Roll Call... Who is playing a SR5 Fretless??

[Psycho Ward]

Just wondering who are the fretless players out there...


Tell me what you like in a fretless...



You know I'm thinking about buying one...

 

[Bill]

The tobacco burst?

 

[prickly_pete]

SR4 unlined, piezo. The piezo option is a must with fretless.

 

[smallequestrian]

Well, Chuck doesn't have to worry too much about the Piezo as they don't offer it left handed. I had a defretted SR5, but it had bad mojo, and therefore my opinion was not high of it. I have played others and thought they were awesome though. I love Musicman single hummer fretlesses though.

 

[Rayan]

DreamzComeTrue

~
SR5 Fretless Piezo
- for my purposes & at my level, a 'lined' board is very helpful; depending on the situation, once I'm warmed up and in a groove, I concentrate on the music and let the lines keep me honest - 'furniture critics' and 'theologians' can talk among themselves
- the piezo bridge is a practical and 'sensual' enhancement to one of MM's better kept secrets - I'm glad I wasn't ready for this bass before the Piezo option was offered else I may have missed it
- if I got called on short notice for the last train to music heaven, this just might be the one carryon piece I'd fight real hard to take with me
~

oh yeah - "sorry" about the leftie thing

/R

 

[prickly_pete]

Well, Chuck doesn't have to worry too much about the Piezo as they don't offer it left handed.

Ok, I didn't know that. Not to worry, because it sounds great with the regular MM pickup too.

 

[scottbass71]

1996 SR 5 Fretless with line markings absolutely love it looking at another fretless SR5 but this time with no lines
I have played pbass, Jbass and other fretless basses and I think the SR sound the best as a fretless

 

[AnthonyD]

I am new to fretless, but certainly loving it (Bongo though, not SR5).

Ordinarily I tend to play agressively, with ample fret "snap" - I like the fretless for the softer, melodic stuff. Stuff that moans... I find I am in a different mental place when playing the fretless.

Piezo is HUGE (sorry Chuck!). It definitely adds a unique edge to the tone - sensual is a great way to put it.

I considered both lined and unlined and ultimately went without and glad I did - for me it's all about the side markers...

The lined neck is marked along the side just the same as a fretted neck. That is to say the third fret side marker is between the second and third line.

Using the 'A' string for example, I look for that dot to play a 'C' on a fretted neck and the fret does the rest. But on a lined fretless, playing the dot is flat - the 'C' is ahead of the dot on the line where the fret would be. On the other hand, playing the 'C' on the unlined fretless is right on the dot as the side markers are where the frets would be.

This is HUGE for me, as it means I can essentially use the same approach for both the fretted and fretless necks. And while I certainly have some "tightening up" to do with regard to my fretless playing, this has made playing the fretless bass much easier for me that I expected.

Go for it Chuck - fretless is cool!

 

[Psychicpet]

Had my SR5 defretted and it sounded awesome. My Bongo5 fretless does have piezo and is a great addition but don't feel too left out (sorry for the bad pun) A fretless SR5 is gonna sound great even without piezo. Now withthe dual p/u options you moght want to consider that as it'll give ya more stuff to play with as far as tones and hand placement.
My only other 2 bits is that for my fretless I use the Super Slinky 5s which are a light gauge and my action is kinda low but if you can work on a "lighter" touch and use the lighter gauge, it makes the D and G strings sing for days and is very responsive to nuance.... that being said, we all know the raging debates over string gauge/type kinds iof thangs

but don't you dare put flat wounds on it!!!!