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Half Fretless_how difficult.?
https://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9145		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Stickrad [ Fri Jan 30, 2015 8:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Half Fretless_how difficult.?
What do your badassnesses say about the degree of difficulty that a half fretless places on your technique.

I've never really played a fretless instrument but I am hearing things these days with a little more of the half fretless sound.

Cheers
Author:  Skydiver [ Fri Jan 30, 2015 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
I own both a fretted and fretless bass. When playing by myself I found it hard because I play by comparing my notes to the rest of the band. When playing with the band it was easy to find where the note is because it sounded right.

I recently got to play Don Schiff's half fretless and it took me a little bit to get used to. But the same thing came to me as I played chords with my right hand and closed my eyes I was able to find the right bass notes with my left.
It take a little bit of getting used to but it's a great sound and a lot of fun.

I liked using the fretless bass with my band in the past because it seemed like my band mates were never in tune and I could compensate for it... or make it worse... :lol:
Author:  Stickrad [ Fri Jan 30, 2015 11:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
Hey Thanks SkyDiver.

Yes it seems to be an ear thing with fretless. I could see Don getting to that gate with his videos.

I'm sure I could get into it, with a little pain to start with, the results will surely be worth it.
Author:  AnDroiD [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
fretless rules. had fretless basses, uprights, trombone. a longggg time ago, when i made the transition, (in that order, above,) it took about one rehearsal w a band before my intonation was "on". and with a half-fretless instrument, you have a built-in "in-tune" player - yourself. so you can allways check your intonation. i on the other hand, had my Ironwood made completely fretless (DBR) (don't try this at home). yes, i have a fretted Stick also and yes, im not that good just that crazy but i missed my fretless instruments so badly i figured "why not?". first impression was "Bad Jaco" but my musician friends seem to think it's hysterical. more like Percy Jones/Frank Zappa with WAY too many strings. if you're hearing fretless lines, you should probably be playing one.
Author:  Marty6126 [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
I think half-fretless would be very challenging to play. Something Don Schiff said at FHA last year makes me think so: when playing the fretless side your fingers need to be positioned slightly toward the bridge compared to fingers playing the fretted side in order to keep both sides intoned. That sounds a little tricky to do in real time. Don, of course manages it very well, but I think even he found it an unexpected challenge.

The other thing about fretless is that it is very hard to do stacked chords. Three fingers on the same 'fret' on consecutive strings.

Just my 2 cents.
Author:  Shedua511 [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 10:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
If you check this topic: http://www.stickist.com/viewtopic.php?f ... 5&start=10
you'll find some photos of my 1/4 fretless Grand Stick. As I wrote there, not as hard as you would imagine, but of course harder than a fretted Stick :D
Author:  Skydiver [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 5:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
AnDroiD wrote:
if you're hearing fretless lines, you should probably be playing one.


This is what I have loved about my NS. I hear the lines and I can go to my NS and start playing them. It's really nice when the sounds in your head matches the instrument that I play...
Author:  Stickrad [ Sat Jan 31, 2015 5:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
Hmmm. Thanks gents. I figure I might be lucky, considering that I don't have any bass experience and don't know any better.

I love the bass and this is a move towards playing in a bass role with some chords on top. I can see how the stacked chords thing would be difficult.

Another question. Has anyone slapped the thing HARD like Jibilian seems to.? I'm curious as to whether it responds well to being spanked.! I would probably go heavy strings, but I reckon GJ has some pretty sizeable processing going on behind his sound..

Thanks for straightening this thing out for me.
Author:  rwkeating [ Sun Feb 01, 2015 6:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
How hard you can play the NS (slapping, plucking, with a pick ...) depends on how high you set the strings. The higher they are, the harder you can play, but there is a trade off. Higher strings are harder to tap. Fortunately changing string height is super easy. You don't have to remove any strings to do it and there is a lot of adjustment available.

There is only one string gauge set available for the NS for standard tuning. I was actually thinking of something lighter. I don't know how much heavier you could go without putting too much strain on the neck. Obviously, SE would be the ones to talk to about that.

I have my NS set up for optimal tapping so my strings are super low. Any other playing technique I would want to do requires a very light touch, but I'm okay with that.
Author:  AnDroiD [ Sun Feb 01, 2015 9:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Half Fretless_how difficult.?
i dont think stacked chords is an issue. depending on whether the bass side is straight fourths or reciprocal fifths, it's still about getting available fingers in position. and barring comes into play also, not necessarily as easy on an a non-tapping instrument. Don also mentioned not using the damper, muting strings w the left hand. right now im playing w/out the damper on the whole instrument, muting w BOTH hands. (with the frets removed, i had to find a different damper. i just slip a piece of felt in and out. it's out right now. i like all of the harmonics available.) THANKS BY THE WAY DON FOR HAND MUTING TIP.
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