Fretless elec. bass recording

[vvv]

Aiight, mebbe you think it's like a banjo or a accordion but I'm pretty into fretless bass (slide-bass, also, but that's for another day).

And I'm happy with the sounds I'm getting, using my usual recording chains, which are typically DI thru a decent (usually tube) pre into a soft-knee compressor (ex., The Brick-dbx160XT) and settings. The bass is a MIJ Jazz, with years-old strings, what I think are 1/2 rounds.

Does anyone have any certain adjustment(s) that they make for fretless vs. fretted electric bass? More of this or that type compression or EQ or whatever effect, etc.?

What I'm looking for is something - besides my fingers and arrangement and the riffs theyselves - what will accentuate the sound of and make it stand out as a electric fretless bass.

[Gregg Juke]

I've always found that a touch of chorus can be helpful.

In fact, I used to make a "fake fretless" sound if I wanted that kind of thing, but the bassist didn't have a fretless, but did have active pick-ups. Switch them out-of-phase, chorus it up a bit, and voila! You could try something like that. I guess EQ is important too, but so much epends on the instrument and the player.

GJ

[darjama]

I've usually found I don't need a lot of compression on fretless.

EQ-wise, fretless basses often have a low of mid frequency stuff going on, makes it feel woody to me. Play around in that area, boost or cut depending on the bass and on the song.

[vvv]

Speaking of EQ, I seldom EQ any bass other than shelves, or mebbe a cuppla narrow dB at 8 or 900 or so to make it pop out of a mix. I'll tend to change basses and/or pups and/or compression settings first, but since I record my stuff starting with drums to bass, I tend to build my mixes from there.

Now, chorus, I pretty often like to add that for parts, ex., on the chorus, vs. the verse. ("chorus on the chorus, vs. the verse" )

I'm also into doubling parts.

That said, what I'm looking for is how to kinda exaggerate the already-existent electric fretlessness, make that more obvious.

[mrpicholas]

On my fretless, I'll bump up 750-850hz, where I usually scoop some of that out with the fretted bass. I compress just enough to get the "growl" going.

Most of it is approaching the bassline/part differently on fretless than on fretted bass; letting notes swell in and sliding into them.

[Gregg Juke]

That's it ^^^^. I mean, I was going to make a joke about it, but in all seriousness, mr. picholas nailed it-- play it like a fretless. Slide, slide, slide, and do the little finger vibrato stuff that gives the instrument it's character. And try the chorus effect for accentuating that "Baaa-oooo-iinngg" thing.

GJ

[Zygomorph]

^^^^^ Haha, I think fretless nerds (which I am mere months away from fully qualifying for, membership card is in the mail...) refer to the "baaaaaaa-ooooooiiii-ng" sound simply as "mwah", and there are endless discussion threads on basstalk.com about how get it or enhance it.

In my recent experience with DR Sunbeams on my Warwick Corvette, I'm finding maximum BOING happens by favoring the neck pickup and plucking closer to the center of the length of the string. Which is actually the opposite of what I used to always try, which is the opposite of the typical Jaco thing of playing really close to the bridge and favoring the bridge pickup.