Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Now I’m Confused.

What would Jaco say considering all his fretless basses had lines & dots. (granted it's where frets were).

Jaco was an innovator, not so much an educator. Regardless, it's already been said in the thread before: it's the sound you get out of the bass, not how you get there.

Indeed, tone is king.

I'm so inspired by the wholesale shaming of fretless-with-lines bass players, that I've begun to apply this mindset to all aspects of my music making. First threw away my electronic tuner; from now on, I'll tune only by ear. Then I replaced the knobs on my amps with ones that have no numbers. Hey, they're always turned all the way up, anyway, right? That went so well, that I opened up the VU meters in my studio and sanded off all the numbers there, too. Perfecto!

Because that's how awesome I am.

Now I was on a roll. I went into the house and filed all the numbers off my oven knob. I can usually stick my hand in the oven and feel if it's the right temperature. Same with my home thermostat. Hey, when you've been alive for 43 years, you just have a FEEL for how warm it should be in the house, and where that knob should be.

Next it was out to my car. I smashed in the readout on my radio tuner, because I can just feel when the station is perfectly in tune (once I get to the basic area where my favorite station lies). Gas gauge -- gone! Speedometer -- no mas!

I rule!

I threw out all my maps and calendars. I just have an innate sense of time and space. That's how I know I should be filing my income taxes in the next week or so.

I'd like to write more, but I've got lots of things to do. I've really been itching to grind all my Prozacs into a powder. I think it looks WAY cooler in the bottle than all those little pre-measured pills, and I don't need no "training wheels" messing with my groove.



DISCLOSURE: for what it's worth, I play a Tobias fretless with lines. I find them to be kind of like the lights on a runway. They get me in the vicinity and then I use my other senses -- my ear, my history with the instrument -- along with some vibrato to arrive at a note worthy of my love. Someday I'll start choosing my instruments based on the "coolness factor" rather than whether or not they are a comfortable vessel for the expression of my musical self. On that day, please come find me and shoot me.

Michael: Man, you're good!

Classic! That was great!

Glad I'm catching up on my post reading!

ajish4 wrote:

Glad I'm catching up on my post reading!

It's about time you showed up in the normal forum that you co-host!

rickenbrother wrote:

ajish4 wrote:

Glad I'm catching up on my post reading!

It's about time you showed up in the normal forum that you co-host!

LOL Joey.... disgraziato!

Sorry, been spending a LOT of time going through all those old Market Place ads....I'm clocking a lot of time in there....STILL have a lot of work to do! Besides, I KNEW this was in good hands!

I played a lined fretless G&L today. Just as I remembered, the lines were pretty much unhelpful unless I awkwardly stared at my fingers. But the side dots did help.

The lines should be pretty much unhelpful, as playing in a way that allows you to see much of the fingerboard is the first step to neck and back pain.

1. Jaco's bass had fretlines for a good reason: clay-filled slots where the frets were removed. Point being, I doubt he used them; he just wanted a smooth boat-varnished board.

2. Yes Dane, you can rest assured that if I had been Jaco's friend, I would have given him a hard time about them, regardless of their necessity. 100% absolutely.

3. Yes, I use side dots. I also play upright where the only frame of reference is the neck joint.