Joma - Ever Played A Fretless Bass?

[Hey Man]

I am listening to The Firm debut and I remember all the talk about Tony Franklin often using a fretless bass, which apparently provides it's own kind of sound.

With The Firm, some people couldn't tell if it was Page on guitar or Tony on bass with some of the parts on the album. I assume Franklin plays the bass like it's a guitar.

Anyway have you ever played a fretless bass and if so - what can you tell me about as a non-musician?

[Joma]

I have tried one once or twice. They're much harder to play because you have to have your fingers in just the right spot or the note will be sharp or flat. As for the difference...I dunno, it does much cleaner and smoother slides, but I don't know how much bass players are doing slides on most songs. A lot of times you probably wouldn't hear a difference. Here's an example of where you can, though:

[Hey Man]

Jan 29, 2024 14:14:56 GMT -5 Joma said:

I have tried one once or twice. They're much harder to play because you have to have your fingers in just the right spot or the note will be sharp or flat. As for the difference...I dunno, it does much cleaner and smoother slides, but I don't know how much bass players are doing slides on most songs. A lot of times you probably wouldn't hear a difference. Here's an example of where you can, though:

Interesting. There are parts of this that sound very much like Tony Franklin on The Firm albums. That seems to be what he is known for anyway - a fretless bass player with the tons of studio work he has done.

I guess given that people weren't sure what was the guitar and what was the bass on those Firm albums, it is a more in your face style of bass playing.