Fretless

Another choice is to get a used warwick fretless. You should be able to resell it for what you paid for it if you take care of it. I am also considering a fretless and will probably get a used vette 4...
 
you could do what your old piano teacher use to do when you were been forced to learn and mark where the notes are with little stick tags maybe :idea: like make fret markings
 
Lorner said:
And finally, save your money and buy a Warwick fretless, you'll never regret it.
Rock on my friend.

LR
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Totally couldn't agree more! I love my fretless Bubinga Corvette and my Dirty Blonde de-fretted Thumb (I actually get a pretty good slap-n-slide sound from the Dirty Blonde on the P neck pickup). At my local Guitar Centers, the only other fretless I've seen is a Pedulla. Nice bass for sure, but there's just something special and better about "The Sound of Wood!"

Tried a few lesser brands at The Bass Place. Some had nice "mwah," but none could growl or sound as natural as my Ws.

I would love to try out a Bubinga Thumb NT fretless, but then I would have to break my bank to relieve the GAS buildup! Norwood Fisher sounds SO good on his! :shock:
 
Why get a Rock Bass when you can get a good ole Fort? They're practically giving them away lately.
 
That's a damn nice bass! He claims that a pot is broken, but that just needs to be tightened with a screwdriver :D
I like the fact that he infers that all new Warwicks are crappy sounding and not German made...
 
Can I make a suggestion (and I haven't read the whole post so forgive me if this has been said) but get a fretless with an unlined board...
 
Lex said:
Can I make a suggestion (and I haven't read the whole post so forgive me if this has been said) but get a fretless with an unlined board...
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+1

The lines make it the same as electric for me... just dosnt feel quite right.
 
ya, no lines LINES ARE VERBOTEN!!! The guy that did my first fretless (the Gibson) told me just to close my eyes and jump, I tried to pay him extra for lines and he just said "now way", he wouldn't give me a choice, so, no lines; it was a little tough at first but once I got used to it,,, no looking back. I really didn't use my fretless bass much for the first 7 or 8 years and then a guitarist that I was playing with told me to just leave my fretted bass at home and pretend I never had one; that my friends is when the world became a better place to live. My bandmates were a littel concerned at first but they were patient and now everyone is happy. I went from a more slap style to "slippin and slidin". I was never much of a slapper anyway so who cares! I still get my fair share of slap in on my fretted and you can really grind out the rock on a fretless. I haven't tried too many other basses that can deliver what a Warwick can put out on fretless but I did try a Godan semi holo fretless lateley that was kind of cool. You can also plug that bass directly into a Korg synth or something like that which is kind of a nice feature. Anyway, for anyone doubting, just go for it, it's a new world with fretless, I'll go to the grave with mine.

LR
 
Hell yeah mate i feel that! Since playing upright the fretlines get kind of insulting...
 
Michael J said:
Hell yeah mate i feel that! Since playing upright the fretlines get kind of insulting...
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the thing to remember with a lined fretless too is that you have to push down ON the line... when we play fretted instruments we play a little behind the fret...

takes some getting used to!
 
Yeah, in that respect its almost counter intuitive to have guide lines...
 
Michael J said:
Yeah, in that respect its almost counter intuitive to have guide lines...
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that's what I thought too
 
I quite like it. But you have to use your ears anyway... Plus I don't look at the board while playing...
 
Kris said:
I quite like it. But you have to use your ears anyway... Plus I don't look at the board while playing...
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Because my Dirty Blonde was de-fretted, it has fretlines, but my Corvette has no lines. No problem. Like you, I use my ears and don't look at the board.

Now that I think about it, I can't look at the board anyway when I'm sliding my ears across it... :lol: :hide:
 
Find myself agreeing with Lorner (again!)

Yes... you can grind out the rock with a fretless (especially with a Thumb BO)... and yes... slippin' and slidin' is the way to go. Having said that, I've got a new band now, less rock... think I'll be exploring more of a variety of techniques... and may be re-discovering the "mwahhh"!

One salutary lesson! I've got unlined fretboards... and was relying quite a bit on the side markers... then had one gig where the lights weren't placed just right and I couldn't see the side dots :D
Since then I often practice in near-darkness - closing my eyes doesn't work, I keep peeping! I think a good mix of eyes, ears and feel is the key, but don't rely too much on any one (especially eyes, obviously)

A good tip I heard was to try and find the exact note as you put your finger down and keep practising that... rather than getting close and sliding into the note (unless you intend to slide, of course... but i like to do BIG slides)
 
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