Fretless Slapping

[JBassist]

i know it damages the neck but wear does it damge it and is it still playable

Edited August 3, 2009 by JBassist

[robocorpse]

Yes it does.
However, Jaydee and Wilkes both made fretless slapping basses in the 80s that had little metal plates at the end of the fingerboard, and they are bloody brilliant. If you don't like the metallic sound, I spose there would be nothing to stop you replacing them with slivers of ebony, and replacing them when they start getting too grooved?

[acidbass]

I've recently taken to bluegrass-style slapping on my fretless and can see that the board has been grooved already (although it is unfinished rosewood). Don't think it'll wear beyond the surface though (I hope anyway!), but as I'm using flatwounds I can't see it being nearly as bad as rounds.

[thisnameistaken]

I used to do a fair bit of slap on fretless (mostly because I was only playing fretless and the band's previous bassist had a lot of slap parts I had to cover) and on a rosewood board I had to get it looked at every two or three months, depending on how busy we were.

Eventually I had the rosewood board removed and an ebony one stuck on, but it didn't help a whole lot (but it did sound better). I did think about coating the board but I thought it would sound too bright, but maybe I should've done it anyway.

[doctor_of_the_bass]

Back in the mid '80s when I was a young bass cadet, I bought a fretless Hohner Arbor bass (p style) with a plain rosewood board - wore it down within a month due to my love of Pino (Ku Ku Kurama was one of my fave lines of his) and playing Mark King lines on it! Great days!

[MB1]

MB1.
Seem to remember reading Gary Willis doesnt recommend it!....on Fretless that is!

Edited July 29, 2009 by MB1

[GeeCee]

[quote name='JBassist' post='554960' date='Jul 29 2009, 06:58 AM']claypool and paul simon do it

buit does it damage the the neck[/quote]

Yes, it certainly does mark the fingerboard over time (after all it wears grooves into metal frets). I recall reading an interview long ago where Pino Palladino described having replaced the fingerboard on his fretless Stingray more than once (with an ebony board) and also ruining the polyester coating on the fingerboard of his fretless Pedulla Buzz after slapping it while recording one of the Paul Young songs (Playhouse maybe?). Like others have said, ebony or a coated fingerboard should wear better than rosewood and flats should be gentler than rounds, likewise lighter guage strings. However, if you have a hard playing style and slap frequently I would think you would have to expect more than normal wear and tear.

[JBassist]

Edited