Linus27

As Steve has said, to get the Fender Precision TV logo, you want the PB70 Precision and the PB70US come with US Pickups and Alder/Ash body. I'm a huge Japanese Fender fan and I have the PB62 Fretless Precision andxa 62RI Jazz which are both amazing.

Generally no but we did a gig at a music club recently and after the gig, we headed to the bar and the two girls behind the bar went crazy and started shouting, "oh my god, it's the fretless bass player, we both adore the fretless bass and we hardly ever hear anyone play one, we loved listening to you play and the sound of the fretless". This obviously made my night. We then played there again a few times and they made similar comments but refer to me as the 'fretless bass player' and even renamed the band to The Tim Shez Band and The Fretless Bass Player 😂 The funny thing about this is our singer is not overly comfortable with the band being named just after him but the drummer and I prefer to be more unknown and just the other two, his rhythm section. So as a joke I got this tshirt made and have worn it a few times at gigs 😁

In my experience, I think woods and density play a factor in how a musical instrument sings. After all, its vibration and frequencies we are dealing with so how these travel through an object will play a factor in how an instrument sings and resonates etc. We've had dead notes, badly set up basses etc. which will affect how a note sustains or resonates so in my experience the wood and density does affect this. This is why I also subscribe to playing an instrument acoustically as Roger Sadowsky suggests. Tone and voicing on the other hand in my experience is not really a contributing factor of an electrical instrument, this in my opinion comes from the pickups, strings, technique etc.

I wouldn't necessarily say its a fake. I believe that Made in Japan was used up until about 1995 and then switched to Crafted in Japan from 1995 onwards. I would say the Made in Japan on the headstock is just a design logo and not anything more than some sort of logo, similar to a 40th Anniversary or 75th Anniversary type logo. For reference I adore Fender Japan basses, they are the nicest Fender's I have played, especially mid to late 80's models. I have two and they are my work horses. What I like the most about them is the high gloss necks rather than the satin necks that you tend get on US basses.

I've had a couple of fallings out with bands that I have left, one of them absolutely huge. Bands No.1, I chose to leave because they were quite flakey in the sense that we'd have band practices arranged so I would drive 45 minutes to get there to find not everyone turns up, so no drummer or singer as they can't make it or can't get a babysitter but failed to tell anyone. Even had a band practice where they turned up with the baby and then had to go off somewhere so as I was the only one who'd had a baby, they left the newborn baby in my arms to look after as they went off somewhere. Plus, trying to get them to commit to gig was impossible as nobody was available as they couldn't get babysitters or be free. So as we all communicated via email so I dropped an email saying I'm leaving the band to pursue other things and thanked them for everything to then get a barrage of abuse from the singer and guitarist. I tried to reason with them and keep it constructive but it got quite nasty so I didn't reply after that. Band No.2 was someone who I thought was a friend. We'd been in a band before and he always was a bit special in I want lots of attention which is fine. He was the band leader and organized all the gigs which again was fine. We were doing about 130 gigs a year, but at least a third of them were freebies and of no benefit but he either couldn't say no when asked to play or it was a way to satisfy his drinking habit as it was a beer festival or a fete/festival. He also didn't drive so one of us, usually me, would have to pick him up and drop him home after the gig. So cracks started to appear when we were doing 2/3 gigs a day or 5 gigs a weekend. It was something like play a 2 hour club gig on a Friday night. Then Saturday, drive from Surrey to Portsmouth to play for an hour midday at a fete. Then drive to Oxford to play an hour or 2 at a beer festival in the afternoon. Then drive to Gosport or somewhere else to play in the evening for 2 hours at a working men's club. Then possibly Sunday drive to a beer festival or summer fete somewhere miles away to play for free for 45 mins to an hour. All of this while picking him up and dropping him back afterwards. We started to notice our singers voice was starting to get damaged and she was struggling with the amount of singing she was doing. Even in one day she could be doing 3 gigs and singing anything from 4 to 6 hours a day. We also have families and were getting no time to spend with them and also spending so much time and money driving to gigs which we wouldn't get paid for. The drummer also was losing out as he would normally work nights as a Royal Mail driver but was having to turn down work to do a gig only to find he'd get paid £70 where he could be getting anything from £180 if he worked instead. Some of us put forward that we should limit the amount of gigs we do per day, so 1 gig on Friday night, a maximum of 2 on a Saturday and none on Sunday if we played Friday. This was to protect our singers voice. We also said that we only want to do gigs that paid or if they didn't pay, then it was a benefit to us in terms of exposure, promotion or could lead on to something else. We said that driving 3 hours to play for free for 20 minutes at a school fete is a bit pointless. This didn't go down very well at all with him and a few arguments ensued but we continued. Tensions started to creep in as more and more gigs and freebies and multiple gigs in one day started to creep back in. Our singers voice and health started to suffer and she started to get sick. Plus, the music started to suffer as it was quantity over quality which was then affecting the performance. The drummer especially started to play completely different drums parts as he was fed up meaning famous bass parts didn't fit or well known parts to songs no longer sounded anything like how they should, So it was the start of the summer and we played a really bad gig on a Sunday. We were all at each others throats, we played really badly and were promised some things which wasn't true. So after the gig, I said to my friend and the band leader that I have decided that at the end of the year I am leaving the band. I was giving him 6 months notice but will happily stay on into the following year if it takes a little longer to find a replacement. I thought this was reasonable. Well, my friend went absolutely ballistic, called me every name under the sun, and said that if I do this then he and I will never speak again. I told him that I am giving him at least 6 months to find a replacement bass player which will be a doddle and he's over-reacting. We'd been friends for 20 years so this is a little over the top but he called me a whole host of things like a snake, traitor, back stabber etc. and said that if I do this then we will never speak again. So anyway, we then had another gig to do that evening, a 60th birthday party for a lady who'd booked us but guess what, my friend, the band leader didn't turn up and would not answer anyone's messages when trying to get hold of him. This was very out of order as he accused us of not being professional at times and we must do certain things and not let customers or punters down by being late or cancelling any gigs etc. Thankfully, he only played rhythm guitar and did some backing vocals so we managed to get through the gig perfectly without him. Anyway, the band ended and we formed a new band as it was originally his band and his band name and out of respect we felt we should start a fresh. We also slightly changed the songs and style of the band to make it different but stuck to roughly the same genre. Some members left which was amicable and my now ex-friend formed a new band playing a slightly different genre and style. However, my ex-friend found out that we were continuing which at first he encouraged us to do but then seemed to turn against us. We think because he felt we wouldn't be able to succeed without him but it turns out that we were. We had about 40 gigs a year booked, gigs booked for 2 years in advance, including parties, birthdays, festivals, Christmas and New Years gigs. He started to spread nasty rumour's around about us to venues, phoning venues pretending to be us and cancel the gigs, get venues to try and pay us less as we were now a four piece and not a five piece anymore and even created a fake email address pretending to be a venue emailing us to say the gig at a big club has been cancelled. Of course none of it was successful as we were one step ahead of him but it did cause some disruption and a huge amount of stress as well as venues or people becoming suspicious or concerned about our integrity. We would contact venues or bookings a few weeks in advance to say we were looking forward to seeing them and playing just as a way to confirm we are still playing and to counter or check to see if there had been any contact from my ex-friend. Thankfully no gigs were successfully cancelled but some venues did tell us that someone had tried to call to cancel the gig. It even got to the point where my ex-friend sent me and others threatening texts and one female person linked to the band had to phone the Police as he was stalking them and making them feel unsafe. Some of my friends on Facebook, not linked to music were even contacted by my ex-friend to get them to like his new band and to not like mine. The mechanic who works on my car said his wife was even contacted by him and he phoned up drunk talking rubbish. They've never even met or spoken before. He even tried to ban us from travelling to the Isle of White to have a holiday as this is where he goes to visit sometimes and didn't want us on the island as well. So this went on for around 2-3 years with repercussions every now and again but its pretty much stopped now. Most of the toxic people involved who were his hanger-ons are not in contact and due to the Covid, the band that we formed stopped at the start of 2020. Just amazes me what my ex-friends motivation was as we were not in competition with him, had no grudges to bear and were just a small local band playing music, its not like were were famous or any sort of threat. All I can think is it was just a control issue or jealousy. Apart from that, all the other bands I've been in have been fine and I'm friends with now still.

I also have a Warwick Gnome I Pro 280 and I absolutely love it with my Barefaced Two10. I've started to use it a lot more at gigs as this setup sounds so good. I've also just bought a Mark Bass LM IV and it sounds alright through the Barefaced but I'm not blown away with it so I might sell it on. I did have an Ampeg PF500 and this sounded really good through my Barefaced. I also tried an Aguilar TH500 last week through a Barefaced Two10 and this setup sounded really musical. It was only in a shop so no real world comparison but the guy in the shop who was playing my bass through it was really surprised at how good it sounded.

This thread might help a little bit with some info.

I play a lot of harmonics and I only have flats or nylon strings on my fretless basses.

Couldn't have said it better myself 😜

Cheers everyone, I guess it's going to be a try and see if they tend to vary from bass to bass.

Wider as in a 70's neck? I don't mind wider and shallower is better for me. Just measured my 70's Precision and that is 42mm 👍

I play a 62 Reissue fretless Fender Precision. The neck is slim and feels wonderful. I also have a 62 Reissue fretless Jazz which has a super thin neck, probably a little too thin and flat for my liking but ok. I also have a 70's Reissue fretless Precision which has a chunkier, fatter neck than my 62 Precision but I do like it but it's not as comfortable as my 62 Precision. I played a genuine 78 fretless Precision the other week and the neck was like a baseball bat. I also played a fretted 73 Telcaster bass and again the neck was like a baseball bat. I've also played a few modern fretted Fender Jazz and Precision basses recently and again I've been quite surprised at how chunky the necks have been. The only one that actually felt comfortable was a Squier 40th Anniversary Precision. I like the look of a late 50's fretted Fender Precision, something like a 57 reissue with a maple neck but I'm wondering how fat and chunky a 50's neck is going to be, especially a late 50's Precision. Is it going to be closer to a 62 Precision or chunky like a 70's Precision or even chunkier still. So how does a 50's neck compare to a 60's, 70's and even modern Precision neck?

To teach, do you need to be able to read to pass course work onto to pupils to take away with them? How about qualifications and setting grades? I've always wanted to teach and give something back but always thought that you had to be able to read to pass this on to the pupils.

So just thinking outside of the box as suggested, before I signed my record deal, I needed work for a few months. I signed up to a catering agency who would offer me work each week. The money was half decent and it was actually really good fun. One week I'd work in a fancy kitchen, washing up or loading machines, helping with food prep, then the following week working in the local council making sandwiches and serving, then the week after in an old peoples home helping out the chef with everything and anything and then the week after helping in the kitchen of the local school. Every time I get fed a meal so anything from a school meal to a fancy posh meal and I got to meet loads of lovely people who were super interested in my music etc. The money was half decent as well and I could pick and choose when I wanted to work.

I wouldn't say that the tone from a fretless is tonally different to a fretless bass, they can if you wanted, sound a like. The difference comes from how you play and your technique. If you play a fretless and express the slides and vibrato then yes, you will get a difference but if you play it like a fretted bass then it won't sound overly different. For example, if you played a fretted and a fretless Precision with rounds, tone on full with a pick then they will both sound pretty much the same tonally, the only difference will be some of the expression between fretted notes but even if you kept slides to a minimum then there wouldn't be a huge difference if any tonally.

You are very welcome and interestingly, I think my black Jazz with the LaBella Deep Talkin Black Nylon strings is my best sounding fretless.

Thank you, I think you might be right as I can see the blue light on the right of the amp head that the AG500 has.

Watched a Sinead O'Connor documentary tonight and at the end they played this performance and naturally I was drawn to the bass player but I couldn't work out what his amp and speaker was. Anyone able to work it out?

So the strings on A1, B1 and C1 are LaBella Deep Talkin Black Nylon on a Jazz. The string on A2, B2 and C2 are LaBella Low Tension Flats on a Precision. The strings on A3, B3 and C3 are Rotosound 77 Jazz Flats.

Here are some sound samples of the different strings on my three different fretless basses. The strings in question are LaBella Deep Talking Black Nylon, LaBella Low Tension Flats and Rotosound 77 Jazz Flats. Please note that this was just something I knocked together very quickly off the top of my head with a Tascam digital recorder stuck in front of the amp so its very crude so apologies for the bum notes and not so exciting bass lines The first samples (A1, A2 and A3) are just a quick generic bass line that I was making up on the spot to show the three different strings. The second samples (B1, B2, B3) are the effects I use which is reverb and chorus and something played higher up the neck. The third samples (C1, C2 and C3) is again something being made up on the spot but using an octave pedal. To be fair, the differences are not huge but are noticeable. One of the basses sounded very smooth, balanced and creamy which was a nice surprise whilst another sounded a lot more Precision like than I was expecting. Anyway, hopefully it all works and you can get an idea on the differences. A3 A3.mp3 A2 A2.mp3 A1 A1.mp3 B1 B1.mp3 B2 B2.mp3 B3 B3.mp3 C1 C1.mp3 C2 C2.mp3 C3 C3.mp3

I'm the same but it's also a conscious effort of my part and the band I'm playing in to separate the dynamics. Our singer/guitarist will stay in the high end with his guitar and also adds a lot of vocal harmonies and choir like effects. I play at the other end creating a warm deep rounded bass sound similar to a double bass. I'm a very melodic player but I use a lot of octave to fatten my tone. Our drummer, who only uses brushes then sits in the middle and even has his snare turned off on a lot of tracks and restricts his use of cymbals to stay away from the high end.

I only play fretless and currently have 3 fretless basses. My fretless Jazz has LaBella Deep Talkin Black Nylon strings on it and they are very expressive with tension that's similar to rounds. It even says on the description that they are ideal for fretless and give long sustain. They are great for something like a Jazz or Stringray that is more articulate and cuts through a lot more. My main gigging fretless Precision has La Bella Low Tension Flats which sound really warm but also punchy and expressive. The tension is similar if not a little more to rounds. They are super smooth and shiny. I was considering changing them but I get so many compliments on the tone that I'm just gonna keep them on. Even the first gig I played with them, I got 3 or 4 comp,moments and even my mother in law was at the gig seeing me play for the first time and said after that she has no idea what I'm doing but my bass sounded so big and amazing. My other fretless Precision has Rotosound Jazz 77 Flats on it and I would probably say has the nicest, most natural tone. Warm round, punchy and can clank with the treble turned up. They do however have the highest tension which is why I just use this bass for recording only. When I recorded an EP last year, I tried all my basses in the studio and this one sounded the best, amazing in fact so everything was recorded with it. On some tracks though, I doubled up using the fretless Jazz with the La Bella Black Nylon strings because as I said earlier, these strings are very expressive so together it made quite an orchestral sound, cello like. When I had my fretless Stingray, I really struggled to get a good tone out of it, that was until I strung it with a set of La Bella Deep Talkin Black Nylon string. The bass then came alive and I never looked back and it sounded wonderful. If I get 5 mins together, I'll try and put together a recording of the 3 basses I do have with the 3 different strings so you can hear for yourself. One thing also to consider is to really boost harmonics, a chorus pedal and reverb pedal makes them sound massive.

I had an Ibanez Musician in the 90's after seeing them played a lot in the 80's. I loved it but it was super heavy. I would love a fretless Ibanez Musician in dark stain but they are super rare these days.

Difficult gig last night but also a huge honour to have played. Found out earlier in the year, one of my long term friends called Matt has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and has only got about 18 months to live. We go way back, something like 32 years and he used to follow one of my old bands and eventually became our roadie. I actually met him in 1991 in the queue to see The Alarm at Brixton Academy and when my other friend introduced us, he told him I play in a band which Matt responded by saying, I bet you're not very good, you'll never play Brixton Academy with your band. Funnily enough, exactly a year later, we found ourselves playing Brixton Academy, not once but twice and my friend Matt was actually there as well. We'd planned to play him a private, intimate gig sometime in October, with family and a few friends. However, he found out he now only has 3, 6 to 9 months left so we brought the gig forward to last night. He had no idea so it was a huge surprise for him as he thought he was just leaving Cardiff to see friends in Reading. We had people flying over from Germany and driving to Surrey from Portsmouth and Cardiff. Anyway, as you can imagine, it was a very intimate gig which was in a beautiful church in Wokingham. We set it up as if we were doing a rehearsal so the 12 or so people were really close and involved and felt part of the band. We had a joint friend play some Alarm songs first and then we played. It was very moving with lots of tears and the family couldn't thank us and everyone enough. A very special gig and not quite processed it all yet.

Welcome to Basschat @CiciBass and thank you for sharing your Ashdown video with us. Have also enjoyed your Andertons videos with Lee although I wished you'd asked me to do the recent fretless one you did 😉