The Dark Side

Funkfingers

JezWynd said:

why not try putting a fretless neck on one of them, probably the simplest way of trying it out.

It ain't necessarily so. 

With no fret wire to clear, the bridge on a fretless bass ought to be adjusted lower to achieve the same action as when the bass had frets. Lowering the bridge alters the relationship between the strings and the pickup(s).

As the owner of a fretless P Bass, I can attest that they are not always the best choice. Things tend to work out better with two pickups. 

JezWynd

Lowering the bridge alters the relationship between the strings and the pickup(s).

Is it not possible to lower the pickups as well, in order to compensate?

octatonic

I prefer fretless J’s to P’s.

Funkfingers

JezWynd said:

Lowering the bridge alters the relationship between the strings and the pickup(s).

Is it not possible to lower the pickups as well, in order to compensate?

Yes but it is a lot of faffing about for the sake of an experiment.

slacker said:

Buy an 1980s Wal

That'll do nicely.

To the list of names already dropped, I would add Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Tony Levin and Jack Bruce.

Bridgehouse

80s Wal? Crikey this escalated quickly

I’ve just seen a fretless Mk1 - very very nice but blimey it’s quite some ££££!

Bridgehouse

I’ve just been mooching on Basschat classifieds - blimey there’s some nice fretless basses out there.

Theres an ACG 5 string fretless which looks incredible and a Marleaux as well. Oh, and a Shuker that is frankly jaw dropping:

TTony

Bridgehouse said:

I’ve just been mooching on Basschat 

Tart.

Koa

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Bridgehouse

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Yes I have. One day - maybe - I might just gig fretless. And for the way we operate even an EUB would be too much - some festivals we play have big audiences but ridiculously small stages so it would have to be EUB. Even then I’d struggle. 

Bridgehouse

TTony said:

Bridgehouse said:

I’ve just been mooching on Basschat 

Tart.

Just keeping my options open Tony

horse

Bridgehouse said:

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Yes I have. One day - maybe - I might just gig fretless. And for the way we operate even an EUB would be too much - some festivals we play have big audiences but ridiculously small stages so it would have to be EUB. Even then I’d struggle. 

 I played in a band with a guy who played proper double bass and then moved onto a slim ueb for portability, which probably then took up less room on stage than a typical electric bass

Bridgehouse

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Yes I have. One day - maybe - I might just gig fretless. And for the way we operate even an EUB would be too much - some festivals we play have big audiences but ridiculously small stages so it would have to be EUB. Even then I’d struggle. 

 I played in a band with a guy who played proper double bass and then moved onto a slim ueb for portability, which probably then took up less room on stage than a typical electric bass

I'm actually worried about getting it in the car with all the other crap as well

At the moment it's just an experiment I suppose - try something new, further my musical ability etc. and possibly keeping it simple might be a good plan. Dunno. I probably need to go out and look at some!

Funkfingers

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?

Bridgehouse doghouse? 
On highway number nineteen, the people keep the forum clean.

darthed1981

Bridgehouse said:

For various reasons... I ended up having a conversation with Mrs B yesterday which resulted in her saying:

"Why don't you get a Fretless Bass and learn that as a side project?"

Mrs err... Darth.. would certainly support a project where I chucked out all my gear but don't think she would ever say "you should buy one of those..."!

She didn't object strongly to my rather more modestly budgeted bass though, so progress!

horse

Bridgehouse said:

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Yes I have. One day - maybe - I might just gig fretless. And for the way we operate even an EUB would be too much - some festivals we play have big audiences but ridiculously small stages so it would have to be EUB. Even then I’d struggle. 

 I played in a band with a guy who played proper double bass and then moved onto a slim ueb for portability, which probably then took up less room on stage than a typical electric bass

I'm actually worried about getting it in the car with all the other crap as well

At the moment it's just an experiment I suppose - try something new, further my musical ability etc. and possibly keeping it simple might be a good plan. Dunno. I probably need to go out and look at some!

 His slim ueb was really very compact - think it had an extending foot which went back into the body for transport. When he was using the big proper double bass he also had a very small fiat car, so the bass had to travel sticking out of the sunroof!

Bridgehouse

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Yes I have. One day - maybe - I might just gig fretless. And for the way we operate even an EUB would be too much - some festivals we play have big audiences but ridiculously small stages so it would have to be EUB. Even then I’d struggle. 

 I played in a band with a guy who played proper double bass and then moved onto a slim ueb for portability, which probably then took up less room on stage than a typical electric bass

I'm actually worried about getting it in the car with all the other crap as well

At the moment it's just an experiment I suppose - try something new, further my musical ability etc. and possibly keeping it simple might be a good plan. Dunno. I probably need to go out and look at some!

 His slim ueb was really very compact - think it had an extending foot which went back into the body for transport. When he was using the big proper double bass he also had a very small fiat car, so the bass had to travel sticking out of the sunroof!

Lol! I do have a hankering for an upright at some point - I think I probably ought to go normal fretless first to get used to just one change at a time - the idea of changing orientation as well does make me shudder a bit

vale

Bridgehouse said:

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

horse said:

Bridgehouse said:

Koa said:

Have you considered a Double Bass?
Fretless, sounds amazing with acoustic guitar, you can add side markers to a cheaper instrument without fear and it’s actually a nice room feature if you have it in a corner. Talk about win win....

Yes I have. One day - maybe - I might just gig fretless. And for the way we operate even an EUB would be too much - some festivals we play have big audiences but ridiculously small stages so it would have to be EUB. Even then I’d struggle. 

 I played in a band with a guy who played proper double bass and then moved onto a slim ueb for portability, which probably then took up less room on stage than a typical electric bass

I'm actually worried about getting it in the car with all the other crap as well

At the moment it's just an experiment I suppose - try something new, further my musical ability etc. and possibly keeping it simple might be a good plan. Dunno. I probably need to go out and look at some!

 His slim ueb was really very compact - think it had an extending foot which went back into the body for transport. When he was using the big proper double bass he also had a very small fiat car, so the bass had to travel sticking out of the sunroof!

Lol! I do have a hankering for an upright at some point - I think I probably ought to go normal fretless first to get used to just one change at a time - the idea of changing orientation as well does make me shudder a bit

the tone and idea of an upright bass is very sexy. so deep and such a sensual almost vocal range of expression from bowed classical strings (violin, cello, etc). i find violins a bit squeaky and shrill, cellos seem to overlap with bass guitar territory frequency wise, but double is like sub-bass. ruling over the frequency wave underworld like poseidon. brooding and all-powerful!

but not for the shallow of pocket. cheapest budget thomann is £500. bottom rung ibanez and yamaha are £1000 up. and the EBUs seem very ugly. woodwork basic but ok, but covered in plastic and chrome crap so they look clumsy and cheap. skinny cello v an ironing board vibe.

has anyone here ever attempted a build in modding? i haven't noticed one (will dig into search over the weekend). that would be a fascinating thread.

very sexy things imo, but kind of prohibitively expensive just to try out as an experiment.

dazzajl

This all sounds like a very good move. Only fretless is real bass

Bridgehouse

dazzajl said:

This all sounds like a very good move. Only fretless is real bass

Well, I’ve emailed Jon Shuker about a used uberhorn he has (pic posted earlier) and I’m going to go have a look at it..

dazzajl

Bridgehouse said:

dazzajl said:

This all sounds like a very good move. Only fretless is real bass

Well, I’ve emailed Jon Shuker about a used uberhorn he has (pic posted earlier) and I’m going to go have a look at it..

Holy Schmoly that is mouth-wateringly gorgeous. I’m sure everyone at enablers anonymous is saying ‘buy it!!’