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Jazz gigs on a fretted - who does 'em?


SteveC

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Do any of you guys play "traditional" jazz gigs on a fretted bass? I am really struggling with what to do. I have a standing gig with a trio. We do "real book" stuff. I have used both a fretted and fretless bass for the gig.

 

My struggle is that the fretted sounds nice, but for ballads and nuance - it isn't as nice as a fretless. I bought a Squire VM for this but it just doesn't cut it.

 

I am debating getting a Wendler. They sound very much like an upright, not at all like an electric fretless, and would probably be great for these gigs.

 

Dave has offered me a nice price, but it's still a substantial chunk of money. Some people say play what you have and groove the hell out of it. Others say a fretless or upright type of tone is really nicer to have if possible for a traditional jazz type gig.

 

So do I play my fretted and just play as well as I can, or do I spend dome money (which isn't in abundance lately) and go for a more "appropriate " sound.

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"play what you have and groove the hell out of it"

 

Definitely. I do lots of jazz gigs with fretted basses (In fact, I' ve owned my fretless one just for about a year and a couple months only!), and it all depends on your playing technique. Obviously, the sound will not always be THE sound, or the same sound you would dream of for each song, but it works. I do it mostly with a Jazz Bass, or a P+J bass, even after having the fretless one, I still do most gigs with the fretted ones, for a lot of reasons, being the practical ones the first that come to mind...

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I play one jazz gig a year. We play mostly traditional stuff. My fretted works beautifully.

 

In NYC, there are jazz gigs that you cannot get unless you play upright. Period. That's a whole different story than what you're dealing with.

 

Personally, my advice is to screw "appropriate," and make the music go with the bass you've got.

 

Peace.

--SW

 

spreadluv

 

Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars.

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Before getting the URB, I played jazz gigs with a fretted P-bass. It won't sound as smooth as a fretless or even an upright. There are a couple of things you can try (no guarentees).

 

1. Place a hunk of foam rubber under the bridge. This will help mute the strings and give a duller, more percussive thump that is indicative of URB's

 

2. Go with flat wounds. They don't make nearly as much noise on the neck.

 

What was the gripe with the Squier?

 

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

 

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What was the gripe with the Squier?

 

Well, it sounds ok, I put Bartolini pups in and that helped. It has a buzz on the 4th "fret" that I can't get rid of. I've had a couple people try to do a set up - including myself - and it's still there.

 

Maybe I tried to go a little too cheap. A MIM or maybe even a aAmaha would have been better.

 

Anyway, I think for now it's going to be fretted. We'll see how things sound tomorrow night.

 

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First, frets are for pussies.

 

(.....ducks for cover....)

 

Hey! "Ducks For Cover"! Good name for a band.

 

Seriously. Fretted will do just fine. I'd suggest one step farther than flats; do the nylon tapewounds. Carvin has them cheap. On the other hand, the buzz at the 4th fret isn't the fault of a cheap bass if two "professionals" couldn't fix it. Get the appropriate radius sanding block, straighten the neck via the truss rod, and get to work. Become your own professional, 'cause those guys are just hacks.

Things are just the way they are, and they're only going to get worse.

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[P]lay what you have and groove the hell out of it.
+1. First significant use of a fretted electric bass guitar - ever - was Monk Montgomery in Lionel Hampton's band. Don't try to be a Ron Carter or Ray Brown clone; be the best SteveC, playing jazz on a fretted bass, that you can be.

 

 

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I play some jazz gigs on fretted and some on fretless. People I play with like the sound of the fretless bass, but if they have hired me to play, they know they are getting an electric bass and not an upright bass and they have been happy with whatever instrument I show up with.

 

Don't stress about it, just bring an axe and play the music.

 

Playing stylistically appropriate is WAY more important than what particular model of bass you happen to be playing.

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He is wise.

 

I'm just going to play the bass that sounds good and deal with any other issue that may come up when it does.

 

Thanks for your comments everyone. Sometimes one just needs a little reassurance that one is not totally off in one's thinking.

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It has a buzz on the 4th "fret" that I can't get rid of. I've had a couple people try to do a set up - including myself - and it's still there.

That's the exact reason I got rid of mine, but the "fret buzz" was on a few different frets. It made no sense to me to own a fretless that sounded like a badly set-up fretted. She was fun while it lasted though.

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I know what a Selmer Mark VI saxophone looks like. However, other than that, I have played with many, many wind instrument players playing saxophones, trumpets, trombones, clarinets and flutes and not once have I ever noticed or cared what brand or model of instrument they are playing.

 

I've also played with violinists, some of whom had $60,000 instruments and some of whom who had $200 instruments and can't say that I ever really noticed the difference.

 

Most of the drummers I know own several sets of drums and sometimes will show up with a brand new set of expensive drums or an expensive set of vintage drums, or a cheapo set.

 

I'm listening to the playing, not the instrument. A good player will sound good on anything and a bad player will sound bad on anything.

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What Jeremy said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:) I've been playing on a URB my parents bought for me in middle school for $900 (granted, it was a steal and sold to us by my old teacher). I sit next to a girl in my symphony who recently graduated from the New England Conservatory and has an incredible looking and sounding bass that probably cost more than I paid for college. Nobody complains about the sound I pull from my bass on the occational solo passage. It actually needs new strings and a professional setup, but I "play the hell out of it" and nobody questions it.

 

I also play my fretted, active Ibanez a lot in my big band. On the surface, it's about as un-jazz as you can get but between the onboard EQ and my hands I manage to get whatever sound I need for each song including a pretty URB-ish sound that I'm kinda proud of (my URB pickup is on the fritz).

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A good player will sound good on anything and a bad player will sound bad on anything.

 

You sure know how to demotivate the heck out of a person, Jeremy :grin:

 

But I was actually thinking along the same lines, SteveC. Other than you, will anyone care? And please don't take this personal or the wrong way, but perhaps you simply feel the itch to buy / sell gear again ? We all know that feeling ...

"I'm a work in progress." Micky Barnes

 

The Ross Brown Shirt World Tour

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I would really like to have something to cop that upright sound. Maybe I should just get a Wendler and call it good. A great fretless for when I need it, and when I don't I have a great fretted.

 

Hae you thought about fretless P? You might have pretty good success in getting a more upright- like sound with the right strings and some deadening effects. I remember reading somewhere that people have had pretty good results with that.

 

But, to share the sentiment that others have shared, it's not as much about what you play it on but how you play it. Just go out there with what you have and do your thing.

 

"Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind"- George Orwell
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A good player will sound good on anything and a bad player will sound bad on anything.

 

You sure know how to demotivate the heck out of a person, Jeremy :grin:

 

But I was actually thinking along the same lines, SteveC. Other than you, will anyone care? And please don't take this personal or the wrong way, but perhaps you simply feel the itch to buy / sell gear again ? We all know that feeling ...

 

I don't think it's G.A.S. this time. I just wanted a little backup that it is OK to play gigs on whatever I have as long as it sounds good. Jeremy has the type of bass I think I'd get so he knows how it plays and sounds. Yet he still tells me to just play what I have, which is encouraging as he does have both.

 

Really, if I'm G.A.S.ing for anything it's a MusicMan Sterling hanging at the store. SH, maple neck/board, blue with matching headstock and white pearl guard. Very nice variety of tones from the 5 position toggle and 3 band EQ. Playes great and sounds way different from my Yamaha.

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I have kicked that thought around. A good one would be pretty costly and I don't have a lot of space in the house to store it.

 

You don't store uprights, you play them. And when you don't play them, they sound like they haven't been played.

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I do not think Bob would sell crap, but that's just me.

 

Why fart around the subject? If you're doing a straight jazz gig, the most appropriate instrument is likely an upright bass. Also, in a small town, lugging the upright would also likely cement you as the first choice for those types of gigs. Band leaders like to see it, and the audience gets a visual cue that this is real jazz, not Kenny G.

 

I am sure the Wendler is a fine instrument (as is my Rob Allen, along the same lines), but it is not a replacement for an upright.

 

If I had the room, I would have one and I would take lessons to learn how to play it. However, my apartment is likely the same square footage as the average garage.

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