ezbass

Nordy Big Singles for you then, my good man. When I had them on an Ibby, the first time I dug in, I wondered who was getting gnarly - it was me.

I had one too, played great but ultimately a bit 'beige' tonewise. It would definitely fit right in with any genre and do a sterling job, but I ultimately felt it lacked character; I should've bought 'Ray or Sterling 5, but I had fiver GAS and that was the best and affordable, available on the day (impatient b'stard syndrome). Looking back, I should've replaced the bridge p/up with an MM type and then maybe the preamp. For the 5501, I would go for for Nordy Big Singles as they have real character and should drop straight in. Of course, your needs may well differ. However, if you get the right upgrades, I reckon that could easily be a 'Bass For Life'©.

The pickups in the CVs are pretty darn good. The ones in my 50s CV were better than those fitted to a Fender T I was trying when I bought mine. That said, I did eventually replace them with DiMarzios, but then again I pretty much replaced everything except the neck (inveterate tinkerer syndrome). The G&L Tributes seem to be really good VFM and still have that direct link to Leo for added je ne sais quoi.

There is another...

Headstock notwithstanding (it’s just wrong), I like that.

I had an EBS many years ago but stopped using it after reading that one of my biggest influences had stopped using a comp and I followed sheep-like as the EBS wasn’t really part of my tone and was quite subtle (I was younger then and influenced by ‘must haves‘ and my heroes). Now that I’m older (and hopefully wiser) I’m more reliant on my own ears and opinions. Recently, I have started recording at home (like many others) and I sent something I had worked on to a couple friends who’s opinions, in this new area for me, I value (one runs an FOH company and has been recording for decades). One of the suggestions I received were specific compressor settings for the bass track (I had already added some by ear) which really added ‘something’ and has now got me looking at gear and this thread. The settings were: 6:1 with 50ms attack, -6db threshold. Hopefully, the GAS will pass, but I doubt it 😂.

There is always a certain amount of feel betwixt board and markers due to different shrinkage rates, my Rob Allen even has tiny, almost imperceptible ridges (which he mentions on his website), but that’s awful!

My band is having the same discussion. One of our number has access to a large outside space and we're hoping to utilise it.

Yes he does. From 6:45 onwards

I like the all black, the flight case is too generic for me.

I like all the bass line/story sharing that's coming from the great and good of the low end , but Guy's output is my favourite. It certainly has the best sound IMO.

The recent Yamaha Sessioncake deal was pretty spectacular.

An easy one for me, BK's playing on that album is amazing. Great cover by @GarethFlatlands as BK's style isn't easy to replicate.

Well played, that man. I got 7/10 straight off the bat, 84 and 89 eluded me completely and although I recognised 88, my old man’s brain couldn’t come up with the title. 👏👏👏

As @Hellzero says, listen to other players and their approaches to to fretless. 18 months or so ago, I started posting fretless tracks on FB under the #fretlessfriday. You are no doubt aware of these players, but it doesn’t hurt to list them in case they’ve slipped off of your fretless radar. Some of the players in my play list were: Tony Franklin, Bakithi Kumalo, Tony Levin, Larry Klein (sounds like he playing fretless even when he picks up a fretted bass), Alan Spenner, John Giblin, Boz Burrell (so subtle that you hardly know it’s fretless) and I also had the usual suspects in my list, already mentioned in folks’ posts above. I may have to go back and listen to them all again in the coming days myself.

Wise words, which are applicable to pretty much any art form, but especially the electric bass, which has only been around for about 70 years really (counting from Leo’s first P), the fretless version of which is even less so (albeit not too much).

Put your fingers where you think it sounds right and check against a tuner. The lines on mine are spot on when using the edge of a pick, so I adjust for my finger width/pressure where appropriate. Some strings seem to be more forgiving too.

If it’s lined, the side dots will be like on a fretted bass, just to get you in the area of where you should be, the lines are your target points (will come to rely on them less and less as time goes on - FWIW other lined players include Gary Willis and, of course, Jaco). As has been said above, once you’ve done the initial obligatory slipping, sliding and OTT mwah (plus the Pino ‘Hat’ line), just play the songs you normally would as if you’re playing fretted. You probably already slide into a few notes and add vibrato on fretted anyway, it will now just sound more organic. Soon, you’ll just instinctively know where those little fretless touches sound best. Enjoy the ride, it’s a lot less bumpy.

Since pulling the frets out of 2nd ever bass, I never been too far away from having one in my collection and these days I have 2. I don’t normally do New Year’s resolutions, but this year I decided that unless the project or song absolutely called for frets, then it was going to be fretless all the time. I’ve loved it. Rather than having to think where I would use the ‘bump-less beast’, I just pick it up for everything and it’s rare that I have to change. In terms of ease of transition, I’ve always played close to the fret so playing fretless has never been overly difficult and it has improved my ear. I’d also love an upright, but the practicality, not to mention the cost, of owning one gives me pause. I have played one and I like it, although it is a very different animal.

I’m currently running a Sadowsky SBP2 into a VTDI. If I had to go to just one, I’d probably get the SBP1.

TBH, it was your GAS thread that started me looking at Sadowskys again and now I’ve caught it! I still have my eye on a used, 5 string Metro, which I don’t need. Oh, the horror!