Fretless... Which?

[endura]

After about two years playing I thought to slowly jump on the fretless train.

Of course it will be a EBB!

But: WHICH?

I use a SR5 H and my first though was to get the same as fretless. But since don't use the B string this often:

Sterling? Stingray? HS? HH? With or without piezo???

Especially the piezo system is something I thought could be very nice in conjunctin with a fretless. Do you think the same?

There are no oportunities to test MM fretless basses around, I only tested one SR4 once and it was already nice but was sold before I had a chance...

What could be an ideal combination in your opinon?

 

[bassgod0dmw]

I just bought me a fretless SR4 wo/ piezo. It's an older one. I love it so much!!! If you normally play a 5 string, getting a 5 string fretless would be a good idea. I would also get it with a piezo. Mine was used, so I didn't really have a choice, but if I was buying it new I'd certainly have it installed...

 

[adouglas]

Piezo...yes, definitely.

Fretlesses really come into their own in the mid and upper ranges. What I mean is that playing a line down low on a fretless isn't as distinctive as soloing way up the neck.

For this reason, when I get my Bongo5 fretless later this year I'm going to try stringing it EADGC to take advantage of that fact. Maybe it'll sound good, maybe not. I can always go back.

I think I read somewhere that Tony Levin strings, or has strung, his fretless SR5 that way.

In other words, just because you don't use the B string that much doesn't mean you should necessarily get a 4.

The last fretless I owned was a different brand...a mail-order-only, mass-market brand from California that starts with C (you figure it out). It had a piezo , a J-style pickup at the neck and a MM-type pickup in the bridge position. The best sound came from shutting the neck pickup off entirely and mixing the bridge pickup with the piezo.

For that reason I've ordered my Bongo with one pickup and the piezo. Word has it that this combo sounds really good.

MingusBASS, IIRC has an HSp Bongo fretless that he really likes too.

 

[endura]

Thanks for the info. Sound good to me.
Especially the EADGC part is interesting! Why haven't I thought of this yet???

Keeping the handling nearly the same is also good.
Hmm.

Maybe an all white SR5 H piezo???

Niiiice..

 

[bass&cookies]

I would also recomend going EADGC for a fretless. I have my fretted fiver tuned EADGC right now, and i love it. I need to get a second so I can have one in each tuning.

 

[adouglas]

I won't string my fretted 5 that way. The low B is too darned useful, for reasons that have been discussed many times before.

But a fretless is a different beast. I really believe I'll get more use out of a high C than a low B in that context.

Wanna hear something sad?

I already bought the strings for it. (Slinkys, of course.)

I had them weeks before the 07 LE ordering window opened.

Waiting is trivial right now. It's only February...only a month since NAMM.

It'll get bad when summer hits.

 

[bass&cookies]

It took me forever to finally decide to try it. This just gives me another reason to get a 20th sr5!

 

[PocketGroove82]

I love my fretless 30th Anniversay Ray.
You should play a piezo before you deceide