ive really taken interest in fretless bass and have a large bum love of individual thought patterns. Really i just want recommendations, so for around 300 quid anyone know of a good fretless bass to buy?

fretless bass players are just show offs.

I thought you played guitar anyway? And fretless basses are only good for making sounds like 'pawwwteepaatuuurrr' 'fwwaaburraaabeedooouuwww' and so on. Having said that Fred from nebukadnezza does crunch out some great bass with his one, but he's a rarity!

Raging Paul wrote:I thought you played guitar anyway? And fretless basses are only good for making sounds like 'pawwwteepaatuuurrr' 'fwwaaburraaabeedooouuwww' and so on. Having said that Fred from nebukadnezza does crunch out some great bass with his one, but he's a rarity!

i saw neanderthal recently (featuring stu and shak from HOD) and their bassist had a 6 string fretless bass, and he could play it too!!

Neandertahl are sexual live.

My favourite use of a fretless is on Pearl Jams Ten album.

Raging Paul wrote:I thought you played guitar anyway? And fretless basses are only good for making sounds like 'pawwwteepaatuuurrr' 'fwwaaburraaabeedooouuwww' and so on. Having said that Fred from nebukadnezza does crunch out some great bass with his one, but he's a rarity!

Very true, Fred is a rarity, in every way.

He can somehow play a fretless like a mad man, which is lucky because he is very handicapped in every other aspect of his life, he is a big special boy... who can play Fretless bass, which sort of makes sense really.

I've tried, and although its fun to go "woooooooooeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaoooouuuuuuupp" its really fucking difficult to play it like you would play a standard bass. you have to be super precise with the notes and finger placement and stuff... its really hard!

Hmmm good point Jamie, but I was thinking about this and I'm not so sure. I agree that to play it really well you have to be more precise since you don't have frets. However, you'll never get any totally dud notes where the fret buzzes because you stuck your finger in the wrong place, it will just be a bit out of tune instead, so it may be slightly easier to blag in some cases. Plus if all else fails you can just go "paaawwwteeeepaaatuuurrrrr" and everyone will be enraptured in joy.

Raging Paul wrote: Plus if all else fails you can just go "paaawwwteeeepaaatuuurrrrr" and everyone will be enraptured in joy.

I thought that was all you could do on a fretless bass, isn't that why they made them?!

ahh Jamie how little you know.

Meluaz, I got a Yamaha fret less for about 200. It's not the greatest sounding one so you'd need a decent amp and compressor pedal to make up for it but it's nice to play and a good starting point if your just curious and don't wanna spend loads. Best bet is as always to go to a few shops and try a few in your price range and see whats comfortable.

While the paaawwwwwwthhhrrrong fwap frog sound you can get is wicked and I do use it but it gets old quick and only use it two or three times during a set. The best thing is it means you can melt between the note notes which gives a much more fluid sound, great for sliding up and down between chords, and makes simple bass licks sound very cool.

The best trick by far is the harmonic slid. you pluck a natural harmonic, then press down and slide. It's almost like using a whammy bar and it sounds unusual and cool but not quirky like the frog like slides you usually get from fret less bass.

As for tuning and intonation problems it is a bitch. If your slightly off then the note is off, and this is a real bitch if your recording. And if you play in between the frets then your just plain fucked. The only up side to this is that if one of your strings is slightly out of tune live then you can adjust it by placing you finger lightly sharp or flat which is much easier than waiting for a gap and twisting the tuning peg in the middle of a song.

cheers for the advice

A very happy zurab, I have gotten very addicted to playing this, its a warick corvette standard 5 string fretless bass.

How much did that set you back?

I have no clue, was a christmas present

meluaz wrote:I have no clue, was a christmas present

You bastard.
My ones battered and I really need a new one.

ive gotto wax mine everyweek for some reason or else the wood goes shitty which apparently effects tone