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Where are all the fretless basses?

JapanAxe

By JapanAxe,
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sblueplanet Rising Star

sblueplanet

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I played fretless exclusively for about 7 years but as the taste for it dropped do did my need for it and I haven't owned one for some time. However the band I play in just got a new guitarist who just happens to own a Wal mk1 lined fretless and he brought it along for me to play a few days ago.
Absolutely loved it. Was funny seeing everyone's reaction as I took to it again like riding a bicycle. No one in the band had heard me playing fretless before and couldn't believe the singing notes etc.

Happy playing fretted with flats for the moment though. Only slight GAS.....:-)

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BetaFunk Experienced

BetaFunk

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[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1401320244' post='2462531']
I played fretless exclusively for about 7 years but as the taste for it dropped do did my need for it and I haven't owned one for some time.
[/quote]
I'm interested in what you mean by the taste for it dropped.

Edited by BetaFunk
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MoonBassAlpha Mentor

MoonBassAlpha

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[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1401320244' post='2462531']
I played fretless exclusively for about 7 years but as the taste for it dropped do did my need for it and I haven't owned one for some time. However the band I play in just got a new guitarist who just happens to own a Wal mk1 lined fretless and he brought it along for me to play a few days ago.

[/quote]
That's one cool guitarist you got there!

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BassTractor Grand Master

BassTractor

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[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1401320244' post='2462531']
However the band I play in just got a new guitarist who just happens to own a Wal mk1 lined fretless and he brought it along for me to play a few days ago.
Absolutely loved it. Was funny seeing everyone's reaction as I took to it again like riding a bicycle. No one in the band had heard me playing fretless before and couldn't believe the singing notes etc.
[/quote]

Cool story! Brought a smile on my face.

The kids as well as my ex now gather around me and ask for money, and it's all your fault! :angry:

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BetaFunk Experienced

BetaFunk

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[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1401355573' post='2462672']
Basically, the fashion for fretless has waned. Not as prominent in music as once was. Time to bring it back?
[/quote]
Thanks, yes i see what you mean. I suppose it needs someone in a popular group to play one and then it will be a Fretless frenzy!

I remember a friend of mine who was a Bass tutor moaning to me in the early 90s that every new pupil he took on wanted to play like either Jaco Pastorius or Jason Newsted.

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BetaFunk Experienced

BetaFunk

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[quote name='3below' timestamp='1391815061' post='2361744']
Bad Company, Boz Burrell with fretless P bass on the early albums. Pretty far removed from 1980s fretless bass. Failing that, Jack Bruce, Cream re-union, again far removed from the 1980s sound. Fretless basses - great things, not a one trick pony.
[/quote]
I think that we've all got used to a Fretless giving a certain sound (like Jaco perhaps?) and have forgotten that they can be used in rock.
http://youtu.be/uAPUxvjbdcU

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BetaFunk Experienced

BetaFunk

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[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1401367349' post='2462843']
lots of people saying no-one plays them but I'm pretty sure Juan Aldarete played one with The Mars Volta, and they were pretty big weren't they?
[/quote]
Are they still going as a band though?

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EliasMooseblaster Proficient

EliasMooseblaster

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Speaking of the difficulty in tracking one down...any recommendations for a beginner's fretless bass? Something that's sufficiently well made that it won't sound and play atrociously, but cheap enough that my bank manager won't be tutting disapprovingly if I realise it's not for me.

(I wasn't overly enamoured with the Squier VM Jazz, but I don't know if that was the rounds or the ebanol fretboard...do most of them sound better once you pop flats on?)

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Happy Jack Grand Master

Happy Jack

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Ahem ... it doesn't help that the first two fretless basses you tried were a Wal Mk.II and a Veillette!

That's set the bar a bit on the high side, I fear.

Ebanol doesn't sound the same as ebony, but it's a pretty good sound in its own right. If you didn't like the VM I doubt it was the sound of the board that was putting you off.

Rounds give far more mwah, and plenty of beginners prefer them simply because of that - it's easier to make it "sound like a fretless".

To my ears, a fretless sounds far better with flats on but half-rounds or groundwounds really do offer a decent compromise.

The set-up is also key, since the difference between low and high action is (IMHO) accentuated on a fretless bass.

One final point - you need to play with the right line-up to really enjoy fretless. If you play with other instruments which can also involve dodgy intonation (slide guitar, violin, etc.) then the potential for appalling discord is always there.

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TheGreek Grand Master

TheGreek

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I've got one..don't use it..don't really want it TBH..but I've got one...

[URL=http://s1167.photobucket.com/user/FairfaxAikman/media/Shuker%20fretless/morebasses055_zpsa78e3c94.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/q639/FairfaxAikman/Shuker%20fretless/morebasses055_zpsa78e3c94.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

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EliasMooseblaster Proficient

EliasMooseblaster

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Haha, it certainly doesn't - I hope you realise I hold you (at least partly) responsible for my getting to this stage! (They were [i]beautiful [/i]instruments; thank you once again!)

I maybe judged the VM unfairly, as I didn't play around too extensively with the controls before the guy in the shop pointed me to a second-hand Warwick Corvette...but then, whilst I've settled on my general preferences for fretted basses (rounds, low action, passive), I am prepared to drop all my normal prejudices with fretless and start from scratch!

(Normally this is the point at which I'd say "guess it's time I went down to one of the big guitar shops in Surrey and try a couple"...but then we come full circle back to the OP's question!)

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JapanAxe Veteran

JapanAxe

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[quote name='EliasMooseblaster' timestamp='1401380029' post='2463054']
Normally this is the point at which I'd say "guess it's time I went down to one of the big guitar shops in Surrey and try a couple"...but then we come full circle back to the OP's question!
[/quote]

As OP for this thread, I have to confess I have recently sold mine in pursuance of the 1-in-1-out policy which I adopted for the purpose of retaining my manly appurtenances. However, when I was looking, I didn't find that many - even in the big Surrey shops.

I still haven't ruled out a lined fretless headless (cricket bat), on the grounds that I could easily hide it. I would get someone to take a date-stamped photograph of me playing it on a gig (not attended by Mrs Axe), then about 18 months later, stroll into the living room with it. When Mrs Axe says 'What? Another new bass?' I can reply that I've had it for years, before digging up the photo as proof.

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EliasMooseblaster Proficient

EliasMooseblaster

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[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1401380480' post='2463061']
I still haven't ruled out a lined fretless headless (cricket bat), on the grounds that I could easily hide it. I would get someone to take a date-stamped photograph of me playing it on a gig (not attended by Mrs Axe), then about 18 months later, stroll into the living room with it. When Mrs Axe says 'What? Another new bass?' I can reply that I've had it for years, before digging up the photo as proof.
[/quote]

Ha! Now that is a crafty plan - perhaps you should make sure you turn up to a couple of gigs with that day's newspaper, just to leave it in the corner of the photo. (I guess I was quite lucky; the last Ms Mooseblaster seemed to be strangely encouraging when I expressed an interest in buying another bass...)


OK, having watched this guy's demo, he makes the Squier VM sound pretty damn good, so I'm definitely reconsidering...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDIs-TbZ5og

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