• Ibanez Portamento SRF700 • ESP B-205 (with modified Bartolinin pre-amp)
• Agular Tone Hammer 500 • Agular SL 4x10 cab (one of two)
That is a couple of beauties. Love the fretless!
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2026
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Thank you! Definitely among my favorite possessions.
Only gotten to play around with em, it is my next grab whenever the money allows.
Defining not cheap, but absolutely worth it!
Oh yeah? Name three songs!
Huh?
It's a joke. As in if you run into someone wearing a tshirt from a band and you're not convinced they are actually a fan you say "oh yeah? Name three songs!".
And I felt particularly silly as to post something other to complain about instead of the basses<=> guitars thing.
All in jest
Ahh! I get it! Sorry. I wasn’t making the connection at all and now feel silly for missing that! So in honor… here’s three songs:
• Love and Hate Michael Kiwanis (I don’t know why, but this makes me tear up. There’s just something about it that gets in me.
• Starálflur Sigur Rós (I don’t need to know what he’s saying, his voice commands calmness. it’s so hopeful!)
• Keane A Bad Dream
(I wake up, it's a bad dream
No one on my side
I was fighting But I just feel too tired
to be fighting Guess I'm not the fighting kind
Wouldn't mind it If you were by my side
But you're long gone Yeah you're long gone now)
This. Fucking Kills Me.
Neck through is the hottest shit ever and I wish it was more common and/or less expensive
100% agree. It just resonates different.
Sorry, they are belong to us now.
All of them.
OPs a phony! Those aren’t guitars! The one on the left doesn’t even have frets!
I love the sound of fretless bass. I’ve never played one but it’s been on my “I should learn that” list for about as long as I’ve played guitar (almost 30 years… fuck i’m old). I’m already a hack when it comes to playing bass, which makes the idea of learning fretless that much more intimidating.
I think maybe I’m a dying breed. A true bassist. Never really played guitar at all aside from noodling around on the guitars of band members. I might know three chords if I even remember them.
And the fretless is my main. It’s amazing! I only ever use the ESP for tapping and percussive playing.
A gold star bassist, nice!
I played quite a bit of bass in my early days. I wasn’t good, but at least I could get in the groove and play. For the last 15+ years I’ve played acoustic guitar almost exclusively.
I’ve learned that playing bass is nothing like riding a bike—whenever I do pick it back up it, I feel like a total beginner. It’s shown me just how different bass is from six string. The instruments are extremely similar but played so differently.
The trick is to listen to tech death with fretless basses, then you can't avoid buying one.
The song that pushed me over the edge was the outro to mortification of the vulgar sun
Alright, you got me out of my comfy bed to grab my headphones :)
…
I don’t really listen to metal, but am always impressed with the talent I see when I do. Cool outro; thanks for sharing.
Here’s one in the complete opposite direction: Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes (Alternate Version) from Graceland by Paul Simon’s. The song is just fretless bass and vocals. The rendition is simple and absolutely gorgeous. Bakithi Kumalo is the bassist on the album and he is incredible throughout. Give ‘You Can Call Me Al’ a listen if you want to hear him do some mind bending shit.
The Graceland album brings me right back to my childhood every time I hear it… and it is the origin of my love for the sound of fretless bass.
thanks for sharing something I wouldn't have considered before; while pop music finds its audience by being prolific and well advertised, it usually gets passed over by people like me due to its overexposure. *
I quite enjoyed the bassline in the Diamonds song when it kicked in. Thanks for sharing it with us.
* Kinda like the time I was in a pub with my friends and I got amazed by this awesome funk throwback song. "Wow, what's this" "Have you seriously never heard Amy Winehouse?"
“Have you seriously never heard of amy winehouse”
Hahaha
I hear you on pop music. I haven’t listened to radio by choice for 30ish years for the same reason.
OMFG I love this album! Some of the best fretless work next to Pino Paladino that I’ve ever heard!
Literally Death. Human and Individual Thought Patterns.
Who let the bassist in again?
(Nice not-guitars 😁)
Yes
Love it!
Absolutely not!
But I love my Ibanez, and a 5 string fretless is pretty much my dream bass.
The Portamento is what you want- trust me! You can dial in ANY tone with this thing. 70’s Fender P? Yep! Smooth modern “muahhh”? all fucking day! An upright double bass? Just flick the piezo bridge on and walk a mile!
(I swear I’m not AI. I just live this bass. Wish I could overcome the depression and get back out there with it)
Not fretless, but give this a listen: Vincen Garcia - Aprieta
The man is on another plane of existence. Hopefully watching it will give you a momentary repreive from the pit of despair you’re stuck in; I know it helps me.
Dude is heavily inspired by Jaco. Absolutely AMAZING. Thanks for the share! Love that quick double-stop and the speed is ridiculous! He is SOLID.
And here’s a thing I made a while back when testing new software. Repetitive little instrumental thing. The intro is on the ESP and the Portamento falls in afterward:
That is a really cool soundscape. I didn’t find it repetitive at all (but I see why you described it that way). I really like the tapping part.
With everything played on bass, I would expect the instruments to blend together a lot and the song to sound a bit muddy, but it doesn’t at all. The instruments are really distinct and it’s all really clean. I’m impressed by the engineering you must have done in recording this.
Thanks! Yeah. I used Reaaon 3.0. That was the day I got it. New interface and everything. Sort of fell into that piece just noodling around.
only of they're based
Plus 1 for Bartolini. Love mine
Oh same! So punchy!
Mmmm Mmm that fretless must be a blast. I've got a 4 string fretless, and feel it's missing a bit, but I love it regardless.
Sexy. Need a 5 string myself, jumping between tunings is tiresome and distracting.
Every time I think about getting a 5 string I think "why not a 6 string?" And then don't get either
Because 6 string is needed if you're a samurai or overcompensating. So finally go get yourself a 5er. I am your sign.
I've been playing Rocksmith bass for about six years, and recently got the four sting version of that Ibanez.
Never thought I'd spend that much on what is essentially a PlayStation controller, but I absolutely love it.