Fretless bass anon opinion

[Wombat]

I play in the house band at an open mic and for a long I only took my fretless. One time this guy came over at the end and very earnestly asked "why do you play fretless" and at the time the only reply I could think of came out "because I can!". He duly walked off leaving me thinking "pretentious? Moi?"🤣

[dclaassen]

I like using mine for country gigs. It’s probably the only bass I need, but sometimes I need more bite. I’ve had both lined and unlined. I like the lined, especially when reading charts in jazz situations. Never had a ponytail.

[StickyDBRmf]

Lines throw me off. I swear. 

[Dan Dare]

4 hours ago, dclaassen said:

I like using mine for country gigs. It’s probably the only bass I need, but sometimes I need more bite. I’ve had both lined and unlined.

 

Same here. I find a fretless has a bit less bite/attack than a fretted, too. Sometimes, that's what you need. Horses for courses and all that. Mine's lined because I converted a fretted with thin strips of hardwood in the fret slots.

[songofthewind]

I've had several fretless basses, and loved them all. I find that the defining factors are neck width and depth, and attack, which are essential to the overall feel of a fretless. Dot positions etc are a distant last to these considerations.

I have been drinking whisky, so take these remarks as you wish to.

 

Bliadhna Mhath Ur, everyone.

[ead]

I think this is the only pic I have of me gigging with a fretless bass (unlined ).  From a few years back when I was in a blues band...

 

[Owen]

I have owned 5. Despite being a DB player I cannot play fretless in tune. I finally cured this issue by buying an NS Omni bass. It is just as well it is cured because I would only go and buy my 6th one if left to my own devices. 

[Hellzero]

36 minutes ago, ead said:

I think this is the only pic I have of me gigging with a fretless bass (unlined ).  From a few years back when I was in a blues band...

 

It's a Luthman, isn't it?

[JPJ]

I currently own four fretless basses. My no1 is my sunburst Fender Tony Franklin P bass (below). The others are a 1982 Ibanez RS940TV which I purchased new with money from my parents for my eighteenth birthday, a defretted Overwater Perception 5 string defretted and refinished by David Wilson, and a Warwick Rockbass Alien 5 string acoustic that i defretted myself.

I have at no time ever had any of a pony, a pony tail, a tail, or a suede waistcoat nor do i have any association with Oxfordshire.

[chris_b]

I de-fretted my Framus bass when I was in my school band. I have no idea what I was trying to achieve. That was the most stupid bass related thing I have done so far. 

[Piers_Williamson]

 

[knirirr]

10 hours ago, chris_b said:

I de-fretted my Framus bass when I was in my school band. I have no idea what I was trying to achieve. That was the most stupid bass related thing I have done so far. 

 

What was the issue? A problem with the conversion, or playing it afterwards?

[Hellzero]

3 hours ago, Piers_Williamson said:

 

1971... A very very early fretless player as IIRC the first ever fretless bass player was Rick Danko in 1968/69 with his Ampeg Scroll Bass.

 

Nice sound too, and I listened to the entire tune even if I'm absolutely not into folk-rock music.

[Piers_Williamson]

4 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

1971... A very very early fretless player as IIRC the first ever fretless bass player was Rick Danko in 1968/69 with his Ampeg Scroll Bass.

 

Nice sound too, and I listened to the entire tune even if I'm absolutely not into folk-rock music.

I wasn't into folk either.  I took pictures at a Lindisfarne Christmas Gig at Leeds Uni in around 1982 at the height of punk.  There were c 2,000 people there who knew all the words to all the songs.  It was an amazing experience. 

[chris_b]

19 minutes ago, knirirr said:

 

What was the issue? A problem with the conversion, or playing it afterwards?

 

It was all my fault.

 

I discovered pretty quickly that I couldn't play it!!  I wasn't accurate enough and my pitch went out the window. I couldn't put the frets back in, and couldn't afford another bass, so I was stuck. The band just laughed but I didn't!!

 

About 10 years ago I bought a lined Rob Allen MB2. . . . a fabulous bass, but I still sucked!

 

I admire those who can make fretless work, but I need frets.

[Hellzero]

It reminds me of an anecdote:

 

We were once asked to play in a folk-rock one day festival when we were playing fusion jazz music...

 

We accepted the offer as it was well paid and when we opened the indoor festival, everyone went out and we literally played for the chairs and tables as even the sound engineer ran away...

 

They said the sound was better outside because we were playing so loud... and that my fretless tone was amazing, ... certainly through the opened windows and doors.

[Hellzero]

In fact Bill Wyman is supposed to be the first ever fretless bass player way back to 1961 (according to himself) on a defretted instrument.

[ead]

12 hours ago, Hellzero said:

It's a Luthman, isn't it?

 

It's actually an Eve Iona bass (another Scottish Luthier). 

[JPJ]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

1971... A very very early fretless player as IIRC the first ever fretless bass player was Rick Danko in 1968/69 with his Ampeg Scroll Bass.

 

Nice sound too, and I listened to the entire tune even if I'm absolutely not into folk-rock music.

About 25 years ago I had the chance to buy Rod Clements fretless Overwater original or ‘C’ bass. Unfortunately young children meant I didn’t go through with the purchase but in hindsight I wish I had. 

[ead]

1 hour ago, Piers_Williamson said:

I wasn't into folk either.  I took pictures at a Lindisfarne Christmas Gig at Leeds Uni in around 1982 at the height of punk.  There were c 2,000 people there who knew all the words to all the songs.  It was an amazing experience. 

 

I feel the need to challenge the assertion that the height of punk was 1982, maybe about 5 years earlier?  The Damned released New Rose in late 1976 that is probs the first punk single to gain recognition and the movement exploded in 1977.

[Piers_Williamson]

7 minutes ago, ead said:

 

I feel the need to challenge the assertion that the height of punk was 1982, maybe about 5 years earlier?  The Damned released New Rose in late 1976 that is probs the first punk single to gain recognition and the movement exploded in 1977.

Challenge acknowledged.  I was just trying to make the point that I didn't expect Lindisfarne to be so popular (as I didn't really know them as a band).  About the same time I took pictures of what must have been the last Q Tips gigs before Paul Young discovered Pino.  It was a sunday night gig, where the licence made them turn the amps off at 1030.  Paul Young just kept singing Motown numbers acapella for another hour (along with everyone in the nightclub).  The best gigs are always the most unexpected. 

[ead]

47 minutes ago, Piers_Williamson said:

Challenge acknowledged.  I was just trying to make the point that I didn't expect Lindisfarne to be so popular (as I didn't really know them as a band).  About the same time I took pictures of what must have been the last Q Tips gigs before Paul Young discovered Pino.  It was a sunday night gig, where the licence made them turn the amps off at 1030.  Paul Young just kept singing Motown numbers acapella for another hour (along with everyone in the nightclub).  The best gigs are always the most unexpected. 

 

Absolutely!  I am always amazed by the reception and following that bands I have thought to be quite niche until you see them live.  I had a very similar experience at a Lindisfarne gig some years back.

[ead]

@Hellzero here are a couple of better pics of the Eve Iona.  Not a proper through-neck bass as you can see:

 

 

 

[Hellzero]

Very very nice fretless @ead.

 

Thanks for the photos. 😊

[ezbass]

15 hours ago, chris_b said:

I de-fretted my Framus bass when I was in my school band. I have no idea what I was trying to achieve. That was the most stupid bass related thing I have done so far. 

In contrast, my first bass was a BB300, which I swapped with a flatmate for his Westone Thunder 2. It wasn’t long before I ripped the frets out and started to learn my favourite Pino lines. I seemed to take to it really easily, the lines helped I guess. Including that one, I’ve had 5 fretless basses and one EUB. These days I tend to play fretted more as I fell out of love with the tone (mainly the ‘80s typical sound), but I’m starting to come back to it. My 2 fretless basses are a Rob Allen MB2 and a custom Maruszczyk ElwoodL (a Stingray alike), plus the NS WAV.