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Topic: fretless guitar |
Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 23 Jan 2003 8:39 pm |
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I picked up a cheap fretless guitar at the NAMM show. Playing fretless is a gas. it's totally different than playing a fretted guitar. Chording is impossible. It's strictly a lead instrument. It has the same sort of rubbery tone a fretless bass has, only in the guitar's register.
I'm really having fun with this puppy. Of course the novelty will wear off eventually, but at the moment I'm having fun playing with my new toy. |
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Dave Boothroyd
From:
Staffordshire Moorlands
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Posted 24 Jan 2003 12:19 am
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Then all you have to do is raise the action , and you have a lap steel!
Cheers
Dave
ps. In my youth I knew somebody who played the fretless banjo!
D |
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Patrick Ickes
From:
Upper Lake, CA USA
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Posted 24 Jan 2003 6:20 pm
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Hey Mike,
Does it have "fret" markers or dots down the side of the neck.
Just curious.
Pat |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 24 Jan 2003 6:21 pm
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I had a friend in Mississippi who made beautiful fretless gourd banjos. They were modelled after the original banjos made by slaves, similar to instruments in Africa. He put 5 gut strings on, like a modern 5-string banjo. They had a beautiful soft mellow sound. Nothing like the modern wire-string banjos we are used to, which we all know sound like a bunch of yard-flies in a tin can. My friend's name was Scotty Didlake, originally from Crystal Springs. He pass away from Lou Gehrig's disease. How I wish I had paid him to make me one of those beautiful gourd banjos.
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Student of the Steel, and cheap instrument connoisseur: customized 1970 Sho-Bud Maverick, Fessy S12U, Emmons S12 E9 P/P, Nashville 400, Fender Squire, Peavey Transtube Supreme into JBL 15", 1968 Gibson J50, '60s Kay arch-top, 7-string Raybro, customized Korean Regal square-neck, roundneck Dobro 90C, 1938 Conn Chu Berry tenor sax, '50s Berg mouthpiece, Hamilton upright piano. You make it, I'll play it (more or less)
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 25 Jan 2003 12:28 am
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Patrick, it has fret markers. I hope you're coming down for the jam on Freb 8.
David, I'm sure if you talk to the folks at Gold Tone banjos, they will make you whatever you want. [This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 25 January 2003 at 08:14 AM.] |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Jan 2003 5:22 am
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Chet Atkins had one that he used on a few of his later recordings.
His had Nylon Strings.
What type of strings does yours have, Mike? |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 25 Jan 2003 8:14 am
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Joey, mine has steel strings, but Godin makes a nylon string version.
If I get into this bigtime, I may pick up one of those too, but at the moment I don't foresee that. |
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BDBassett
From:
Rimrock AZ
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Posted 25 Jan 2003 6:51 pm
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| I Wonder if it's a fretless guitar that Pat Matheny uses on Last Train Home? Perhaps one with a sitar bridge. It's a cool sound whatever it was. |
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Rich Weiss
From:
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 25 Jan 2003 10:13 pm
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I always thought that was a fretless bass being played on that song. I love the sound.
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Paul Osbty
From:
Seattle, Washington, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2003 8:57 pm
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| Listen to Frank Zappa "Can't Afford No Shoes" He found a fretless 6 string and said "That's ridiculous, I'll take it". One Size Fits All album. |
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Alvin Blaine
From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
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Posted 2 Feb 2003 11:23 pm
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| I have a fretless 5 string banjo from the 1870s with sheep-gut strings and goat-skin head. Its alot of fun to play and has a deep thumpy sound. [This message was edited by Alvin Blaine on 02 February 2003 at 11:25 PM.] |
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