Fretless Tone

[neal_672]

Wow it's been a while since i've started a thread around here....

Anyway recently i've realised i'm not happy with my fretless tone, it's weak, shallow and nowhere near as resonant or warm as i would like it. I realise this will have a large amount to do with the quality of the pickups (my fretless is a Vintage V490FL with original Wilkinson pups, so i'm hoping someone like Alex or Machines could give me a hand here considering they own the same model) but i'm really looking for something warm, somewhat similar to Jaco's tone i guess. So i was wondering if you could help me out with some suggestions for settings, i have a great EQ on my amp (Laney HCM160B) so i can tinker with the specifics. Any help would be appreciated :thumb:

Thanks in advance guys

-Neal

[Machines]

I find mine to be very warm on the neck pickup with the treble rolled off, do you have flats or rounds ?

I know Alex bought some EMG pickups to replace onto his V940FL, but the technicalities of wiring to the EQ seem to be a little more than expected :p.

[neal_672]

I find mine to be very warm on the neck pickup with the treble rolled off, do you have flats or rounds ?

I know Alex bought some EMG pickups to replace onto his V940FL, but the technicalities of wiring to the EQ seem to be a little more than expected :p.

I'm using a set of flats at the moment, i'll go give it a go. Thanks :thumb:

I did consider new pups, but i'll leave it until Alex has got his sorted/not sorted to see as to whether it's worth it. In that i have no idea what i'm doing i'd probably need to get it done professionally if i wanted it doing.

[Machines]

Well, Jaco used rounds on an epoxied fingerboard. This gave his warm growl alot more than the EQ I believe. I use flats and am quite happy with them. Although I would prefer rounds if they didn't damage the fingerboard so much.

Slightly off-topic - I played an Ibanez GWB-35 (Garry Willis fretless 5) yesterday. Had ebony fingerboard and roundwound strings, gave superbly refined notes in the low end and kept the mwah on the high register. It had only one pickup however, so wasn't majorly versatile, so I thought £500 was a little steep.

[Jimbobntnr]

I use superslinkies on an ebony board and get a nice growl from them.

[neal_672]

Well, Jaco used rounds on an epoxied fingerboard. This gave his warm growl alot more than the EQ I believe. I use flats and am quite happy with them. Although I would prefer rounds if they didn't damage the fingerboard so much.

Slightly off-topic - I played an Ibanez GWB-35 (Garry Willis fretless 5) yesterday. Had ebony fingerboard and roundwound strings, gave superbly refined notes in the low end and kept the mwah on the high register. It had only one pickup however, so wasn't majorly versatile, so I thought £500 was a little steep.

I played a fretless Warwick Thumb 6 string the other day.

I want it, but unfortunately i don't have £1000+ just lying about right now. Or ever.

:upset:

[bass&cookies]

i use old elixers on an epoxyd rosewood fretboard. that gives some pretty sweet tones when you solo the neck and roll off most of the treble. really warm, and i can get some nice growl out of it

[Phalanx]

I use roundwounds on a rosewood neck, sounds incredibly warm and mwahhy. I use high treble, high mids and medium bass to get the tone off my amp

[White_Summer]

i used taperwounds on my warwick streamer standard, its got passive elecs and alot a growl, but i plan to swap the electronics out for some active ones, also its got a ebony fretlboard

[Sade]

My Brice has pretty excellent fretless tone. I use roundwounds on about half a dozen coats of poly, all over a rosewood fingerboard.

If you want mwah and growl, I suggest some TI Jazz Flats, or roundwounds.

[Wintermute]

I never did actually get those EMG P/J's installed... *adds to to-do list*

I'm actually quite happy with my tone. I'll describe my setup...

Bass:
Pickup balance central
Bass central
Treble boosted strongly

Amp:
Bass flat
Mids boosted
Highs flat

Effects:
GT-6B modelling a Flip-Top amp, slightly over-driven with slight cuts to mids and treble
GT-6B applying parametric EQ: Boost at 6.1kHz with a moderate Q factor
GT-6B modelling a 2x15" speaker cab
GT-6B applying a light chorus

Think... Sean Malone with light overdrive, just enough to cut through.

You know, I didn't realise just how much I use that GT-6B for. :lol:





But happy though I am with my tone, it's not really much like Jacos. As has been mentioned, Jaco liked his roundwounds and epoxy, neither of which I use.

[muthafunkabass]

2x15? too much low-end IMO.

[Wintermute]

Well, when you consider that the bass is flat on all three sets of EQ, and that the actual amp I'm using here at uni is more like 1x10", or headphones, it works out quite well.

[muthafunkabass]

oh. then umm okay.

[Son of Magni]

My Brice has pretty excellent fretless tone. I use roundwounds on about half a dozen coats of poly, all over a rosewood fingerboard.

If you want mwah and growl, I suggest some TI Jazz Flats, or roundwounds.
Definately +1 on the TI's.

But for mwah it's mostly in the setup. The action needs to be set low and with just enough neck relief to keep it from buzzing. I start with the neck relief and with a straight edge on the fingerboard you want about 1/16 or just a tiny bit more under the straight edge at the octave. Then lower the bridge height until you have the mwah you want.

[Sade]

Definately +1 on the TI's.

But for mwah it's mostly in the setup. The action needs to be set low and with just enough neck relief to keep it from buzzing. I start with the neck relief and with a straight edge on the fingerboard you want about 1/16 or just a tiny bit more under the straight edge at the octave. Then lower the bridge height until you have the mwah you want.

I pretty much assumed the actual bass physics on mwah tone was a given most fretless players would already understand.

But saying that, it is my opinion that tone lies within the strings. This is my list (from greatest to least) on which affects tone the most:

1) Strings,
2) Electronics,
3) Setup.

[Son of Magni]

I pretty much assumed the actual bass physics on mwah tone was a given most fretless players would already understand.

But saying that, it is my opinion that tone lies within the strings. This is my list (from greatest to least) on which affects tone the most:

1) Strings,
2) Electronics,
3) Setup.
Well, I agree that they all contribute. But if your action is too high it doesn't matter what strings you use, you will never have mwah. You'll simply have a dull sounding fretless.

Edit: I think if you're using flats the setup is even more critical. But in any case all three need to be looked at.