I have a Fender Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass, which only has dots on the top side of the neck. When playing, fingers on the dots, to hit the notes. It is neat, and I like it. On the other hand, the Ibanez fretless SR has both lines and dots on the neck. I’m not sure whether I should have finger on the lines or the dots.
I have had this bass for just a year. This is, in my opinion, the bass fretless offering the best value for money. The controls are hyper-sensitive. It is therefore necessary to take the necessary time to make the adjustments adapted to the desired sound. I also have an Ibanez Gary Willis signature GWB 205. It does not support comparison with SRF 705 for the double of its price.
It seems incredible value when compared to the boutique fretless's out there. My only issue is I don't like flatwound sounds, much prefer nickel rounds but they'd chew up the rosewood neckboard....bummer, would buy one, otherwise
I've played a 2000 Yamaha 5-string fretless, which has a Rosewood board, with roundwounds, for 15 years, as my main bass, without any chewing happening. It's a common misconception, because Ebony is indeed five times harder than Rosewood. But hardness is completely different than abrasion resistance. In this regard, I believe Rosewood is superior. I've owned a fretless Lakland 5-2 with an Ebony board and a custom Zon 5-string with phenolic (ebonol) fingerboard, and neither of them wore as well as the Rosewood. In spite of all the playing I have never had the fingerboard of that Yamaha resurfaced, and it doesn't need it! (Also, I think the Portamento has a Pao Ferro 'board, doesn't it?)
Im new to bass (converted to this from guitar as a band needed a bassist). I have no idea about what these knobs mean are or doing to my tone. Im getting there with experimentation but do you or any one else here have any good resources for learning about this?
Different on different basses mate - if you're not sure what they do, your best bet is to check the manufacturer's website to get the spec sheet. From there, just use your ears!
@@HendrixTaylor24 Controls are listed in the description, if you haven't seen already :) For this bass I generally didn't boost the treble at all (usually cut it actually) and rarely mixed the bridge p/up with the piezo - the four main p/up settings I used were piezo solo, neck solo, neck + a little bit of bridge and finally neck + piezo. Hope that gives you some insight!
LawsonK, I really like your playing style and choice in tones. Most fretless players are trying to sound more like a sax than a bass it seems. This is bass 😀 I was looking at $4000 fretless SR5 and $2000 fretless J. I think you just made a sale for Ibanez. Can I confirm the strings are flatwound? Do you remember gauge and brand?
I like the little thing you do at 0:32 ... are you playing both harmonics, then letting the G-string harmonic ring while hammer-on sliding up to a note on the D?
@@LawsonK I'm shopping for fretless basses right now, have never owned or spent a lot of time with one before. Sliding up harmonics is something I've never done but you can bet I'll be working on it when I settle on a fretless to buy.
craigdamage HAHA oops 😂 didn’t touch it once did I.... apologies! However, I had this strung E-C for a while and put the B on about a year prior to this video I’d say... it sounded too ‘new’ compared to the rest of the strings so I was never quite happy with it. The bass is out of my possession now though, missing it!
@@kittykat575 Amazing bass and just generally super smooth in feel and tone. Not a fan of the treble/high end of the standard pickups, always found myself turning down the treble knob and rarely using the bridge pickup. The piezo is what makes this bass what it is I reckon, and maybe rolling in some front pickup - gorgeous. Would be curious to see how it would go with roundwounds - I've got a fretless Fender Jazz now with rounds and it kicks serious ass!
Awesome demo! I have the 6 strings version and I just love it! The combination of pickups and different tones is amazing
I have a Fender Tony Franklin Fretless Precision Bass, which only has dots on the top side of the neck. When playing, fingers on the dots, to hit the notes. It is neat, and I like it.
On the other hand, the Ibanez fretless SR has both lines and dots on the neck. I’m not sure whether I should have finger on the lines or the dots.
I like the fret line edge markers, only visible to the player. It is nice to have landmarks.
Beautiful playing and great demo, my friend 😊 Wishing you and yours all the best 🙏🏻
Awesome presentation. High protein, to the point with class.
I'll get one of these, now.
I have had this bass for just a year. This is, in my opinion, the bass fretless offering the best value for money. The controls are hyper-sensitive. It is therefore necessary to take the necessary time to make the adjustments adapted to the desired sound. I also have an Ibanez Gary Willis signature GWB 205. It does not support comparison with SRF 705 for the double of its price.
Phil Pansard Is it a 28 fret extended fingerboard?😳
@@etpslick100 It has 30 notes on the fingerboard.
ThrdDegree Oh Ok. Thanks. Gonna give this a look.🤨👍🏾
@@etpslick100 No problem. Have a good one.
@ Phil Pansard : Could you elaborate why the SRF 705 is much better for you than your GWB 205 ? the double mic+ piezo ?
The ONLY thing I hate on this bass is the color! Other than that; sounds beautiful. 😌🎶🎸👍🏾
nice demo! Good range of sounds
Nice playing! thanks for the video man
Great video! I'm thinking about getting one. Do you think it is possible (maybe with Roundwounds) to get a Jaco sound out of it?
Throw some tapewounds on and you'll have what you're looking for, way more authentic sounding.
It seems incredible value when compared to the boutique fretless's out there. My only issue is I don't like flatwound sounds, much prefer nickel rounds but they'd chew up the rosewood neckboard....bummer, would buy one, otherwise
I've played a 2000 Yamaha 5-string fretless, which has a Rosewood board, with roundwounds, for 15 years, as my main bass, without any chewing happening. It's a common misconception, because Ebony is indeed five times harder than Rosewood. But hardness is completely different than abrasion resistance. In this regard, I believe Rosewood is superior. I've owned a fretless Lakland 5-2 with an Ebony board and a custom Zon 5-string with phenolic (ebonol) fingerboard, and neither of them wore as well as the Rosewood. In spite of all the playing I have never had the fingerboard of that Yamaha resurfaced, and it doesn't need it! (Also, I think the Portamento has a Pao Ferro 'board, doesn't it?)
@@babalaughing Oh, that's very interesting. My Warwick has Tigerwood ebony and I had to have it reworked after 3 years. Very good to know.
Im new to bass (converted to this from guitar as a band needed a bassist). I have no idea about what these knobs mean are or doing to my tone. Im getting there with experimentation but do you or any one else here have any good resources for learning about this?
Different on different basses mate - if you're not sure what they do, your best bet is to check the manufacturer's website to get the spec sheet. From there, just use your ears!
@@LawsonK Thanks for the advice. I only asked on this video specifically because this is the bass that I own
@@HendrixTaylor24 Controls are listed in the description, if you haven't seen already :) For this bass I generally didn't boost the treble at all (usually cut it actually) and rarely mixed the bridge p/up with the piezo - the four main p/up settings I used were piezo solo, neck solo, neck + a little bit of bridge and finally neck + piezo. Hope that gives you some insight!
LawsonK, I really like your playing style and choice in tones. Most fretless players are trying to sound more like a sax than a bass it seems. This is bass 😀 I was looking at $4000 fretless SR5 and $2000 fretless J. I think you just made a sale for Ibanez. Can I confirm the strings are flatwound? Do you remember gauge and brand?
Thanks for the kind words! Yep flats - Chromes by D’addario, can’t recall gauge though sorry
Where are those meaw ?😂
Nice sound. What do you have on there for strings?
Hey Bert, these come shipped with D’Addario Chromes (Flatwounds), at this point they would have been about 3 years old.
I like the little thing you do at 0:32 ... are you playing both harmonics, then letting the G-string harmonic ring while hammer-on sliding up to a note on the D?
Yep - sliding the harmonic up, but on both strings 👍🏼 works really well on fretless
@@LawsonK I'm shopping for fretless basses right now, have never owned or spent a lot of time with one before. Sliding up harmonics is something I've never done but you can bet I'll be working on it when I settle on a fretless to buy.
What amp are you using please?
Just going direct into a Focusrite interface 👍🏼
Don't you dare hit that B string😅
Did you know there is an extra string on that bass you can use? The low B isn't just a thumb rest.
craigdamage HAHA oops 😂 didn’t touch it once did I.... apologies! However, I had this strung E-C for a while and put the B on about a year prior to this video I’d say... it sounded too ‘new’ compared to the rest of the strings so I was never quite happy with it. The bass is out of my possession now though, missing it!
🤭😂🤣
@@LawsonK thinking of picking this up, what did you not like about it? Criticisms and such
@@kittykat575 Amazing bass and just generally super smooth in feel and tone. Not a fan of the treble/high end of the standard pickups, always found myself turning down the treble knob and rarely using the bridge pickup. The piezo is what makes this bass what it is I reckon, and maybe rolling in some front pickup - gorgeous. Would be curious to see how it would go with roundwounds - I've got a fretless Fender Jazz now with rounds and it kicks serious ass!
@@LawsonK Watch out, the rounds will mar the fretboard (subjective with neck finish.)