JapanAxe Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Working up to a new fretless*, so popped into Dawson's in Reading on my way home today. At least 50 basses on display. Not one fretless. Where are they all!? [size=2]*No PMs please![/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I've got one of them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChick Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Just get them to rip the frets out of one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I have two for sale! [size=4] [/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingus Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) The problem is that fretless bass is very much a minority interest nowadays. Try and find a current top 40 record with fretless bass on it. You would be lucky to come up with anything. The heyday of fretless bass playing in mainstream pop music was thirty years ago, but since then it has gone progressively more out of fashion as an instrument. The scarcity of fretless basses in retail shops reflects that trend. There just isn't enough demand for retailers to stock them in any meaningful way I am sorry to say, except maybe the odd cheapie model. Even specialist bass shops aren't falling over themselves to fill their racks with fretless basses. When I was a teen hopeful in the early 1980's there were plenty of high-end fretless basses for sale in music shops, because that was what people aspired to and were willing to hand over their money for, but nowadays the same demographic mostly wants a Fender or something similarly retro, and will play it in a very different style to what I and others like me aimed to play like back in my day. The World has changed, and shows no sign of changing back again. Fretless bass is just one casualty of that change, and I am another. It's not all bad though. Back in the 1980's people thought that Russ Abbott was funny and that Level 42 were worth listening to. I know it seems crazy now, but it really was like that. . Edited February 7, 2014 by Dingus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoham Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Had a similar experience. The bloke in the shop checked his online catalogue and wasn't able to find much. Fender, Squire and Vintage Jazz basses. Mostly 'Jaco' style too. Reckon a wee shake up is needed - love Jaco's stuff, but have no desire to play a tatty looking bass with a missing scratchplate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I spent months advertising on here and Facebook for a fretless 6, I had just 3 offers in that time. I did eventually find something I like though, so worth the wait in the end. Maybe get something made ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Keep looking here, they are about. Have bought two Warwick fretless basses here. Alternatively buy a cheap (yamaha, peavey, aria, ibanez etc etc £50) and remove frets (DIY). See what you think... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Here you are Vester Done on ipad, so small. Sorry Edited February 7, 2014 by RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I've got one that lives in a case...remember that you also need some black Status tape wound strings to get the best from your fretless.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassist_lewis Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I was going to quip 'back in the 80s' but thought better of it but yeah, they're a bit out of fashion these days. My Letts fretless sounds amazing - kind if like a double bass in that there's loads of character in each note... but I've only used it for this novelty, can't think what situation would demand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I don't think they are dated, just a bit 'niche'. Off the top of my head here are a few fretless players - Alain Caron Gary Willis Steve Lawson Michael Manring Lorenzo Feliciati Robin Zielhorst - Exivious Sean Malone - Cynic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Ibanez do several fretless models, there's the Gary Willis model that's excellent value for money, and they do their SR and BTB models in fretless variants. Edited February 7, 2014 by ambient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Adams Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1391802359' post='2361574'] Working up to a new fretless*, so popped into Dawson's in Reading on my way home today. At least 50 basses on display. Not one fretless. Where are they all!? [size=2]*No PMs please![/size] [/quote] I must have just missed you, I left there at 4.45pm. I fancied a look at the Pelham Blue EB3 but the action was so high you could get your hand between the E string and the fretboard. And no, not a fretless in sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 The day after I heard 'Wherever I lay my hat' by Paul Young, aged 17, I took a set of pliers to the neck of my bass (a £50 jap crap bought 2nd hand). I regretted it almost instantly. And I had to put up with it (and the bits of sellotaped down fretboard) for another year until I could afford another. I've owned about a dozen basses since then and none of them has been a fretless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbobothy Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) I play both and love the change from fretted to fretless, sound and feel wise. The last few basses I've had I've always tried to get a fretless version to accompany it's fretted cousin . However I also can't think of any recent popular music that uses one! Edited February 8, 2014 by jimbobothy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazed Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I've got three of them with another on the way when I can sort it out...... Who wants to be mainstream anyway!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlapbassSteve Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Fender Precisions are in, Jaydee's and fretlesses are out. Way off the world at the moment, as has been said there just isn't any fretless in today's pop music... I've been interested to see some slapbass creeping back into the charts though. Fretless next maybe, this stuff seems to come and go in cycles. I've got a fretless that was given to me by another bassist which I keep 'just in case' I'm ever called up and asked to play a fretless specifically, but can't see it ever getting used outside my living room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 (edited) [quote name='geoham' timestamp='1391805630' post='2361620'] Had a similar experience. The bloke in the shop checked his online catalogue and wasn't able to find much. Fender, Squire and Vintage Jazz basses. Mostly 'Jaco' style too. Reckon a wee shake up is needed - love Jaco's stuff, but have no desire to play a tatty looking bass with a missing scratchplate! [/quote] they're not all relic'd you could easily throw a nice tort plate on there too Edited February 8, 2014 by steve-bbb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 I've belatedly realised that many fretless basses appearing on these pages are high end and/or custom built. Obviously I am watching 'Basses for Sale' on this very forum, but also eyeing up the good old Sandberg Configurator. Mmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martthebass Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Mine will be getting a run out this evening.....granted I'll be using it for Talk Talk and other 80s covers though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 [quote name='SlapbassSteve' timestamp='1391829777' post='2361859'] Fender Precisions are in, Jaydee's and fretlesses are out. Way off the world at the moment, as has been said there just isn't any fretless in today's pop music... I've been interested to see some slapbass creeping back into the charts though. Fretless next maybe, this stuff seems to come and go in cycles. I've got a fretless that was given to me by another bassist which I keep 'just in case' I'm ever called up and asked to play a fretless specifically, but can't see it ever getting used outside my living room. [/quote] No problem - buy a fret less Precision! Available from 200 squids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 [quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1391818890' post='2361789'] High street outlets stock what they know they can sell, and fretless - even in its heyday - was the minority choice. You can't criticise retailers for being conservative about their stocking decisions, as I'm guessing most can't afford to have money tied up in stock they know they'll struggle to shift. Could point at a few fretless basses currently in stock with retailers that, if the items had been fretted versions, would have flown out the door, but, fretless, have been hanging around for months on end (and, in one case, sitting in stock for around three years). Run a poll, and see how many of the members actually play fretless. I'd guess at fewer than one in twenty. [/quote] Exactly this. I tried to get some fretless basses in our store to try and accommodate more bass players and extend the range. The 3 or 4 players interested wanted a good quality fretless (which is understandable) but NO retailer is going to test the market with a £1200 US Fender Jazz fretless. So by introducing entry level fretless basses, those interested simply turned their noses up at them (as they were sub £400 fretless basses) and it took an age to sell them as it's a niche market to begin with. In fact, it's very similar to lefty instruments. Nice idea to accommodate them but often hard to have a good enough offering to get the sales to justify the retail estate. All that did was justify to management that fretless basses are not worth the space on the wall or having the money tied up in. We then introduced the Epiphone Jack casady which is proving hard work just to keep in stock. You have to stock what people buy (regularly!). It's that simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveK Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 [quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1391805077' post='2361613'] The problem is that fretless bass is very much a minority interest nowadays. [b]Try and find a current top 40 record with fretless bass on it.[/b] You would be lucky to come up with anything. [/quote] This made me smile. My guess is that you haven't really listened to the top 40 for a few years. Of course, You're correct - you'd be lucky to come up with anything with fretless bass on it. You'd also be lucky to come up with anything with a fretted bass on it. In fact, you'd be lucky to come up with [b]anything[/b] that wasn't played by a machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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