Rog - next you'll be saying timing is a human mental construct and it's 'feel' that's important after all (as if we did not know that quartz atoms vibrate at a fixed rate), abandoning harmony in thirds and fourths and playing with them wierdo, dope-smoking, sex-crazed fiends callled 'musos' that could not do a decent, hard days work on a steep hill with the wind behind them, all need a good wash and a spell in the armny 'to teach em respect'.
Not like your clean-living, plain-speaking, country music cousins who only gig in 2 or 4/4, sing songs about 'lyin wimmen' and 'complaint sheep' in 3 part harmony and know how to settle an argument cleverly with a fist or gun as soon as 'spittin on a Jackrabbit, bhoy' while keeping the good southern institions of feuding, lynching anyone different and shooting anything that moves at the drop of a hat - Gore is real fun that way!
All this from imprecisely fingered notes eh???
Not like your clean-living, plain-speaking, country music cousins who only gig in 2 or 4/4, sing songs about 'lyin wimmen' and 'complaint sheep' in 3 part harmony and know how to settle an argument cleverly with a fist or gun as soon as 'spittin on a Jackrabbit, bhoy' while keeping the good southern institions of feuding, lynching anyone different and shooting anything that moves at the drop of a hat - Gore is real fun that way!
All this from imprecisely fingered notes eh???
You can't do THAT on stage!
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Bg
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Pino Palladino (that well known italian welshman ) is perhaps best known for his fantastic fretless work during the 80's (Paul Young etc), yet he reinvented himself on the fretted bass and is still just as tasteful I like to model myself after him
I've seen some great jazz upright players and I agree that their pitching leaves a lot to be desired at times, yet they are still fantastic players.
) is perhaps best known for his fantastic fretless work during the 80's (Paul Young etc), yet he reinvented himself on the fretted bass and is still just as tasteful I like to model myself after him I've seen some great jazz upright players and I agree that their pitching leaves a lot to be desired at times, yet they are still fantastic players.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.