fretlessguy

[quote name='pfretrock' timestamp='1424699957' post='2699264'] ? Jaguar SS 'club' running on Talkbass for a few years now, 150+ members [/quote] The Jaguar Short scale was released here a few years ago and is based on the Jaguar body. The Fender Short Scale Jazz was just released here last week.

[quote name='indus' timestamp='1424675412' post='2698922'] Yeah, I like the Candy Apple Red one myself. It's about $399 over there isn't it? Do you stay near Chicago or Vegas? My son flies there with BA as crew and if you tell me the store he can bring one back for me...That would be good as no sign of it here yet except the test run models which have all been sold. [/quote] Got the www.fender.com site and see where the stores are in Chicago and Vegas. Both are quite far from where I live. Interestingly, I found out about this bass on Andertons U.K. site months before the bass was acknowleged in the states.

I recently turned 55 myself. I have been looking at that shortscale Jazz bass for a while. It has finally been released here in the states. My wife, who has given me the green light to go ahead and order it, on the agreement a I buy the red one and not the "hideous white one". I can live with that! Best of luck with whichever you buy. Happy bassing!

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1420998387' post='2656003'] Buy what you like and play what you like. [/quote] Truer words are very rarely spoken.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1414000128' post='2584715'] What are these 'frets' of which you speak..? [/quote] Good question. I am not quite sure what those are myself.

[quote name='jimbobothy' timestamp='1392854704' post='2373668'] Anyone thought of a Djembe? The amount of different tones you can get out of one of those played well is really ace!! [/quote] When I double on percussion I use a djembe. Probably the most, or at least one of the most versitile hand drums. While playing I also use a foot powered tambourine, wrist bells, shaker, and rainstick in various combinations.

I have played them in stores. Really nice bass. It is an acoustic that feels like playing a Jazz. They are no longer listed on Fender's American website.Might better grab it and the case while you can.

[quote name='merlin' timestamp='1420108134' post='2645552'] Well played the new toy last night,thought I would just do the first couple of numbers just to see how she performed,....well shave my legs and call me Susan,played the bass all night,awesome sound,realy cut through the mix,the tone control has a good full sweep from thick bass to a great mwarr tone, easy to play,fretlines,great my others fretless bass has an unlined neck,so the lines are a bonus, love the rounds I perfer the tone over flats,tuners great once the strings beeded in.Now will have to get her out to clean it, cheers M. [/quote] I own a fretless P Bass made in the mid 90s. I prefer the fretless P to a fretless Jazz. Love their tone. I am glad to see you are enjoying the bass. Played one a few weeks back and found it every bit as good sounding as my Fender one. Enjoy!

Maybe, maybe not. I would email Line 6 and see. It operates on piezos like an acoustic bass guitar. It may affect the quality of various patches in your synthesizer module. Maybe you should try it, and if it does not do well, then just put them on your acoustic. good luck with it.

I know of a Jazz/Avant garde bassist (Michael Manring) here in the states that Has a Zon Bass with a Hipshot on each string (2+2 arrangement). The bass has a very long headstock that gives each hipshot room to be utilized. Most basses probably don't regardless of key configuration. My approach would be to have two 4 stringers with one in DGCF and the other in traditional tuning with the Hipshot when you just mwant to drop the E to D and still use traditional tuning when needed. As for the bass in DGCF, a four string set in .55-.110 would be ideal, at least in my experiences, and for the bass with the hipshot a medium gauge set with an E string of at least .106-.110 E string. GHS makes a string set for dropping just the E string. Billy Sheean set I believe. DR also make one I believe. Good Luck!

EB or the Fender Tele with the "mudbucker" pickup on it, teamed with some flats.

Greg Lake played them during ELP's reunion during the same time frame. They started a craze for ergonomic styling a lot of basses from the orient copied. Well made at the that time, but I cannot vouch for them now. They currently do not have a distributer in the states these days. Originally made in Japan, most production is in Korea, or the last I heard. Known for that headstock.

I found the Jack Cassidy to be the most versatile passive bass I ever sat down and played. You could get a wide range of tones with just the placement of your playing hand. And then there were the tone controls including the multi-impedence selector. It was just too big for my short self to handle and I wound up trading it for another bass.

YOU play what you feel the most comfortable with, regardless of scale or finger size/length.

Like Panamonte, I adjust the neck to be as straight as possible. I adjust the string height to be low as well and play with a light touch (most folks cannot play my fretteds the action is so low). I intonate the bass at the octave bar, although I have in the past set it at the 5th fret since a lot of playing tends to be there.

Everything you have read is true. To quiet for anything but personal practice. Usually the bronze strings they come with are extremely prone to fingernoise,although Fender and TI makes sets that are not so much that way. They are also prone to feedback in high volume settings, so a soundhole plug is a requirement. I use a Carvin AC40f fretless for my ABG work. It has a thin chambered body which eliminates most of the feedback problems. They come with LaBella tapewounds which also eliminates the fingernoise problems (mine has on Fender tapes currently. They have more of a mwah fretless sound rather than the upright bass sound the Bellas give). The last time I checked carvin has a couple of stores in Europe. [url="http://www.carvinguitars.com/customshop/aebasses.php"]http://www.carvingui...op/aebasses.php[/url] As of late I have started using the bass ukulele because of its upright bass sound (oh, what a tone). They are not expensive (unless you buy the USA made solid bodied ones), are small, and very light and compact. I use KALA brand bass ukes, but I believe ORTEGA sells them on the amazonUK site. They are used with regular bass amplification. That's the solidbody SUB model I am playing in my avatar pic. Tuned EADG as in bass guitars. [url="http://ortegaguitars.com/en/products/ukuleles/ukulele/show/Product/rlizard-bs/rlizard-bs/"]http://ortegaguitars...-bs/rlizard-bs/[/url] [url="http://kalaukulele.com/instrumentsU-bass.html"]http://kalaukulele.c...entsU-bass.html[/url] Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

GHS Tapewounds, Pressure Wounds, & Precision Flats TI Jazz Flats SIT Taper Wounds Nickel

My fretted P (54 reissue) has TI Jazz Flats. My 96 Fretless P has GHS Tapewounds.

The MK 2 model is just now arriving in the states. It has some changes that were done in light of customer feedback. It costs about $40 dollars more. The cheap plastic grill that rattled has been dispensed for a more traditional cloth one, a carrying handle that fits flush with the body, and the vinyl covering has been replaced with what appears to be a duracoat spray-on coating. Also, a matching speaker cabinet with a built in 200 watt amplifier will allow the rig to play much larger places (400 watts total). [url="http://www.gallien-krueger.com/products/combos/"]http://www.gallien-krueger.com/products/combos/[/url] [url="http://www.gallien-krueger.com/products/powered-cabinets/"]http://www.gallien-krueger.com/products/powered-cabinets/[/url]

Lets just face it. Acoustic bass guitars are simply not loud enough to work for pure acoustic settings. They were meant to be used in those semi-acoustic settings where everyone plugged their acoustic instruments in the system. If you are playing in a pure acoustic setting buy an upright bass or at the least one of those Mexican guitarrone or old Guild B3/Ernie Ball bass guitars. As far as ABGs go, I cannot tolerate the bright phosphor strings. Too much finger noise and way too twangy. I prefer light gauge flats or tapewounds for less stress on the soundboard. Be sure, especially with the tapes, that they can fit through the bridge if that is how they are installed on your bass. The acoustic basses with the big bridge pins are not usually a problem for thick tapewounds, but you might need to enlarge the slots in the nut. My current acoustic bass is a Carvin AC40 fretless with Fender tapes. Sounds wonderful.

I use both Fender and GHS and Fender tapes on my fretlesses. The Fenders have more of a bighter sound whereas the GHS sound smoother and slightly higher tensioned. The Fenders are some of the least tensioned bass strings I've played, comparable to TI Jazz flats.

According with what I read on talkbass and some other sites over here, the tone shaping is fantastic. The amplifier is built to be used with their microbass line of combos and stand alone cabinets. They are built for smaller rooms and coffehouses and the like. If you want large chest thumping sound and volume this isn't it. if you want the full 250 watts, then you need to go with two 8 ohm or one 4 ohm cabinet. hope this helped. [url="http://www.carvinguitars.com/bassamps/bassheads.php"]http://www.carvinguitars.com/bassamps/bassheads.php[/url] [url="http://www.carvinguitars.com/bassamps/microbass.php"]http://www.carvinguitars.com/bassamps/microbass.php[/url]

i have a Carvin 5 string fretless that has an ebony board. I've used all manner of strings through the years on it (it's a 1997 model) and it shows very little wear on the board. If it were a rosewood I might be a little concerned, but not since it's ebony. Stay away from steel strings, which can be quite caustic to boards. If you go round, then use nickel light gauge strings, which increase the "mwah" sound and are smoother than steels to prevent wear. When using vibrato use it like a cellist or violinist would do, which is vertical with the string and not sideways like a guitarist. I have never had to have the board planed or serviced in anyway except for it's yearly lemon oiling. So.....if you really wan't to use roundwounds, then I would say have a go with them.

I like mine the way it is. The only modification I made was to put on a Hipshot bass extender so I could drop the E to low D quickly. Since mine is a 1974 I wouldn't change out the pups, but if a had a Mexican I would be tempted to put in a set of Fender noiseless pickups so I could adjust the tone knobs without any hiss. If you like the way it sounds, then don't change anything. Oh, a set of straplocks would be a good move.

I have used them off and on for around 18 years now. They have round cores that make them a little less-tensioned than hex cored strings. Pressurewounds do last quite a while. They are smooth to the touch and are kind to your frets and fingerboards for fretless players. All my fretted basses currently wear them and I have also used them on my fretlesses, but use GHS Tapewounds on those currently. Tonewise they sit somewhere in the middle between flats and rounds, and have qualites of both.