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Fretless bass

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fingerboard. While many fretless players use flatwound or tapewound strings as they are believed to not wear down on the neck as much as roundwounds, some players, such as Jaco Pastorius, are mainly known for using roundwound strings to gain a brighter tone. Some fretless players, Pastorius included, coat the bass fingerboard in a thin protective layer of
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if notes are not intonated accurately. Like fretted bass guitars, they can have four, five, six, or even more strings. While some have "fret lines" indicating where the players should place their fingers for correct intonation, other basses may have only inlay dots or nothing at all on the
290:, who wanted to change the frets of his bass guitar in 1961 to fix a fret buzz issue, but never put in new ones. The first fretless horizontal bass to be produced by a designated company, after several electrified upright basses, is the 267:, and to offer a different sound. This concept has since become the standard, as other companies followed with similar electric fretted basses, like the 282:
The first fretless electric bass guitars usually resulted from modifications made by players. One of the first (if not the first) examples of this is
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The lack of frets allows for more fluid slides between notes, but also requires greater precision by the player, as the instrument may sound
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Markers laid in the side of the fingerboard aid the performer in finding the correct pitch while playing a fretless bass.
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While the fretless bass is played in all styles of music, it is most common in
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to minimize the risk of damaging the wood when using roundwound strings.
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to help guitarists who are used to them, to provide
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 675: 665:"The Jah Wobble Collection at Andy Baxter Bass" 651:"9 of the Best Fretless Bass Performances" 637:"Jaco Pastorius musician - All About Jazz" 109:Learn how and when to remove this message 516:"What Bass Guitar Does Les Claypool Use" 320: 676: 568:"A quick history of the fretless bass" 502:"A quick history of the fretless bass" 247:whose neck is smooth like traditional 294:AUB1, first released in 1965, as the 47:adding citations to reliable sources 18: 13: 341: 316: 14: 700: 251:, and like the acoustic upright 127: 23: 657: 643: 34:needs additional citations for 629: 609: 588: 574: 560: 536: 522: 508: 494: 1: 582:"Mick Karn - Sculpting Sound" 488: 259:was introduced in 1951, with 684:Guitar parts and accessories 7: 10: 705: 206: 199: 191: 169: 157: 149: 126: 133:Replica of the fretless 473:Jeroen Paul Thesseling 403:Dan 'Freebo' Freidberg 326: 275:, which looked like a 324: 298:version of the AEB1. 257:Fender Precision Bass 225:Acoustic bass guitar 153:Fretless bass guitar 43:improve this article 532:. 28 February 2007. 201:Related instruments 123: 530:"Steve Di Giorgio" 518:. 24 October 2022. 327: 249:string instruments 121: 653:. 8 January 2020. 570:. 8 January 2020. 504:. 8 January 2020. 237: 236: 164:String instrument 141:, based on a '62 119: 118: 111: 93: 16:String instrument 696: 669: 668: 661: 655: 654: 647: 641: 640: 633: 627: 626: 613: 607: 606: 604: 603: 592: 586: 585: 578: 572: 571: 564: 558: 557: 555: 554: 540: 534: 533: 526: 520: 519: 512: 506: 505: 498: 388:Steve Di Giorgio 279:but with frets. 143:Fender Jazz Bass 131: 124: 120: 114: 107: 103: 100: 94: 92: 51: 27: 19: 704: 703: 699: 698: 697: 695: 694: 693: 674: 673: 672: 663: 662: 658: 649: 648: 644: 639:. 9 April 2023. 635: 634: 630: 625:. 6 April 2021. 622:TheGuardian.com 615: 614: 610: 601: 599: 594: 593: 589: 580: 579: 575: 566: 565: 561: 552: 550: 542: 541: 537: 528: 527: 523: 514: 513: 509: 500: 499: 495: 491: 458:Stanley Sheldon 408:John Paul Jones 344: 342:Notable players 319: 317:Characteristics 243:is an electric 210:Fretless guitar 187: 145: 115: 104: 98: 95: 58:"Fretless bass" 52: 50: 40: 28: 17: 12: 11: 5: 702: 692: 691: 686: 671: 670: 667:. 4 July 2022. 656: 642: 628: 608: 587: 573: 559: 535: 521: 507: 492: 490: 487: 486: 485: 480: 475: 470: 465: 460: 455: 453:Tetsuo Sakurai 450: 448:Jaco Pastorius 445: 443:Pino Palladino 440: 435: 430: 425: 423:Bakithi Kumalo 420: 415: 410: 405: 400: 395: 390: 385: 380: 375: 370: 365: 360: 355: 350: 343: 340: 318: 315: 284:Rolling Stones 273:Paul McCartney 235: 234: 233: 232: 227: 222: 217: 212: 204: 203: 197: 196: 193: 189: 188: 186: 185: 179: 173: 171: 167: 166: 161: 159:Classification 155: 154: 151: 147: 146: 139:Jaco Pastorius 135:"Bass of Doom" 132: 117: 116: 31: 29: 22: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 701: 690: 687: 685: 682: 681: 679: 666: 660: 652: 646: 638: 632: 624: 623: 618: 612: 598:(in Japanese) 597: 591: 583: 577: 569: 563: 549: 545: 539: 531: 525: 517: 511: 503: 497: 493: 484: 481: 479: 476: 474: 471: 469: 466: 464: 461: 459: 456: 454: 451: 449: 446: 444: 441: 439: 436: 434: 431: 429: 426: 424: 421: 419: 416: 414: 411: 409: 406: 404: 401: 399: 398:Tony Franklin 396: 394: 391: 389: 386: 384: 381: 379: 376: 374: 371: 369: 366: 364: 361: 359: 356: 354: 351: 349: 346: 345: 339: 337: 332: 323: 314: 312: 308: 304: 299: 297: 293: 289: 285: 280: 278: 274: 270: 266: 262: 258: 254: 250: 246: 242: 241:fretless bass 231: 228: 226: 223: 221: 218: 216: 213: 211: 208: 207: 205: 202: 198: 194: 190: 184:(bass guitar) 183: 180: 178: 175: 174: 172: 168: 165: 162: 160: 156: 152: 148: 144: 140: 136: 130: 125: 122:Fretless bass 113: 110: 102: 91: 88: 84: 81: 77: 74: 70: 67: 63: 60: –  59: 55: 54:Find sources: 48: 44: 38: 37: 32:This article 30: 26: 21: 20: 689:Bass guitars 659: 645: 631: 620: 611: 600:. Retrieved 590: 576: 562: 551:. Retrieved 547: 538: 524: 510: 496: 368:Les Claypool 328: 300: 295: 281: 269:Höfner 500/1 264: 240: 238: 230:Ukulele bass 177:Paul Tutmarc 105: 99:January 2023 96: 86: 79: 72: 65: 53: 41:Please help 36:verification 33: 433:Sean Malone 413:Percy Jones 383:John Deacon 373:Alain Caron 363:Boz Burrell 353:Pedro Aznar 331:out of tune 253:double bass 245:bass guitar 220:Double bass 215:Bass guitar 195:Early 1960s 170:Inventor(s) 150:Other names 678:Categories 602:2023-06-05 553:2024-03-18 489:References 483:Bill Wyman 478:Jah Wobble 468:Dave Sturt 438:John McVie 428:Tony Levin 378:Rick Danko 358:Jack Bruce 348:Jeff Ament 288:Bill Wyman 271:of Beatle 182:Leo Fender 69:newspapers 548:Mark Egan 418:Mick Karn 393:Mark Egan 296:unfretted 265:precision 192:Developed 544:"Basses" 286:bassist 83:scholar 309:, and 85:  78:  71:  64:  56:  463:Sting 336:epoxy 292:Ampeg 261:frets 90:JSTOR 76:books 311:jazz 307:rock 277:viol 62:news 303:pop 137:of 45:by 680:: 619:. 546:. 305:, 239:A 605:. 584:. 556:. 112:) 106:( 101:) 97:( 87:· 80:· 73:· 66:· 39:.

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"Bass of Doom"
Jaco Pastorius
Fender Jazz Bass
Classification
String instrument
Paul Tutmarc
Leo Fender
Related instruments
Fretless guitar
Bass guitar
Double bass
Acoustic bass guitar
Ukulele bass
bass guitar
string instruments
double bass
Fender Precision Bass
frets

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