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Iversen
Bronze Member
Denmark
111 Posts |
 Posted - 12/02/2009 : 16:01:18
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| I've been playing the guitar for 25 years now. I'm GAS'ing badly for an inexpensive fretless bass. Any other guitarists out there who's suffering from this phenomenom? |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2009 : 16:20:35
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i wasn't really gassin' but i was keeping an eye out and in the end i did get a bass off our singer who saw it driving past a builders skip and stopped to drag it out,it's an old Encore bass like a Fender P bass...sounds pretty decent and is handy for putting down basslines on some of my own stuff.i think the pickup is a bit knackered but i'll wait till i come across one in a bargain bin somewhere,good for mesing with around the house with a pretty nice action and neck for a 80's cheapo and i have to say was in spotless condition and don't know why someone threw something this nice out.....  ..i had to do a little rewire on it but all is working now..
If you picked up a cheap bass like the Encore you could pull the frets out yourself and fill the gap with woodfiller turning it into a fretless...two bass players i know did this to old cheapo basses and probably the most famous to do it was Jaco Pastorious,i think i read somewhere he pulled the frets out of his Jazz Bass with a breadknife and a pliers... .... |
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 12/02/2009 : 17:38:40
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| I am lefty i gas for almost everything, but trying to find it is even harder |
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verivorax
Platinum Member
Canada
1185 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 02:04:58
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Squier makes a nice Jaco-style no-pickguard J-bass in their Vintage Modified series. Great bang-for-buck, better still if you swap in some Quarter Pounders or Bartolinis etc.
http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0326608500
I've also seen NICE Mexican Fender fretless stuff - look for them used @ around the price of the Squier new..
I'm a guitarist but I REALLY enjoy playing Bass.. fretless is something I do @ my brother's house - I like a solid P or J or Stingray. |
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Mansun
Gold Member
Spain
564 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 02:16:57
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I can't imagine my life without frets. That would be a nightmare. I need it for guitar, I can't see why I would not want them in a bass.
I saw an Ibanez bass for 99 GBP in a trip to the UK, in a Cash Converters in a small town, but didn't buy it for the shipping issues... It HAD frets. |
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 07:47:10
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quote:
Originally posted by zerksies
I am lefty i gas for almost everything, but trying to find it is even harder
Hey Zerksies, have you ever considered "doing a Hendrix" and just getting a righty to play upside down? It must really suck to have such a comparitively limited selection to choose from... |
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 07:50:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Mansun
I can't imagine my life without frets. That would be a nightmare. I need it for guitar, I can't see why I would not want them in a bass.
I have both fretted and fretless basses. Fretted is definitely much easier to play, however, fretless sounds so cool.
I must admit I am a bit of a cheat though as my fretless has the fretlines on the fingerboard... I'd be lost without them...
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Ollie
Gold Member
United Kingdom
729 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 08:27:54
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| my only bass is a fretless yamaha, ill put pics up later |
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p5string
Copper Member
9 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 14:29:03
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| If you are going to defret a bass to use as a fretless I strongly advise you to not fill the gaps with wood filler. Wood filler is too soft of a material and the tension of the strings will constantly compress the filler resulting in an unstable neck. You are much better off using wood veneer strips or even old credit cards. If you search the web you will find a wealth of material on defretting a bass. |
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Iversen
Bronze Member
Denmark
111 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 19:00:14
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Well, I just pulled the trigger on that Squier Jaco-wannabe bass. (I'm such a push over...  ) I played one a few years ago in a shop in Copenhagen and I've been GAS'ing for one ever since, especially because the price was so good. Browsing the web I managed to shave off �135 of the price from a shop in Germany.
The other day my wife wanted me to record something for a school musical she's directing, and since we don't have a bass in the house and I suck on keyboards, the GAS became severe. And now with x-mas coming up... she was very understanding. The line "we need it for the kids too, honey, and think what a fretless will do for their intonation and... " goes a long way with her; one plays guitar, the other plays the drums. Now Daddy Cool here can rock the house with the boys!
Anyway, no other instrument will give you that mwah and I've loved that sound ever since Pino helped Paul Young find shelter in his hat. And then some bass player introduced me to the sound of Jaco...  |
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Joske Turbo
Silver Member
Belgium
412 Posts |
Posted - 12/03/2009 : 21:48:49
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| Congrats on the bass! I have the fretted Squier Vintage Modified myself and I absolutely love it! Big sound, small price! |
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FRANZONI
Double Platinum Member
Ireland
3543 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 00:57:37
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Congrats.. ..yep Pino is great player and his sound is on quite a few classic 80's recordings...mick karn was also a big user of the fretless...but Jaco to me was the best,i have quite a few Weather Report albums on Vinyl...Black Market and Heavy Weather being two of my favourites with Jaco....i also have his solo LP that a bass player left in my house at a party years ago ..the one with the painting of him on the cover with the japanese umbrella...another good one... |
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Dirk
Platinum Member
Netherlands
1309 Posts |
Posted - 12/04/2009 : 19:33:44
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I find it pretty interesting to see how all you guitar players want to play fretless bass, while a bassplayer like me isn't interested in fretless at all, I'll stick to those frets and playing guitar alongside  |
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Iversen
Bronze Member
Denmark
111 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2009 : 16:25:15
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Dirk, that's why I wanted some input from other players because I had a feeling, that lots of guitar players prefer the fretless.
I'm thinking it's because it makes a very distinct sound that you just can't emulate on guitar. Fretted bass is perhaps easier to emulate through use of some kind of octave effect even if it wont ever sound the same. Also, in my bands I play with a very good bass player whom I have no intention of competing with, much less replacing, and he plays both fretted and fretless, depending on which tune we play.
Since my primary instrument is the guitar I feel the fretless is more like a whole other instrument than a fretted bass at that. Am I making sense at all?
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zerksies
Double Platinum Member
USA
3406 Posts |
Posted - 12/05/2009 : 20:04:18
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quote:
Originally posted by natthu
quote:
Originally posted by zerksies
I am lefty i gas for almost everything, but trying to find it is even harder
Hey Zerksies, have you ever considered "doing a Hendrix" and just getting a righty to play upside down? It must really suck to have such a comparitively limited selection to choose from...
Done it many times it just does not feel right, either i have the controls in the way of my left arm.But that can be solved if i stand up.But then the body is not balanced for lefty use so the neck just want to point to the ground |
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natthu
Gold Member
Australia
756 Posts |
Posted - 12/06/2009 : 01:59:11
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quote:
Originally posted by zerksies
quote:
Originally posted by natthu
quote:
Originally posted by zerksies
I am lefty i gas for almost everything, but trying to find it is even harder
Hey Zerksies, have you ever considered "doing a Hendrix" and just getting a righty to play upside down? It must really suck to have such a comparitively limited selection to choose from...
Done it many times it just does not feel right, either i have the controls in the way of my left arm.But that can be solved if i stand up.But then the body is not balanced for lefty use so the neck just want to point to the ground
Ah... yes. I can't stand it when a guitar isn't balanced nicely. It's horrible. I had a Fender Jaguar Bass that was just too neck heavy resulting in it pointing to the ground too much... It sounded great and played nicely but I just couldn't live with the balance problem. Needless to say I swapped it out for a J-Bass which is beautifully balanced. |
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Topic |
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Guitar player wants fretless bass
