New (to me) fretless Jazz'ish. Yay!

[coreybenson]

Hey, all! Just taking a moment to stop in and say Hi. Last week I picked up a FrankenFender Fretless for $100. Great sounding bass, with a Warmoth neck that's probably worth more than the rest of the bass combined.

And BOY am I having fun! This is my 3rd (4th?) foray into the Fretless realm, and it finally feels right. I'd say the neck is more Precision-feeling than Jazz, but since I now own two P's and two J's, it's working out well in that respect.

Now to learn how to consistently keep my intonation/left hand solid and in tune. It's going to take time, but it gave me a reason to start consistently practicing again, and that's what I wanted.

Woot for the Mwah!

Corey

[Brian Running]

Post by coreybenson
Hey, all! Just taking a moment to stop in and say Hi. Last week I picked up a FrankenFender Fretless for $100. Great sounding bass, with a Warmoth neck that's probably worth more than the rest of the bass combined.
And BOY am I having fun! This is my 3rd (4th?) foray into the Fretless realm, and it finally feels right. I'd say the neck is more Precision-feeling than Jazz, but since I now own two P's and two J's, it's working out well in that respect.
Now to learn how to consistently keep my intonation/left hand solid and in tune. It's going to take time, but it gave me a reason to start consistently practicing again, and that's what I wanted.
Woot for the Mwah!
Corey

My advice for working on that intonation is to practice with your eyes
closed. Gotta force yourself to place your fingers by ear, not by your
eyes.

My latest equipment adventure is to drop a set of EMG 40CS pickups into
the Spector Rebop, replacing the 40DCs that had been in there for a
couple of years. Trying to get a less midrangey tone but keep the dead
silence of the active pickups. Tried them out for the first time at
rehearsal last night. No verdict yet, because I also put on new
strings, and they've got to be broken in to lose that new string
zinginess before I can judge them. DR Fat Beams, my first time trying
DR strings. Very soft and flexible, I can tell already that they demand
a light touch. I have a habit of digging in really hard, so this might
be good for my technique to have to play lighter. We'll see.

[benj]

Post by Brian Running

Post by coreybenson
Hey, all! Just taking a moment to stop in and say Hi. Last week I
picked up a FrankenFender Fretless for $100. Great sounding bass, with
a Warmoth neck that's probably worth more than the rest of the bass
combined.
And BOY am I having fun! This is my 3rd (4th?) foray into the Fretless
realm, and it finally feels right. I'd say the neck is more
Precision-feeling than Jazz, but since I now own two P's and two J's,
it's working out well in that respect.
Now to learn how to consistently keep my intonation/left hand solid
and in tune. It's going to take time, but it gave me a reason to start
consistently practicing again, and that's what I wanted.
Woot for the Mwah!
Corey

My advice for working on that intonation is to practice with your eyes
closed.  Gotta force yourself to place your fingers by ear, not by your
eyes.
My latest equipment adventure is to drop a set of EMG 40CS pickups into
the Spector Rebop, replacing the 40DCs that had been in there for a
couple of years.  Trying to get a less midrangey tone but keep the dead
silence of the active pickups.  Tried them out for the first time at
rehearsal last night.  No verdict yet, because I also put on new
strings, and they've got to be broken in to lose that new string
zinginess before I can judge them.  DR Fat Beams, my first time trying
DR strings.  Very soft and flexible, I can tell already that they demand
a light touch.  I have a habit of digging in really hard, so this might
be good for my technique to have to play lighter.  We'll see.

Fretless is the Shiznit!

I've got a few fretless but my main axe is a fretless USA G&L L2500. The
more I play fretless the more I love it! Of course I do have a matching
fretted USA G&L to make a nice pair. Not so much for huge mwah, but
still great.

My other favorite fretless is my SX six string Jazz clone. (also have
matching fretted versions (2) with both flats and rounds. Once again it
is the fretless that is the ONE!

I freak out when rounds chew my fingerboards (especially on expensive
basses) so I don't do the fretless rounds thing. All my fretless are
either ground wounds or flats.

My G&L is lined, (was used so choice of previous owner) while SX is not
(I modded myself with ebony fingerboard) Yours lined or just dots?
Lines help a bit in the woodshed at first but later doesn't much matter
and I really like the unlined look.

[coreybenson]

Post by benj
Fretless is the Shiznit!

True story! LOL

Post by benj
I've got a few fretless but my main axe is a fretless USA G&L L2500. The
more I play fretless the more I love it! Of course I do have a matching
fretted USA G&L to make a nice pair. Not so much for huge mwah, but
still great.

One of these days I'll spring for a G&L, but it'll have to be an "accident" or my wife will kill me. I own too many basses as it is! LOL

Post by benj
I freak out when rounds chew my fingerboards (especially on expensive
basses) so I don't do the fretless rounds thing. All my fretless are
either ground wounds or flats.

My Tokai P-bass is the only bass I use flats on. I like it, a LOT, but I really prefer the round wound sound.

Post by benj
My G&L is lined, (was used so choice of previous owner) while SX is not
(I modded myself with ebony fingerboard) Yours lined or just dots?
Lines help a bit in the woodshed at first but later doesn't much matter
and I really like the unlined look.

Lined. Came that way from Warmoth. I'm the third or fourth owner of this one. It needs help. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to it other than put a pickguard on it, and possibly get the body painted. Or experiment and paint it my damn self. :-)

Corey

[benj]

Post by coreybenson

Post by benj
Fretless is the Shiznit!

True story! LOL

Post by benj
I've got a few fretless but my main axe is a fretless USA G&L L2500. The
more I play fretless the more I love it! Of course I do have a matching
fretted USA G&L to make a nice pair. Not so much for huge mwah, but
still great.

One of these days I'll spring for a G&L, but it'll have to be an "accident" or my wife will kill me. I own too many basses as it is! LOL

Rules:
1. murder is illegal
2. You can never own too many basses!

Post by coreybenson

Post by benj
I freak out when rounds chew my fingerboards (especially on expensive
basses) so I don't do the fretless rounds thing. All my fretless are
either ground wounds or flats.

My Tokai P-bass is the only bass I use flats on. I like it, a LOT, but I really prefer the round wound sound.

There are quite a few people who prefer the sound of rounds on fretless
and just put up with neck chews as "cost of doing business". Personally
when my Alembic started getting neck chews I switched it to ground
wounds which is about as bright as you can get without chews. MY G&L has
rounds. I've Tried pressure wounds and they chew a little bit but much
less than rounds but I don't use them even though they are brighter
because to me they sound like they have some weird harmonic going.

My Carvin semi-hollow body fretless has nylon-wrapped strings on it and
on that particular bass they are terrific.

Post by coreybenson

Post by benj
My G&L is lined, (was used so choice of previous owner) while SX is not
(I modded myself with ebony fingerboard) Yours lined or just dots?
Lines help a bit in the woodshed at first but later doesn't much matter
and I really like the unlined look.

Lined. Came that way from Warmoth. I'm the third or fourth owner of this one. It needs help. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to it other than put a pickguard on it, and possibly get the body painted. Or experiment and paint it my damn self. :-)

Yeah. I like the look of a pickguard for some things. I had custom
pickguards made for my (3) G&Ls. They are just stuck on with double
sticky tape so there are no screw holes and can be changed or returned
to natural wood when you want. (L2500s don't normally have pickguards).

[t***@gmail.com]

Nov 15Brian Running
- show quoted text -
My advice for working on that intonation is to practice with your eyes
closed. Gotta force yourself to place your fingers by ear, not by your
eyes.

.....

Exactly. Or just don t look at the neck. I like dunking with fretless. They sing when dead on, but they’ll burn you alive if you’re off...

[coreybenson]

Thanks for the suggestion... I'll try that! I rarely look at my neck unless I'm playing a new tune these days, so closing my eyes shouldn't be much of a stretch... Other than the fact that I suck at fretless! LOL

Let us know how those DR's turn out, and the EMG's. I had a Mexi Jazz I dropped passive EMG's into years ago, and I've always regretted selling it. That was a sexy looking bass, and it sounded/played amazing.

How've you been, Judge?

Corey

Post by Brian Running

Post by coreybenson
Hey, all! Just taking a moment to stop in and say Hi. Last week I picked up a FrankenFender Fretless for $100. Great sounding bass, with a Warmoth neck that's probably worth more than the rest of the bass combined.
And BOY am I having fun! This is my 3rd (4th?) foray into the Fretless realm, and it finally feels right. I'd say the neck is more Precision-feeling than Jazz, but since I now own two P's and two J's, it's working out well in that respect.
Now to learn how to consistently keep my intonation/left hand solid and in tune. It's going to take time, but it gave me a reason to start consistently practicing again, and that's what I wanted.
Woot for the Mwah!
Corey

My advice for working on that intonation is to practice with your eyes
closed. Gotta force yourself to place your fingers by ear, not by your
eyes.
My latest equipment adventure is to drop a set of EMG 40CS pickups into
the Spector Rebop, replacing the 40DCs that had been in there for a
couple of years. Trying to get a less midrangey tone but keep the dead
silence of the active pickups. Tried them out for the first time at
rehearsal last night. No verdict yet, because I also put on new
strings, and they've got to be broken in to lose that new string
zinginess before I can judge them. DR Fat Beams, my first time trying
DR strings. Very soft and flexible, I can tell already that they demand
a light touch. I have a habit of digging in really hard, so this might
be good for my technique to have to play lighter. We'll see.