source file: m1341.txt
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 10:04:45 -0500 (EST)

Subject: Re: Fretfull vs. fretless

From: Steven  Rezsutek <steven.rezsutek@hq.nasa.gov>

Xou Oxno <xouoxno@virtulink.com> writes:
> mr88cet@texas.net (Gary Morrison)writez:
> 
> > >Now is it better to have fretless instruments which can play any
> > >tuning at anytime, or a Fretted one?
> > 
> >    For whatever it's work, there is certainly no dirth of
> > non-tuning-related considerations about whether to use frets or not.
> > You'll get a somewhat duller tone from a fretless instrument than on a
> > fretted one, for example.  ("Dull" as in less bright, not as in boring!)
> 
> I noticed that Mr. Catler uses his index finger nail on the high strings 
> sometimes ala the sarangi to harden tone a bit. Of course on the rest of
> the instrument, he stops the strings with his finger tips. If 
> I remember right, one of his interchangeable fretboards
> is a stainless steel fretless (to get a brighter tone?)

Well, I still consider myself just a hack, so this opinion is worth
more or less what it cost you, but...

If you're looking for a "brighter" sounding fretless, check out a
Pedulla Buzz.  The fingerboard is coated with some sort of
poly-some-thane "hard as glass" material, and it makes a noticeable
difference, especially if you're using round wound strings.  For my
own taste, it was *too* bright, and I'm quite happy with the sound I'm
getting from my Alembic Epic strung with Thomastic Jazz flats, which
seem to have more upper harmonic activity than most flats I've tried,
but without the sort of oddball phasey swishing effect I got from the
D'Addario flat Chromes.

OTOH, there are some things you just can't do on a fretless, which is
why I'm planning on redoing my [fretted] Ibanez in 22tet.  One
discovery, the related technique of which I've been working on,
involves playing the string with the fingers, sort of like one might
use "Funky Fingers", by bouncing the finger on the string, but *NOT*
slapping it a-la funk slap -- it should "just" hit the frets.  You
have to hit the string in a different spot depending on where you're
fretting it, but you can get a nice "dull" low tone accompanied by
some amusing "bell tones".  I suspect it might work on the fretless if
I put a brass edge on the fingerboard, but I haven't gotten around to
fabricating one to try.

As far as really wild tone possibilities go, though, I really wish I
had some command of the bow (for upright). :-( [Yeah, yeah, I
know... "Practice, practice, practice" ;-)]


Steve