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DandelionPowderman
Darryl's bass sound isn't very fat...
what does a fretless bass sound like ?Quote
71Tele
Sorry if this has been covered before. I knew that Bill made his own bass, modifying (I believe) a Dallas Tuxedo. However, I was quite surprised to learn it was a fretless. His playing on the records and live does not sound like a fretless. Does anyone have any detailed info about this or about what pickups, etc. were on this bass? Much appreciated, fellow musicians.
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with sssoul
here's the "great thread index", where you'll find the Ratbag Boogie: [www.iorr.org]
here's the Ratbag Boogie Guitar (Etc) Thread Index, where you'll find the thread on Bill's basses: [www.iorr.org]
and here's the thread on Bill's basses: [www.iorr.org] (that's page 2, where there are closeups of Bill's homemade fretless job)
you're welcome
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The Greekwhat does a fretless bass sound like ?Quote
71Tele
Sorry if this has been covered before. I knew that Bill made his own bass, modifying (I believe) a Dallas Tuxedo. However, I was quite surprised to learn it was a fretless. His playing on the records and live does not sound like a fretless. Does anyone have any detailed info about this or about what pickups, etc. were on this bass? Much appreciated, fellow musicians.
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The Greekwhat does a fretless bass sound like ?Quote
71Tele
Sorry if this has been covered before. I knew that Bill made his own bass, modifying (I believe) a Dallas Tuxedo. However, I was quite surprised to learn it was a fretless. His playing on the records and live does not sound like a fretless. Does anyone have any detailed info about this or about what pickups, etc. were on this bass? Much appreciated, fellow musicians.
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WeLoveYou
Bill slides up and down the neck of his fretless on I'm A King Bee
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71Tele
Nice post, dja. I currently have a Hofner Beatle Bass, a Fender Mustang Bass, and a Fender VI. I am getting one of the new mid-range Hofner Club basses to convert into a fretless (I wouldn't do that to a vintage one!). These have a sustain block in the body, unlike the original Hofners. If you ever want to hear great fretless technique on a pop/rock record, get "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" by Squeeze. I believe it is Keith Wilkinson playing it. Great fretless.
I am primarily a guitar player, so I need the markings on the neck, unfortunately.
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mr_djaQuote
71Tele
Nice post, dja. I currently have a Hofner Beatle Bass, a Fender Mustang Bass, and a Fender VI. I am getting one of the new mid-range Hofner Club basses to convert into a fretless (I wouldn't do that to a vintage one!). These have a sustain block in the body, unlike the original Hofners. If you ever want to hear great fretless technique on a pop/rock record, get "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" by Squeeze. I believe it is Keith Wilkinson playing it. Great fretless.
I am primarily a guitar player, so I need the markings on the neck, unfortunately.
Thanks Tele... I'll look for the Squeeze tune as I'm a big fan of tasteful playing on a fretless electric. I enjoyed some of the stuff that Pino Pallidino did behind Paul Young in the late 80's as well. If I remember correctly. Roger Hodgson had some cool stuff on his first solo album as well. On the opposite end, I suffered through a Bad Co. concert in the early 90's and because the bass player DIDN'T play fretless, it really killed me on some tunes.
Also, even though I'm primarily a bass player, I'm really glad that my fretless has lines on it! Good to have targets when you want them! Funny thing is (you'll have to let me know how your conversion turns out) because my fretless is a conversion from fretted, some of the "lines" are much wider than others. This is caused when some of the frets sit farther into the fret board they leave a wider indentation. Thus, the "filler" material doesn't just have to fill the groove that the fret is pounded into but also the part of the fret board that the fret itself damaged.
Another thing to note it that you'll probably find that the lines that are left on your bass after the frets are removed will most likely NOT line up with where the notes actually are. Especially in the upper octave of the neck. This is because the bass was set up to be intonated correctly with a fret that is sitting above the actual fret board. As a result, you may find that you have to play "above" the fret line (closer to the pick-up) to actually hear the note correctly intonated. My bass is off so far that if I want to play the high E on the G string (21st fret and formerly the highest fret on the bass) I actually have to play right at the end the neck - probably close to 3/16" off of the marked spot.
On a side note: Did you notice what I DIDN'T do in either my original post or this one? All for you man! Hope all is well for you & yourss!
Peace,
Mr DJA
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mr_dja
Tele:
Out of respect regarding our conversation earlier this year I never once put the word guitar after the word bass. Easier to type for me! You must not have noticed as I got it right to your eyes! Maybe next time I'll put it in just to see if you're paying attention! Shot in your honor! It's almost noon here in TN so I shouldn't get in to much trouble for thinking of drinking this early on a holiday weekend!
Peace,
Mr DJA
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71TeleQuote
WeLoveYou
Bill slides up and down the neck of his fretless on I'm A King Bee
...and that great descending run on 19th Nervous Breakdown?
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Palace Revolution 2000Quote
71TeleQuote
WeLoveYou
Bill slides up and down the neck of his fretless on I'm A King Bee
...and that great descending run on 19th Nervous Breakdown?
That descending run doesn't sound like fretless though. IMO.
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71TeleQuote
Palace Revolution 2000Quote
71TeleQuote
WeLoveYou
Bill slides up and down the neck of his fretless on I'm A King Bee
...and that great descending run on 19th Nervous Breakdown?
That descending run doesn't sound like fretless though. IMO.
You might be right...
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His Majesty
It doesn't sound like fretless live because we don't have any recordings of him playing it live, and he didn't use it that often in studio.
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MathijsQuote
His Majesty
It doesn't sound like fretless live because we don't have any recordings of him playing it live, and he didn't use it that often in studio.
Are you sure? I have the impression that he literally used it on every session the Stones have done up to early 80's except the '65 / '67 sessions where he used the Framus and VOX basses a lot. But on most pics from '68 to the early '80's he is using that homemade bass. I think most of SF, Exile, GHS and IORR is that bass, and from '75 on he also started using the Ampeg London Bass and from '78 on the Travis Bean, but still a large part is that homemade bass.
Mathijs