Linus27

I would go as far as saying music is a language, it a way of communicating or talking to other through music and I know that I would personally prefer listening to someone speak to me through music than listen to a lot of what people say with their mouth.

What a fab interview and so insightful. Not player I listen to or a style I play but such a great and talented guy. Thoroughly enjoyed that.

Yes, I'd say pretty much passed me by but I'm more bemused by the fact I have never seen a fretless with what appears to be a blue fretboard and on a headless fretless (apart from Status). I've seen these EHB basses before but not fretless, coloured board and headless so it was a bit of a woah moment. This is just very different to the usual lined rosewood headed fretless basses that most manufacturers put out. I'm a big fan of Ibanez basses and think the SRF500 is the best looking fretless on the market as well hankering after a fretless Musician at some point so full credit to them for making this. I'm very tempted to actually get one to be honest. I don't play 5 string but it could be a good challenge for 2023.

I thought that also if you mean the one who was dressed in what looked like a gigantic black puffed up daisy chain and had the two female singers behind her at the same time. Her timing was so out that even my wife picked up on it and asked is she really out of time because she's very drunk or is she just not bothering. She also kept missing out lines.

Yep, totally agree, panga panga or walnut would have looked so much better. Disappointing also there's no 4 string option.

Ok thank you, I'm not up with Ibanez stuff but nice it has the option of being passive.

Yeah I agree, it does look a bit odd or unfinished. As it has a bolt on neck, I thought you could do something with it but looking at this picture, you can see the reason it's done that way as it's the neck wood blending in under the fretboard. It would probably look odd if it matched the colour of the board as the sides would then look odd. Just wish they'd used a dark wood instead. It also appears to be passive only so I thi k it will be priced at around £999. Could be wrong though.

I really don't know what to make of this. On one hand I absolutely love it, fretless, headless and a blue fretboard but on the other hand it's just too whacky. I can't decide if it's a pure genuine piece of art or something that a drunken insecure art student would design to try to be different. Its blown my little traditional fretless brain to pieces 😂

Pino's fretless Stingray please. That would suit me just fine. I'd even lend him my fretless Stingray if it left him short for the night 😂

It's been pretty disappointing so far, absolutely nothing of interest.

I have a pau ferro board on my Stingray and it looks fabulous but my favourite despite looking nowhere near as beautiful is ebony. Below is my pau ferro Stingray neck.

Great post and thanks for sharing, enjoyed reading about your experiences. I spent a good few years play a U-Bass in a 50's and 60's Rock 'n' Roll band and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were doing well over 100 gigs a year and at least a third of them were where we stripped back and played acoustic and I jumped on the U-Bass. They are such great fun and I got so much attention and interest from playing one. I started out with a Kala Sub bass which was really good and very well made but I wasn't a big fan on the looks. So I then got a Kala Rumbler which I absolutely loved. It sounded fabulous and was lovely to play. I had so much fun playing it but sadly the band stopped when Covid hit and we all moved on. I did toy with the idea of either getting a fretless or the California but as the band ended, I went the other way and sold both my Kala's. I however fancy getting another at some point and really like the look of the Kala Journeyman so maybe next year I'll start again with one. Anyway, here's a little video we did of a famous song in an American dinner.

I've used Andertons for many years, even back in the late 80's when they were in their old building. In fact I was there yesterday trading in a couple of pedals and purchasing some new ones. I can only ever recall one issue which was disappointing but was sorted which was an issue with a new Fender bass. Apart from that, 99.9% of the time they have been excellent, super friendly and helpful, even if their selection of basses is a little disappointing.

My board, updated with a couple of new pedals. Got an EHX Bass Clone which is a gorgeous chorus pedal and way more natural sounding than the TC Corona pedal it replaced. Also got a Mooer A7 reverb which is fabulous and I find is a much more versatile and interesting pedal than the TC Hall of Fame 2 that it replaced. These two pedals combined with my fretless is sublime. Plus I've got room to sneak a compressor pedal in when funds allow.

Ampeg also do a really nice little 210 for under £300 new.

I play fretless and I've been dabbling lightly with some different strings on my 4 fretless basses. My Precision with high gloss maple neck has a set of Rotosound flats which sound very nice and do sing quite nicely. I recorded an EP in the summer and used this bass mostly as it sounded the best recorded. My Jazz has an Ebony board and uses Rotosound rounds and it really sings, it's a beautiful sounding bass, the most mwah ever and very smooth. My Stingray on the other hand has always been lovely to play but has never sung that much. I kind of put it down to the Pau Ferro board on it which is a hard wood. That was until I fitted a set of LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound strings I had knocking about. Oh my, it has absolutely transformed this bass. It truly sings and they are so lovely to play. Low tension, smooth and I am absolutely converted, or at least for the Stingray, I've never heard so much mwah and expression from this bass. I'm now going to get a set for my Jazz which I think would make an incredible sounding fretless sound out of this world. How did I not know about Tapewound Nylon strings on a fretless but they are wonderful and highly recommended. Never tried LaBella strings before but they sound wonderful.

I'm not really sure what my best purchase was as they've all been positive purchases and still a bit early to say. My Boss OC-5 Octave pedal is brilliant. A proper workhorse that sounds fab and tracks brilliantly. I couldn't be any happier with it. My Ashdown RM Evo II is also brilliant. Sounds great out of the box, super functional, light and has been reliable so far despite only having done about 5 gigs with it. I also bought a fretless MIJ Fender Precision 62 reissue which is very beautiful and for the brief moment I tried it at home, seems very nice. However, I noticed the neck had some indents and grooves in it which caused certain note to vibrate or die prematurely. So it got dropped off at my luthier who's going to fix it so until then, I'm not really sure how it will pan out. Might be the best bass I own or may get sold next year but early indication seems it's a keeper.

John Coltrane- Giant Steps

I have the TC Electronic Corona Chorus and I really don't like it. It seems to muddy the sound and no matter what toneprint I try, none are much good and sound quite processed. The tone dial also does nothing to change the overall tone. Super disappointed with it. I've also tried the Behringer Chorus pedal and it's not bad for a £20 budget starter pedal. I use a lot of chorus and the three I've read good reviews on are the MXR M83 Bass Chorus Deluxe, Electro-Harmonics Bass Clone and Mooer Ensemble Queen Bass Chorus. I was going to give the Mooer a go being the cheapest but also tempted to try the Bass Clone.

Works for Sting also.

I think the last bit should read, 'You slip into bed and lay there exhausted and totally unable to fall asleep as you're still buzzing, analysing the gig, and thinking about how you played, how you could of played better, how the audience reacted, how your bass sounded, what new gear you should now buy, what someone said to you, how you're never going to play there again, do I need a wee, how you're going to tell the singer what you think, the girl on the left of the stage was super cute, why does the guitarist never lug any gear unless it's his own, what time is it, why does the drummer never buy anyone a drink, I definitely need a wee, why can I never hear myself on stage, when's the next gig, why can't I fall asleep, I'm going for a wee' 😂

Shocking technique, thumb coming over the fretboard, using 4 fingers to cover 3 frets rather than 1 finger per fret and look at the angle of his wrist, talk about fatigue central. Ban him, ban him now, he'll never make a career in music 😂😂😂 On a serious note, what a gorgeous bass, is it a Yamaha?

For my Jazz then I rest my thumb on either the neck pickup, the E string and move it closer to the neck sometimes for a more softer, darker tone. For my Precision then I rest my thumb on the pickups or the E string and again, move it closer to the neck sometimes for a more softer, darker tone. For my Stingray, then mostly on the E string, again, move it closer to the neck sometimes for a more softer, darker tone and occasionally anchoring on the pickup. One thing I do which is super consistent in my playing is generally if I am playing the E and A strings then I use my index finger mostly and occasionally play a note with the middle finger. If I move to the D and G string I switch to using my middle finger and occasionally play a note using my index finger. Occasionally depending on the bass line I will alternate between both fingers across all 4 strings in a more traditional fashion but most of the time, the E and A string is played with the index finger and the D and G is played with the middle finger.