Bobthedog

Sorry, I do no understand the question. What a daft idea! It just does not compute. One bass? No such thing.

Like this you mean:

Today and pre lock down

Just now, cetera said:

Please be aware that I can only have this number because I am lucky enough to have access to a very understanding and tolerant wife.... I can keep them all at home! lol!
Find yourself one of those.....  

 

Now you have spoilt it. I have edited the post so I can still show my wife. 😀

1 hour ago, cetera said:

A few more changes..... so here's an updated list as of June 2020 with latest purchases in bold:

(PRE-KRAMER) SPECTOR SB-1 USA 1976 (Walnut/Maple)
(PRE-KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Cherry Sunburst)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Black)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Black)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Gloss White)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Tobacco Sunburst)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Red/Black Lava Crackle) - Ex-Barry Dunaway (Yngwie Malmsteen Band)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Red Stain)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Gloss White)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Black)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Black)
(KRAMER) SPECTOR NS-2A (Teal)
SPECTOR NS-2 USA (Custom Holoflash Black & Abalone)
SPECTOR NS-2X USA 'Spectorbird' (Tobacco Sunburst & Abalone)
SPECTOR Euro CR (Holoflash Black)
SPECTOR Euro CRFM(Dark Purple Stain)
SPECTOR Euro CRFM (Plum Stain quilt)
SPECTOR Euro CRFM (Forest Green quilt)
SPECTOR Euro LX (Gloss White)
SPECTOR Euro LX ‘Ian Hill’ (Black)
SPECTOR Euro LX 'Rachel Bolan' (Black/Silver Sparkle)
SPECTOR Euro LX (Black Stain quilt)
SPECTOR Euro LT (Violet Fade quilt)
SPECTOR Euro NS-2 JA-CR Euro RI (Gloss White)
SPECTOR Euro NS-2 JA-CR Euro RI (Black)
SPECTOR Legend 4X (Holoflash Black)
SPECTOR Legend 4X (Black Stain)
STUART SPECTOR DESIGN NS-4 Euro (Red Stain)
DINGWALL D-Bird (Blue/Purple Colourflip)
WAL Mk1 Fretless (Mahogany with Stained Maple facings)
WAL Mk1 “Geddy Lee” (Black with Gold Hardware)
FENDER Precision ‘70’s Jap RI “Phil Lynott” (Black/Mirror)
FENDER Precision '70's Classic' Jap RI (sunburst/Blocks on maple board)
FENDER Precision ’62 Jap RI (Vintage White/Red Tort)
FENDER FSR Precision PJ Deluxe Active (Sea Foam Metallic) 1 of 150
FENDER FSR Precision 70's RI (Nat Ash)
FRANKENSTEIN Tele neck/P body '"Billy Sheehan - The Wife"
JACKSON "Kip Winger" Sig (Cherry Lacewood)
JACKSON TBX-Pro ‘Jacksonbird’ 1 of 56 made (Black)
JACKSON Ontario ‘Concert Bass’ (White)
HAMER Impact USA (Black & Gold ‘Marble’)
HAMER Impact USA (Red)
HAMER Scarab USA ‘Rick Savage’ (White)
KRAMER Forum I (Flipflop Blue)
KRAMER Ferrington Electro/Acoustic (Black)
ESP The Surveyor 1984 (Blue Stain with Blue fingerboard!)
ESP PPJ-160 ‘Masayoshi Yamashita’ Sig Model (White)
ESP/Zep-II PPJ-160 ‘Masayoshi Yamashita’ Sig Model (Black)
PEAVEY RJ-IV “Randy Jackson” Sig Model (Red Sunburst)
PEAVEY RJ-IV “Randy Jackson” Sig Model (Grey/Silverburst)
PEAVEY “Rudy Sarzo” Sig Model (Dark Natural)
TOKAI ‘Hard Puncher’ P (Black/Mirror)
TOKAI Works TW801? (Black)
FERNANDES MV-65NS “Nikki Sixx’ Non-Reverse Spectorbird (Black)
FERNANDES MV-65NS “Nikki Sixx’ Non-Reverse Spectorbird (Black)
FERNANDES MV-65NS “Nikki Sixx’ Non-Reverse Spectorbird (Black)
FERNANDES TB Ltd Edition ‘Thunderbird’ (Off-White)
YAMAHA BB3000 (Black Sparkle)
ARIA CSB Black & Gold (Black)
PEDULLA Buzz Deluxe Fretless (Black)
HARTKE XK-4 Active (Black/Chrome)
GUILD Pilot (Purple Burst)
GUILD Pilot (Red)
MUSICMAN USA Sub Stingray (Black)
HAGSTROM Super Swede "Rutger Gunnarsson" (Dark Mahogany)
EPIPHONE Thunderbird Vintage Pro (Black)
EPIPHONE Thunderbird Vintage Pro (Tobacco Burst)
ITALIA Imola GP "Ricky Phillips" (White)
HOHNER B2A w/D-Tuner (Black)
HARLEY BENTON PB-20 Precision (Matt Black)
FELINE/SPECTOR "Gene Simmons SB-1" Copy (Black)
FELINE/KRAMER "Gene Simmons Axe" 1980 Hybrid (Black/Silver)
PUNISHER "Gene Simmons" Ltd. Edition (Signed/#’d) (Black)
AXE "Gene Simmons" Ltd Edt (Signed/#’d) (Black/Silver)
CORT “Gene Simmons Axe-2” (Black/Silver)
CORT “Punisher GS-2” (Black)
STACCATO MG Active (1 of 34 made) (Black/Magnesium Alloy)

I also have 10 'guitards'....

Having just gone back up to 4, I am going to show this to my wife. 😀

Goodoh, the login problems have been solved then! 🤣

One for the regulars here. 

I suppose it is possible but also very selfish. Imagine all those guitar manufacturers and shops that will go to the wall. Imagine the cash flow implications to the economy from a limited secondhand market. No, in these hardened times we must all buy as many basses as we can just to keep the economy flowing. I only bought my recent fretless for that one reason!  😉 😀

I attended a Zoom conference with Steve Gadd and Anthony Jackson about a month ago. During the recording of, I think, a Chet Baker track, they took six takes to get it right. Jackson changed his strings on each take. Perhaps these are what he was using?

Is that already discounted for it being partially used or is that the price per annum which reduces as time goes on?

Ooh Ooh! I can now join in: Sire V7 Jazz:

23 minutes ago, jrixn1 said:

I just picked up a Squier Classic Vibe fretless jazz, but it has this problem:

 

Running a finger down the fingerboard, can definitely slightly feel each "fret"; and then there is one marker that is coming out.  (This bass is getting sent back to the retailer, of course.)

On the Sire, is the fingerboard smooth/coated, or can you feel the fret markers?

 

Ouch! The Sire is absolutely smooth and no feel at all to the fret lines. 

On 31/05/2020 at 13:21, Happy Jack said:

This is an excellent post. My only addition would be that lined fretless is an abomination, and completely pointless at that ... when you're playing a bass, you can't actually see the frets!

What you need to see is the ENDS of the frets. Ibanez recognised this 50 years ago and produced this:

That's a Lakland Skyline Duck Dunn where I switched to a fretless neck.

The job of installing those fret ends was (apparently) very simple, and was not at all expensive.

 

2 hours ago, Rich said:

My fretless Ray neck had the same in terms of side dots, i.e. where they would be for a fretted bass... I blacked them out with a sharpie pen and then put big white Letraset dots at the fretlines, which I painted over with a smear of car touch-up lacquer. You can just about make them out in this pic.

 

Very similar. If I cannot make the transition easily to knowing where the notes are , I am probably going to go the @Happy Jack route of having some inlays put in. I am waiting too on a stroboclip tuner to work alongside my ears to find where the correct fretting position should be.

48 minutes ago, police squad said:

Looks nice Bob, you could always add secondary dots on the side, level with the lines.

I built a fretless P bass with no lines on the maple board and the dots were where they would have been on a fretted bass.

I installed black dots where the frets would have been and it works perfectly

For the moment I have added some sharpie lines where the frets are. Dependent on how I get on, I may have some proper markers put in later on. 

Just arrived, my first fretless. First impressions, very well made and great tonal options. Good string spacing and a pretty good B considering a 34” neck. The white is a creamy tone so looks much better in the flesh. Comes with flatwounds as standard. The only negative for me is no side markings other than dots in the middle of the frets. Per another thread there is no sight of the fret lines when playing. Coming from playing my long necked fan frett (37” B) Dingwall for the last few months this is going to take some work to get used to but then for the moment time is one thing I do have. 
 

30 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

@chris_b @gjones

 I don’t clean my bass each time just like I don’t sanitise a hammer each time. 

For me it is more about the appearance of the bass rather than the sanitisation. I don't care what my hammers look like. The finish on all my basses looks pants if covered in fingermarks and dust.

I also clean the back of the neck to keep it fast. 

Having just read Stew's comments, I don't clean the strings but do give them a wipe after a long play

Depends, A quick noodle, no. A full on session, always. Once a month or so I will use Rotosound Guitar Polish and give the guitars, if used that month, a full polish, however. Fretboard gets a proper clean when I change strings.

Never had what I consider to be a deal, but then I a) tend to buy new because b) I would not know what would be a potential deal.

I do get a free gig bag with my new Sire, however. To me that is exciting!

If you buy the Scarlett it comes with Ableton Lite for free. No need to buy one. I would also go for the 2i2. You never know when you might need the extra inputs

42 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

Use a Peterson tuner when playing and check your intonation while playing to be sure you're perfectly in tune, then your ears will learn.

Also use open strings when playing as you can retune your notes instantly (beware of natural harmonics...)

Adding a chorus is also a fretless trick.

Your vibrato must be horizontal, by moving slightly your finger, and not by bending the string : it's one way to see if you're in front of a "real" fretless player.

And as I like to say : no frets, no limits !

Have fun and use your ears !

Some good stuff there, particularly about the tuner, at least at first it will help. Thank  you. I still have to learn to trust my ears, although apparently they are okay.

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

The important thing is to place your finger where it produces the note that you wanted.

All else is nonsense.

 

That is really what I was saying

1 hour ago, Happy Jack said:

This is an excellent post. My only addition would be that lined fretless is an abomination, and completely pointless at that ... when you're playing a bass, you can't actually see the frets!

The bass (Ibanez 2366 FLB) was supplied with these fret end markers in place. I liked them so much that I later had a guitar tech do this:

That's a Lakland Skyline Duck Dunn where I switched to a fretless neck.

The job of installing those fret ends was (apparently) very simple, and was not at all expensive.

 

I am going to give it a go but agree entirely, I cannot see the frets so may end up going the route per your Lakland. 

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

One thing i noticed when first playing a fretless , was that if you put your finger on the fret line,  it produced a sharp note.  This is because your fretting finger is much fatter than the fret line, and therefore, some of your finger is in front and some behind the line.  You need to place the edge of your finger  upto the line rather than on it. ( see pic )

In addition to that, the further up the neck you fret, you will find that you need to make tiny adjustments to finger position,  especially at the dusty end

I have just watched a couple of videos on this and there are two different views. Scott said the finger must be on the line and the other said behind. I guess I am going to just play and see what happens.

On 26/05/2020 at 22:00, Bobthedog said:

Always try them out and buy from a shop - so far. I am down to three bass guitars  but have tried many over the last few years. Set up and strings can be easily changed - neck shape, balance, playability / feel and connection are to me too important to risk online purchasing. Basically I am too lazy to want bother with a return. Far too much hassle. Physical looks are very different to any pictures too.

There have been many real disappointments following a tryout and which stick in my mind including Spector NS5; Ken Smith 5 (cannot remember the model) - both of those just did not work for me in terms of playability - I had decided on  the Spector before I went into BD, but walked out with my Roscoe Century. As soon as I picked it up, it just felt right. The Sandberg California TT5 Masterpiece felt very light and cheap and the Mayones Jabba 5 Hadrien Feraud felt like it was a toy lump. I would love the MTD in matt blue that is for sale on here, but am not going to even consider it due to the chance of it not being right for me. The bass is a tool, but as a hobby player, I just want to enjoy playing it and want to look forward to picking the guitar up.

Going forward, when I do have a custom made, it will be online, albeit it will be based on a combination of all I have played and made note of that is what I want. 

All subjective, but my choice.

Looks like I lied to you all. Just ordered a bass online. This lockdown GAS is playing havoc with my reasoning. 

49 minutes ago, lownote12 said:

Another factor is lined or unlined.  Major name educators like Scott Devine and Steve Lawson insist that lined is sensible because it gives you precise finger placing control, which can be tricky, especially high on the fingerboard as Drax says.  Others like me just find lines distracting.  I only own unlined fretlesses simply because they're what came up when I was looking, but I very rarely wish I had lines to guide me.  Perfectly happy with unlined.  I quickly learned to play by ear and look at the fingerboard far less than I used to with fretted. 

Finally you will find fretless difficult if the side dots aren't on notes, as is often case with a conversion.

Even more finally, just go for it.  It may not be your cup of tea but you may love it.  More people on here than you might think play fretless. 

Thanks for this. Having done some more research, it seems that the Sire has side dots but they appear to be as if for a fretted guitar. That could be interesting especially as my daily player at the moment is a fan fret. This is going to fun, if nothing else whilst learning on this.