It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:21 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: fretless basses
Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 11:36 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:33 pm
Posts: 2
if you have a fretless bass, do you need flatwound strings? or can you use traditional strings?

_________________
Christ=Life
Music=Everything else


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: fretless bass strings
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 10:58 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:00 pm
Posts: 3
Location: mountains outside Black Hawk, Colorado
I found they worked better on the "shaved fretless" I found used. But when it came time for a change the wire wound worked fine.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:54 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:16 am
Posts: 633
Location: Scotland
Flatties will give you a different tone (more akin to that of an upright bass) and will not eat up the fretboard any where near as much as rounds will on a fretless neck. But if you want the Jaco tone then rounds are the way to go, but just be aware you may need to re-sand and finish your fretboard way more often than if you used flats. I dred to think how many necks Jaco got through in his time!

You can get half rounds which are a hybrid between flatties and rounds which apparently don't eat the fretboard so much but retain the edgy sound of the rounds. I haven't even tried these though, and I'm not sure how easy they are to find.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 7:21 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:48 pm
Posts: 27
There's always the epoxy option, it's real hard wearing and great if you're using rounds :D


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:06 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 8:59 am
Posts: 3
I currently use flatwounds on my fretless because I'm looking for an an older traditional sound with a little bit of double bass thrown in. They are also easier on the fret board.

I am told that if you prefer the sound of roundwounds, they are perfectly OK on a fretless.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:43 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 9:56 am
Posts: 2766
Location: metro Chicago USA
Flats happily used on the 2000 MM Jazz fretless.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: fretless basses
Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:41 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 6:57 am
Posts: 8
Location: Waco, TX
spyke6400 wrote:
if you have a fretless bass, do you need flatwound strings? or can you use traditional strings?

I have a Squire Jazz Fretless with the Ebanol fretboard and on mine I'm using Fender 9120 nylon tapewound. They've got a really funky sound which is what I was looking for and they play great.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Fretboard wear.
Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:57 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2007 11:20 am
Posts: 805
Jaco sound is rounds.

If you have a bare rosewood fretboard, rounds will tear it up. Jaco had an epoxy finish on his fretboard. This will protect (temporary) and also brighten the sound.

Otherwise you can use half-rounds (ground down flats) or flats. They will have a darker tone with less overtones than than the rounds.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: fretless basses
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 5:09 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:10 am
Posts: 7
spyke6400 wrote:
if you have a fretless bass, do you need flatwound strings? or can you use traditional strings?

Ally gave a great answer. Over the years I have used roundwounds on my fretless and had to resand my neck. I used halfwounds with a hexcore to achieve almost the same sound. But now that I'm older with more horses in the stable I like a fretless to sound like a fretless so I'll alternate between Fender Black Nylon tape strings and/or Fender Stainless Steel Flatwounds. I get more mwaah with the FSSF.

You can use any string you want but I think the finesse that fretless players look for can be easily found in flatwounds.

Peace


Top
Profile
Post subject: flat wound on frettless
Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:49 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:45 pm
Posts: 1271
i highly suggest it.it saves ware on the neck board.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: