Is an unlined Fretless difficult when mainly sticking to the lower register?

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23919
    Rocker said:
    Why make playing music any more difficult than it is by using a fretless bass? 
    It sounds very different.

    Just like you can play many of the same notes on similar instruments in the same family. Like the range overlap between a cello and a double bass.

    Those notes have a different tonality to them. The cello has a faster attack due to the shorter string length and the smaller body being easier to vibrate. The double bass has a slower attack but a greater swell to the note bloom.

    There are fretted double basses around, and in the good old days some players used to tie gut around the neck in the note positions as temporary frets.

    The fretless bass guitar, when strung with roundwounds has quite a unique attack to the note that many players describe as "mwah" - there is nothing else that sounds like that.

    It really is a different instrument, albeit in the same family.
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256
    edited January 2017
    Rocker said:
    Thanks guys for the replies. I will lookout for that music @mart.
    When you look at the lists you will realise that you have already heard Palladino and Sklar.

    Sklar has played on over 2000 albums.

    Pino came to fame on Paul Young's "Wherever I lay my hat" tune. While these days it sounds a bit cliche, it was one of the first, if not the first pop tune to mix with the bass that far forward in the mix to make the first half of the tune a duet between vocal and bass.

    He used a fretless stingray for that.

    He famously thought the production guys were mad and that it would never sell with the bass that high. It sold by the truck load and his phone has been ringing since.




    You know the first major hit he played on was Music For Chameleons, gary Numan, 1982, made even more famous by Alan Partridge's now legendary air bass playing in his caravan. HIlarious. Regardless of what your opinions on Numan are, if yo like creative bass playing, you should give the album from which MFC came from, I Assassin, a listen. Numan gave Palladino free rein to play what he wanted, and to make the bass a lead instrument. Its chock full of awesome grooves, and is where Palladino first honed his signature tone of the 80s. This was before he joined up with Paul Young.

    Another superb album you wouldn't expect Pino to be playing on is Nine Inch Nails 2013 album, Hesitation Marks. Check out the track All Time Low for some v cool playing. Also, look up the live show by NIN, on youtube, called Tension 2103. Pino was the bassist for the tour, and this film is simply brilliant - stunning show, brilliant playing and fantastic visuals. Again, regardless of whether you like NIN or not, this will surprise you.



    and even more coolness




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  • Rocker said:
    Thanks guys for the replies. I will lookout for that music @mart.
    When you look at the lists you will realise that you have already heard Palladino and Sklar.

    Sklar has played on over 2000 albums.

    Pino came to fame on Paul Young's "Wherever I lay my hat" tune. While these days it sounds a bit cliche, it was one of the first, if not the first pop tune to mix with the bass that far forward in the mix to make the first half of the tune a duet between vocal and bass.

    He used a fretless stingray for that.

    He famously thought the production guys were mad and that it would never sell with the bass that high. It sold by the truck load and his phone has been ringing since.




    Pino is da man.....
    No Darling....I've had that ages.
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513

    I remember laughing at an interview with a bassist in Guitarist magazine years ago.

    When called for a session he cockily said "you're only ringing me because you couldn't get Pino, aren't you?"

    "Yes. That's exactly why I'm calling you".

    :sunglasses:

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23919
    Pino once played for Jagger at a rehearsal. Didn't hear anymore so sent an invoice.

    Jagger agent claimed it was an audition. Pino stated something like "I'm Pino, I don't audition"

    He got paid. :) 
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    @fretmeister That's great! Especially having heard how Jagger can behave toward "supporting musicians" on the fantastic Double Stop podcast interview with Bernard Fowler.
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  • KanterKanter Frets: 7
    If there were only one track to check out the musical leeway Pino was taking/getting (and the guts of the producer!), it would be I'm gonna tear your playhouse down, from that same Paul Young LP.. it even came out a single at the time.

    from the get-go, you wonder- what's that crazy distorted-octaved moog solo churning through the whole song and totally overshadowing the remains of what is a catchy little pop song? and where's the bass?;)

    Also, the fill landscape on Pete Townsends Give Blood is spectacular.
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71953
    fretmeister said:

    Pino came to fame on Paul Young's "Wherever I lay my hat" tune. While these days it sounds a bit cliche, it was one of the first, if not the first pop tune to mix with the bass that far forward in the mix to make the first half of the tune a duet between vocal and bass.
    Must have missed this when it was originally posted, but… not the first.

    Ben E. King - Stand By Me

    Doesn't take anything away from Paul Young and Pino though - it might be the first hit to have a fretless electric so prominent, and it really made that sound recognised.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256
    PIno Palladino was playing lead bass on the 3 top 20 singles Numan released in 1982, the album made the top 10, number 8 I think. One of the singels made the top 10.
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  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14321
    if anyone could advise if this Yamaha BBG5 (RBX375 pickups, ebony fretboard) or a Squier Deluxe Fretless 5 is a better shot then I would appreciate it.
    The Squier has a plastic fingerboard. This is hard-wearing but not as nice to look at as real wood. It only makes any difference to the playing feel on the skinny strings.

    Fret position markers are for wimps. Judge pitch by your ears rather than your eyes. Slide to the required pitch. Throw in some longitudinal finger vibrato to disguise this "cheating". Bury everything in some combination of Chorus, Flanger and short delay and nobody will spot your cock-ups.

    Previous contributors have name-checked Jaco, Pino and Mick Kahn. I wish to add Les Claypool, Patrick O'Hearn (solo artiste, Frank Zappa) and Barry Adamson (best known from Magazine).


    Be seeing you.
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    ICBM said:
    fretmeister said:

    Pino came to fame on Paul Young's "Wherever I lay my hat" tune. While these days it sounds a bit cliche, it was one of the first, if not the first pop tune to mix with the bass that far forward in the mix to make the first half of the tune a duet between vocal and bass.
    Must have missed this when it was originally posted, but… not the first.

    Ben E. King - Stand By Me

    Doesn't take anything away from Paul Young and Pino though - it might be the first hit to have a fretless electric so prominent, and it really made that sound recognised.
    I thought Go And Get Stuffed was...
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  • DLMDLM Frets: 2513
    prowla said:
    I thought Go And Get Stuffed was...
    @prowla Aaargh! You're a bad man, I now have a monster earworm! :skull:
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