Rayman

We had a second guitarist in the 80s… He was a pain in the donkey. So we auditioned a new guy. During the rehearsal the old guy turned up….. we got the new guy to tell him he was fired, then we fired the new guy too. We’ve been a 3pce ever since. Bands…. Lol

Yep, I’m sure, just not for me. I remember a Roscoe Century 5 in particular….. yawn. Beautiful instrument, just soulless. I sold it pretty quick.

I’m absolutely sure that Nordstrand pickups are top quality etc etc… However, I’ve had a few basses with them in, and was underwhelmed. I find them a bit sterile and boring, personally. A bit like Markbass amps… same. Personally I think SD or Fender pickups have more colour and character. Just my opinion.

Is Mark back from Holiday?

I actually have a bass here with a twisted neck, albeit only slightly. Warwick basses seem to be susceptible to it. In your case, from the pictures, I do not see a twisted or warped neck. The above advice is good.

I have an Instagram page for my artwork, and don’t use it for anything else. It’s just an online portfolio I suppose. I was thinking about another page for just bass stuff, since I ditched my FB page, but I’m not sure I can be bothered.

I need to play mine more than I do, absolutely fantastic instrument.

I’ve made a ramp, which I’m really happy with, it’s very comfortable to play now, similar to my Ibanez GWB35.

Yeah, I think when it comes to harmonics, rounds may well be the way forward, but I prefer the feel of flats, personally. I have them on quite a few basses. For me harmonics are a bonus, not a necessity, so I guess I have to find a happy medium.

Ok, so the TI flats feel much more familiar to me, because I already have them on two other basses. Not dramatically different to the Monels, but definitely more clarity, less wooliness and more tone options, so I'm going in the right direction. However, I'm thinking that the inevitable outcome will be that I'll need to try rounds too, just to see what I get. Maybe, which has just occurred to me, I could be trying to default tonally to my normal fretted tone? Does that make sense? In other words I need to understand that the tone from a fretless is a different thing and I need to roll with that and enjoy the difference. Decisions decisions....

TI flats are on…. let’s see how this goes

Fascinating, I preferred the sound of the low tension flats….. horses for courses eh?

I currently have 12 basses, and only two have the same strings on them (TI flats)…. For no particular reason, it’s just how they ended up….. rounds, flats, tapes… all sorts.

Stellar work sir

Thank you all so much! What a massive wealth of knowledge and information you all are! Ace…. well TIs first, and I’ll go from there

I’ve always preferred flats, except for rock, where they just don’t punch enough for me…. although, Steve Harris fans will disagree there…. I used to be into bright and zingy tones, Marcus style, but these days I wince at that amount of top end. So I’m trying to strike a happy medium with this fretless.

Hmmm yep…. I’m going to try the TIs, they’re used already, so no harm in trying them for a bit. I feel like they’ll have more tonality about them than the Rotos. If I’m still not sure, there’s a new set of Newtone rounds knocking about here somewhere. It’s going to be a matter of trial and error I think.

So I’m on my (unlined) fretless journey, and every day is a learning curve. A couple of questions for more experienced fretless players…. Musically I want to be able to play a relatively wide range of styles. I much prefer flats generally, but I’m finding the Rotosound Monels currently on the Dean a bit dull, and I’m struggling to get the sliding harmonics on them. I have a set of TIs on the way, which should be brighter, but do you think that rounds might be a better option for what I’m after? Are rounds better for harmonics? Are they a better option for a more versatile fretless sound? The bass itself seems to have a ton of tonal options, it’s active and has lots of high and low cut and boost. Any tips appreciated