Hellzero

Cool, with all these answers and advices, now Lawetlatla is certainly completely lost, but that's a good thing... ;-) In fact, as Beedster wrote, play it the way you want and you'll find your way. And remember : no fret, no limit ! Tony.

Absolutely right White Cloud ! Percy Jones who has been playing on a Precision Bass (listen to Brand X) and Mick Karn who was playing mainly on a Wal but started on a Travis Bean and ended on an acoustic Klein (listen to Japan) are my favourite fretless bass players and certainly way more innovative than Jaco Pastorius, but don't forget Michael Manring... For the playing itself : use open strings to hear if you are still in tune, make slight longitudinale finger movements to increase your growl (no bend on fretless instruments), play on the neck if you want to hear all the power of fretless and think slow and articulate, don't tend to overuse slide effects (again listen to Mick Karn who was a real intelligent slide master), let the notes ring and develop, use external effects like chorus or reverb or octaver or whatever with parsimony, open your ears and play with them, practise as much as you can and keep in mind that you still have to learn ! Here are my few advices for the playing itself. For the sound, low midrange is the key to that fretless sound you certainly want to hear. Prefer 12" speakers and forget tubes. If your instrument is passive, use the tone to sculpt your sound. Prefer the closest to the bridge pickup, but don't neglect the neck pickup. Moaw ! Tony.

Hi, What kind of fretless sound are you looking for ? Say a player's name, that would help. I've mainly been a fretless player for 3 decades and have owned quite a lot, so I can probably help... Tony.

Gorgeous !!! [URL=http://s1066.photobucket.com/user/Hellzero/media/Hyde%206%20Strings%20Bass_zpsy8nk9heg.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u414/Hellzero/Hyde%206%20Strings%20Bass_zpsy8nk9heg.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Tony.

For sure, they've made a big mistake with the first ones. They shouldn't have sold these "demo" basses... Anyway, Tune is a great manufacturer, so the overall quality must be up. If I have the opportunity to try one of these Tune made I'll do so, but Lightwave dealers are quite rare over here. :-( Tony.

Hi Happy Jack, Those 2 basses were amongst the very first produced,this is, maybe, the explanation. Soundwise, my Leduc U-Basses were way much more precise and absolutely unforgiving any slightly wrongly placed finger. And real tone monsters. Tony.

Hi, I'll come back later then. ;-) Tony.

Hi Z, I used to have two Lightwave Saber 4 strings (sorry, but it's a plural, so there must be an "s"). One was fretless and one fretted. All I have to say is that the sound is not that terrific and that the craftsmanship is more on the Chinese side. The necks were awfully badly made with dips and bumps everywhere, they were too thin and totally unstable. The good thing is that the "pickups" are very easy to set up. What about the sound : think EMG on the boring side, absolutely not alive and certainly not punchy. I sold both of them for half the price I paid two weeks later. Here is my experience. Tony.

Here is my advise, if you want to buy something over there, buy from someone with 100% positive feedback... When searching, do check the "Top-Rated" item. And always ask for real pictures of what you desire, in one word : chat !!! The pictures used by all sellers are the same as everything comes from the same factory : [url="http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015-New-Factory-custom-shop-Fodera-bass-guitar-Fodera-Butteryfly-Deluxe-Electric-bass-guitar/32354997060.html"]http://www.aliexpres...2354997060.html[/url] I'll wonder if mm1989 has received its "Fodera" ? Tony.

Just waiting for your return... :-) Tony.

Hi, Thanks everybody ! Tony.

Hi, Terrific job ! I've been building something like a dozen of instruments on my side, but your job is fantastic. My last is this one almost 10 years ago, but it's gone now, to a better home, I hope. [url="http://s1066.photobucket.com/user/Hellzero/media/Byl%206%20Fretless%205%20picture_zpsakothkja.jpg.html"][/url] And by the way, you are right, dressing the frets is always a pain in the ass (sorry for being crude), that's why I prefer fretless. Just two questions, won't it be too heavy and unbalanced, because of the tuners ? Proficiat !!! Tony.

Hi, So, I started playing the bass some 32 years ago with a piece of sh*t called Maya, a P-Bass like... I sold it to get drunk by the end of my scientific photograph studies, and it was worth to do it. I also sold a fully original Korg MS-20 for 1000 BEF (25 Euros !!!) at the time as nobody was interested in this keyboard, still regretting it today. Then I bought, with my first salary, a second hand Aria Diamond (Hofner 500/1 copy) that Christophe Leduc turned into fretless as I wanted to play without frets. And it all started with a few bands and awful gigs. It was by that time that I started to gas... I've owned something like 300 basses and a 100 amps, quite normal for a musician, no ? By now, and 2 cd's later, I'm not playing in a band anymore as I'm fed up with those nasty, badly paid and useless gigs and rehearsals, but I think it won't last. I'm a 6 strings fan, more on the fretless side. Gas on, Tony.