Linus27

When you say different, in what way?

Thanks Jim, really appreciate your help and kind words. It's only been 2 weeks so very very early day and certainly a long but fun road ahead.

Thanks @JimmyN2 and @JPJ, your help is really appreciated and invaluable, thank you. So last night I did my first gig after only getting the UB804 2 weeks ago and it was a huge success. I've been putting in hours of practice each night to try and get comfortable, work on my technique and to tweak my bass lines as I'm normally a melodic fretless player. I needed to simplify them and play some parts in a lower octave. I knew the sound guy already and he's very good and knew exactly what I usually sound like with my fretless and what sort of sound I was after with the double bass and he got it absolutely spot on. I even got compliments afterwards and despite this being our first unplugged setup and mine with the double bass, we even got a standing ovation at the end so I'll take that as a hit 😁 As for compressor, for fretless, its vital for my sound but for the double bass I also found this had more of a negative effect than doing good so I kept this off. Reverb also is an essential part of my fretless tone but I found for the double bass, things got a bit mushy so I kept this off. I run it through my Warwick Gnome and TC Electronic BC208 and the settings were bass dialled back a little to 11 o clock, mids dialled back to 9 o clock and treble left at 12 o clock. The UB804 had the tone rolled all the way back and I got a nice warm rounded thumpy tone. Not necessarily pure double bass but nothing like a fretless bass. I did still run through my Sansamp but just as a DI rather than any tone shaping but I did dial all the blend off which helped. As for how I play, one thing I learnt very quickly is a softer touch really really helps and the softer I played, the fuller the notes swelled but also stayed cleaner. I was finding some of the lower octave notes like F and G on the E string could get a bit mushy and boomy but with a lighter plucking hand, the notes would sing more and this seemed consistent across all the notes. I've also been trying plucking 90 degrees to the string and also side on like Ray Brown. The latter is much harder but something I'm going to keep working on for sure. As for something to use instead of the Sansamp, I'd read the Fishman Platinum Pro had great reviews. I will of course look into the Artec Parametric EQ but I have also managed to get a great tone from just going direct into my amp so it's more the DI option that's important to me.

I've got 4 basses and an electric upright bass and I wouldn't mind a couple of other basses to add to the collection. Fender Japan 61 Reissue Fretless Jazz: This is the best bass I have owned. I bought it new around 87 and its seen thousands of gigs. Its fretless with an ebony board, Bartolini pickups, incredibly beaten up and sounds amazing. Strung with Rotosound 66 Swing Nickel rounds and really sings. Fender Japan 62 Fretless Precision: When I don't play the Jazz then I play this bass as its lovely and is a nice player when I fancy something different. It has a rosewood fretless neck, 62 vintage pickups, is strung with Rotosound 66 Swing Nickel rounds and has a really nice expressive, punchy tone. Fender Mexico FSR 70's Reissue Fretless Precision: It has a maple fretless neck, is natural with an Ash body, 62 Vintage pickups and sounds fab. Strung with flats and is brilliant for recording and is different to the other Precision and Jazz basses. Music Man Fretless Stingray SR4: It has a Pau Ferro fretless neck which is lovely but very different sounding to the three other basses I own. I'm still experimenting with strings and would like to try and use some Nickel strings on it at some point. I do occasionally gig with it as well but nothing really beats the tone from my Jazz bass. Ibanez UB804 Upswing EUB: Very different to anything I own but a wonderful fun instrument. After that, then I am always on the look out for interesting fretless basses so who knows what might pop up in the future.

Just out of interest, does anyone use a Sansamp pedal or similar with the Ibanez Upswing? If so, any recommendations on settings that you use. I'm trying to get as close to a nice organic, thumpy double bass tone as possible.

We played to a mildly iffy crowd last night. No trouble as such but a very odd crowd who all seemed to know each other from all ages with guys strutting around like peacocks and girls, done up to the nine's with tits hanging out, swearing their heads off. Pissed as anything treading on cables, standing right in front of us with their backs to us and showing no respect to anyone. Just a very odd crowd.

Some of my favourite Jazz numbers. Miles Davis - On Green Dolphin Street Bill Evan's - Minority Soil and Pimp Sessions - Summer Goddess

Thanks Jim, that's really good to know. I think mine came fitted with Rotosound rounds which really were doing the bass no favours. I had a set of Rotosound Flats spare which are strings I'm very fond of anyway, so I fitted them and they've transformed it. I'm still going to try a set of the D'addario ECB81's as I've read others have rated them as well. Thank you for your help.

1. 1988 - 1990: Band was disbanded for legal reasons so legal action couldn't be taken against us. 2. 1990 - 1992: New band was formed with the same members as the band above but with a different name to avoid legal action. After 3 years, the singer left and the band ended. 3. 1995 - 2001: Band was signed but due to suing the record company for breaching contract we disbanded after winning the legal battle. 4. 2008 - 2009: Quit the band after a year after wasting way too much turn on flaky band mates who never turned up and who did the talk but not the walk. 5. 2011 - 2012: Quit the band after a year and a half after the two songwriters refused to credit myself and the drummer on the album as musicians who played on the album but credited themselves. 6. 2018 - 2020: Gave notice to the band leader that I was leaving in 6 months after being with them for 2 years. Band leader threw a huge wobbly, went AWOL and did not turn up for the gig that night. The band disbanded soon after. 7. 2019 - 2020: New band formed with same members as above but with a new name. This band and the above band had been together for 3 years and was doing about 100 gigs a year but decided to call it quits when Covid hit. 8. 2019 - 2019: Played with this band for a year but the guitarist was a fraudster and conman so 3 of us quit the band. 9. 2021 - : Still going strong and with the singer who was in band 1 and quit band 2.

How are you guys powering your MS pedals? Are you using batteries, individual mains power supply or lead into a power pack?

Thank you so much, I would so appreciate it. I am a big reverb fan being a fretless player so any you have would be amazing. The Wah patch sounds interesting as well. Thank you

I punched your subtle reverb patch into my MS-60B and it sounds really good. Actually used it on Friday night and it sounded great. If you have any other patches then please share.

Great gig on Friday night at the brilliant Login Lounge in Camberley. We've played there a few times and it can be a bit hit or miss with the audience but this time it was pretty busy. The sound is always fantastic though and the sound guys really know what they are doing. During my soundcheck, the soundman said I was getting quite a bit of buzzing from my setup. I suspected it was my pedals but by going direct into my MarkBass LM IV and Barefaced Two10, the buzzing was still there. I'd just recently added a Sansamp BDDI v2 onto my board and suggested trying the DI on that. At that point an older guy who I think was the main sound man who wasn't working came over and asked what's up. The main sound guy explained and said we were going to try going through the Sansamp. He said that its probably their DI and going through the Sansamp will give a really clean sound and the Sansamp is an awesome bit of kit. He seemed to know what he was talking about and low and behold, no buzzing and my bass sounded incredible all night. Just as he walked off, he turned back and said, oh and by the way, your fretless playing sounds amazing 😁 We played amazing and the sound on stage was incredible, especially my bass. After the gig, I then got a couple more people come up to me and compliment me on my fretless playing so I went away super happy.

Just to say that I've just picked up an 804 and I am thrilled to bits with it. I'm a fretless bass player but my band who are quite acoustic sounding already will be doing some gigs this year where we are stripping back even more and the 804 will be perfect for this. Transitioning from a fretless Fender Jazz/Precision wasn't as bad as I thought, however my right hand technique really needs the most attention. When I try and play with the side of my index finger like Ray Brown, then it's a bit hit or miss but playing with my fingertips with my wrist 90 degrees to the strings worked really well. So something to work on and I'll be watching lots of double bass videos on YouTube to improve. I'm also a very melodic player and do play a lot of runs and parts high up on the neck. I'm finding this is a little tricky but moving to stand facing the fretboard of the 804 has made it a bit easier. Again lots to learn and work on. One other thing, mine came with strings that have red silks whereas pictures I've seen seem to have them with blue silks. Do the original D'Addario ECB81 strings come with blue silks? I've no idea what strings mine have but I think Rotosound as the ends are multicoloured like Rotosound strings. They don't feel smooth like flats nor do they feel rough like rounds, sort of half way. Anyway, loving the 804 so far and if anyone has any tips and advice then I'd really appreciate it.

Really enjoyed that and inspiring seeing some of pedals and basses.

Beautiful

Will update for sure. My E, A and D are absolutely perfect, just the G but it also has these weird overtones/harmonics on certain notes on the G. Mine also feels like there's something absorbing or countering the energy in the string on certain notes. Either way, I'll update as well when I know.

Thank @Doctor J and @Beedster It's not a new bass and I have checked the string height and neck relief. I've given it a bit more relief as the neck was quite flat but the strings height if anything if a little higher than it could be. It is also noticeably worse around the 4th - 7th fret but generally, overall the whole string doesn't sing or sustain as well as the other 3 strings. I'm gonna take it to the Bass Gallery at some point to ge looked at but I'll also look into the Fender Cat Finger as well.

I have a fretless Musicman Stingray and the G string has little sustain and sounds like it's being choked. If I play certain notes on the D string, the sustain can last 10 seconds or so but when I play the same notes on the G string, the note can die off after 3 or 4 seconds. I've tried 3 different sets of strings from roundwounds, flats and tapewound strings and the results are the same. The bass has a brass nut which I'm not sure if that's standard on a fretless Stingray with a Pau Ferro board. I'm wondering if the issue is with the nut. Anyone got any ideas or had anything similar?

Do we know when these might start appearing? I'm really keen on getting my hands on the MS-70CDR+ as I think this is something I'll possibly use a lot on a mini pedal board I'm thinking of building.

They just need to release an unlined fretless model and I'd be all over this.

Here you go, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_(band)

Along with getting signed as posted above, about 5 years ago, I was semi-pro from playing in a club band. I still kept my day job but I was also earning really good money from the band, enough to buy a decent German second hand car. However, to earn that amount of money was the work of doing between 100 and 123 gigs a year and if you think there's only 52 weekend's in the year, you can imagine how busy we were and how much time was put in travelling and being away from family. As with the band that was signed, I absolutely loved it and have zero regrets and if family life quietens down, I wouldn't mind going back to it. In contrast to being in the signed band, it felt as if there was more responsibility on you to perform to a higher standard and conduct yourself in a much more professional manner. You were entertainers, a show band that had been hired in, paid a good wage and it was your responsibility to entertain to a certain standard. So making sure your suit was clean, shirts ironed, shoes were clean, your gear was all working and you were on time was essential. So in my head, I just kept telling myself, I'm just following in the footsteps of Jamerson, Babbitt, Scheff and the other club musicians from the 50's and 60's and it's my responsibility to do them proud as I follow in there footsteps. At one gig, I had some old guy come up to me and start talking about my basses and he seemed to know what he was talking about and he said to me, "you're the only person I've seen play the bassline to Elvis's Burning Love correctly". Turns out he was a session bassist back in the 60's and used to back a lot of the American artists when they came over to play the UK. When I got home after the gig, I'd put all earning in a little Irish tea tin and each month I'd pay it into the bank which kind of became a routine. These day, I'm just playing for fun and I still put money from gigs in that same tin but instead of paying it into the bank, I'd go to the local record shop and spend it on old Jazz records. It's like pocket money to buy sweets and is a really nice, warm feeling 😁 So two very different experiences of being pro where one was carving our own future, being more in control of our destiny, the record company working for us and having a very acute spotlight on us constantly. The other where we were hired entertainers, in more ways like a business and had expectations to deliver to a very high standard. What I liked about being signed was the freedom to be myself as bassist, perform and act how I wanted and write bass lines and craft songs from what was in me. What I liked about being in a club band was the feeling of being a entertainer, the responsibility of having to know your shit and play absolutely perfectly and seeing the dance floor rammed. Both amazing, both very different, both very hard work and I wouldn't change a thing.