Hellzero

I used a GK3 with a VBass and there was latency on the notes lower than the E. The GK3 had been fitted by Christophe LEDUC who also made the MP-5555 for Alain Caron in the early days of MIDI basses (0,33 second latency on the low B !).

I really don't care of the colour hardware, the most important being the sound unplugged. If it's dull, than better forget it.

Indeed, like any other system it needs the MIDI conversion card which is the Poly-Drive connected to the standard 13 pins output and then to your midi device. The difference between the hexaphonic Roland GK pickup and the RMC polyphonic piezo is the latency which is close to 0 in the piezo based systems or optical based systems like the Lighwave. Try the low B latency on a Roland GK and you'll understand why the MIDI bass master named Alain Caron uses now only the RMC's... He also used the excellent fret recognition based system, but it was impossible to use on fretless bases as the MIDI data is electrically recognised and it won't work with nylon strings either. And he stopped using the Roland GK because of it's too high latency.

I forgot Godin and that it works with any fretless instrument, check Alain Caron using the RMC system !

Put some RMC piezo pickups and electronics in your bass, these are the best ones you can buy with zero latency. Factory fitted by F-Bass, Fodera, Ken Lawrence, Zon, Klein, Conklin, Roscoe, Sadowsky, Lull, Dingwall, Leduc, Drozd,... to name a few. http://www.rmcpickup.com

Ask any Gibson dealer about their mandatory buying policy and you'll have a great part of the answer to this highly predictable potential bankruptcy... Add to that the fact that their R&D department and marketing are lead by real American idiots believing that their almighty power over the guitar world is definitely acquired because of their brand name and you'll understand that the rest will be history. Sad but true. But don't worry, Fender will follow the same stupid path as people managing the brand don't know a thing about musicians real todays needs. The more I think about it, the more I see the old punks slogan : No future !

Very interesting concept used in hi-fi speakers with a lot of succes, but I think the company isn't really existing anymore, sadly...

The guy originally behind Esh a certain Z. N. was a real crook. The first ones were quite good, but the quality rapidly fell when ZN took decided to run all by himself : a real disaster ! So beware, the very first years were terrific, then it was simply pieces put together while waiting the bankrupt... I had a few of the original ones and these were good to very good basses. Christof Kost is the owner of the original design and still making very good basses just like they use to do when starting up : http://www.christof-kost.de

Glad you found the right strings. Concerning your left hand playing, in fact, your thumb is only a guide and must not press the back of the neck. The power for pushing the strings should come from your fingers muscles only, otherwise when pressing the back of the neck wih your thumb you'll involve your tendons too much and finally damage them...

Rick Nielsen can't be spinning in his grave for two reasons : 1. He is not dead. 2. Impossible to do with such an instrument without lifting the stone.

Here is the link to his website : http://www.deanpeerbass.com

Try Dean Peer, another great fretless player, you'll hear another side of the fretless too.

Explanations needed here !?!

And a forklift to move it.

Nickel roundwounds for me and except if your fretboard is made out of soft wood like non treated maple (and you bend like a guitarist) there will be only slight marks that won't affect the sound. I own 6 fretlesses including 1 double bass and 1 EUB. They have quite always been fitted with roundwounds (I fit from time to time the Thomastik Infeld JF that are the best ones as they do sound right with enough harmonics, which is precesely what is missing to the others) except the 2 uprights that are fitted with real flatwounds of course. I hate the dull and poor sound of flatwounds (except TI's) that are better suited for fretted basses to me when you want that lovely Motown sound. For the brand, I always get back to D'Addario's even if Iove the Thomastik Infeld JR, but they are very light tension strings, too light, when you are used for over 30 years to the standard 45~105. Now it's up to you to decide which one you like, but please guys stop saying that flatwounds are mandatory on fretless because of the fretboard. Ask any real luthier and he will laugh at you about this legend...

Waiting for post 1999 to see if party is over, oops out of time.

Guys, it reminds me of the endless meetings I attended when I was part of the board. Words, ideas (sometimes) and absolutely no decision taken. Stop, it's going nowhere as usual and what a waste of time as nobody seems to remind what was the subject, but needs to leave a word or thousands.

Beware, someone used the word "fake", it's going to end up with 300 pages of useless comments and a war between the ultras and the moderates.