Linus27

Ampeg also do a really nice little 210 for under £300 new.

I play fretless and I've been dabbling lightly with some different strings on my 4 fretless basses. My Precision with high gloss maple neck has a set of Rotosound flats which sound very nice and do sing quite nicely. I recorded an EP in the summer and used this bass mostly as it sounded the best recorded. My Jazz has an Ebony board and uses Rotosound rounds and it really sings, it's a beautiful sounding bass, the most mwah ever and very smooth. My Stingray on the other hand has always been lovely to play but has never sung that much. I kind of put it down to the Pau Ferro board on it which is a hard wood. That was until I fitted a set of LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound strings I had knocking about. Oh my, it has absolutely transformed this bass. It truly sings and they are so lovely to play. Low tension, smooth and I am absolutely converted, or at least for the Stingray, I've never heard so much mwah and expression from this bass. I'm now going to get a set for my Jazz which I think would make an incredible sounding fretless sound out of this world. How did I not know about Tapewound Nylon strings on a fretless but they are wonderful and highly recommended. Never tried LaBella strings before but they sound wonderful.

I'm not really sure what my best purchase was as they've all been positive purchases and still a bit early to say. My Boss OC-5 Octave pedal is brilliant. A proper workhorse that sounds fab and tracks brilliantly. I couldn't be any happier with it. My Ashdown RM Evo II is also brilliant. Sounds great out of the box, super functional, light and has been reliable so far despite only having done about 5 gigs with it. I also bought a fretless MIJ Fender Precision 62 reissue which is very beautiful and for the brief moment I tried it at home, seems very nice. However, I noticed the neck had some indents and grooves in it which caused certain note to vibrate or die prematurely. So it got dropped off at my luthier who's going to fix it so until then, I'm not really sure how it will pan out. Might be the best bass I own or may get sold next year but early indication seems it's a keeper.

John Coltrane- Giant Steps

I have the TC Electronic Corona Chorus and I really don't like it. It seems to muddy the sound and no matter what toneprint I try, none are much good and sound quite processed. The tone dial also does nothing to change the overall tone. Super disappointed with it. I've also tried the Behringer Chorus pedal and it's not bad for a £20 budget starter pedal. I use a lot of chorus and the three I've read good reviews on are the MXR M83 Bass Chorus Deluxe, Electro-Harmonics Bass Clone and Mooer Ensemble Queen Bass Chorus. I was going to give the Mooer a go being the cheapest but also tempted to try the Bass Clone.

Works for Sting also.

I think the last bit should read, 'You slip into bed and lay there exhausted and totally unable to fall asleep as you're still buzzing, analysing the gig, and thinking about how you played, how you could of played better, how the audience reacted, how your bass sounded, what new gear you should now buy, what someone said to you, how you're never going to play there again, do I need a wee, how you're going to tell the singer what you think, the girl on the left of the stage was super cute, why does the guitarist never lug any gear unless it's his own, what time is it, why does the drummer never buy anyone a drink, I definitely need a wee, why can I never hear myself on stage, when's the next gig, why can't I fall asleep, I'm going for a wee' 😂

Shocking technique, thumb coming over the fretboard, using 4 fingers to cover 3 frets rather than 1 finger per fret and look at the angle of his wrist, talk about fatigue central. Ban him, ban him now, he'll never make a career in music 😂😂😂 On a serious note, what a gorgeous bass, is it a Yamaha?

For my Jazz then I rest my thumb on either the neck pickup, the E string and move it closer to the neck sometimes for a more softer, darker tone. For my Precision then I rest my thumb on the pickups or the E string and again, move it closer to the neck sometimes for a more softer, darker tone. For my Stingray, then mostly on the E string, again, move it closer to the neck sometimes for a more softer, darker tone and occasionally anchoring on the pickup. One thing I do which is super consistent in my playing is generally if I am playing the E and A strings then I use my index finger mostly and occasionally play a note with the middle finger. If I move to the D and G string I switch to using my middle finger and occasionally play a note using my index finger. Occasionally depending on the bass line I will alternate between both fingers across all 4 strings in a more traditional fashion but most of the time, the E and A string is played with the index finger and the D and G is played with the middle finger.

Excellent, thank you, I may just do that if I keep it. I can easily get into London for the Bass Gallery so I'll look into it. Thank you for the suggestion.

Ebony is absolutely gorgeous for fretless, my fretless Jazz has an ebony board and that sings beautifully. This is my fretless Ray though which has a Pau Ferro board. Its lovely and does sing but also having an ebony Jazz, I wish it had an ebony board as well. I also have a fretless Precision which is a high gloss maple board and that also really sings.

Ah yes, how could I forget those who we are aware of but must never be spoken of in public 😁

The red fretless is absolutely gorgeous 😍

Welcome, Basschat is super open, respectful and fairly tolerant. We have those that love Precision, those that love Jazz basses, those that love Stingrays and then those that hate them all. We even have the odd members of the family that play Rickenbackers and Gibsons 😂 We have those that play unlined fretless basses and those that play lined fretless basses and those that play with flats and those that play with rounds. It's all acceptable and one big happy family. We also all have the same problems and stresses, usually singers and guitarists but we love drummers 😁

Thanks for the info, I will look into those patches and give them a go. The one's I've been using are Molly, The Solitude, Hermitage, Bunny Bum, Open Space, Hendrick and French Funk.

Good on you for getting back to playing fretless. I actually find it quite hard going back to a fretted bass now. It feels so restrictive and I had to sell my 75 Jazz which had blocks and binding as it was so messy to look at and was doing my eyes in lol I'm not sure of the name of the chorus patch I use but I have seen the Nathan East one. I do find a lot can get quite boomy so I'll give the Nathan East one a go tonight and see what its like.

I asked this question a little while back as I only play fretless and play a fair amount of harmonics. I've settled on a chorus pedal and the TC Electronic's Hall of Fame 2. Works quite nicely.

Yep, same.

Ooh, I'm off to read his Wiki page as not actually read it.

Love it, Bill Evans is incredible.

I'm after a set of LaBella Low Tension Flats Long Scale. Prices seem all over the place from £40 up to £80. Bass Direct seem the best place right now.

Ok perfect, thank you very much for your help.

@Reggaebass Perfect, thank you very much, you're a star.

Have to agree with this, my very first fretless was a Squire Vintage Modified that I played as a bit of fun when I was out trying fretted basses in music shops about 10 years ago. I was with my wife and decided to give it a go and said to her, this could be interesting as in this is going to be embarrassingly bad. Ended up playing it for about an hour with a perplexed expression on my face thinking this is actually great. A few days later, came home to find the bass waiting for me. My wife said you were so comfortable playing it, played it so naturally and looked so happy that I've bought it for you. Also, my main recording bass is a Mexican Fender FSR 70's Precision. Tried it in Guitar Guitar and it sounded phenomenal and was beautiful to play. I've got Stingray's, US Fenders and many other higher end basses that have come and gone but this Mexican Fender is incredible. Plus, what's the one bass I regret selling, my 77 Fender Precision??, my 73 Fender Telebass??, my dream Stingray that I bought when I got signed??, my first Warwick Streamer that cost £2300??, nope, it's a £700 Mexican Fender Jazz 70's Reissue. It was beautiful and sounded wonderful and fitted to my playing perfectly and I so miss it.