Tag: fretless

on by Danny Knapp

waybackwednesday To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of the album “Jagged Little Pill”, I did an impromptu interpretation of the bass line for “You Oughta Know” on a fretless five-string bass.

waybackwednesday To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the release of the album “Jagged Little Pill”, I did an impromptu interpretation of the bass line for “You Oughta Know” on a fretless five-string bass. The original bass line for this song was performed by Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In this video, I am using an Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray bass with an custom Alperious pickguard, Kemper Profiler amp, Source Audio pedals, and Ernie Ball Cobalt flatwound strings

on by Danny Knapp

Looking forward to some upcoming studio sessions in the next few weeks.

Looking forward to some upcoming studio sessions in the next few weeks. As much as I crave performing live, being in the recording studio definitely qualifies as being in my ‘happy place’ too. I love the challenges of the creative process, the collaboration with the other artists and production team, and the satisfaction of being able to say, “We made this!” when listening to the final produced song. 🤘😎

on by Danny Knapp

Presenting a softer, quieter Melonhead for a soothing evening vibe 😉.

Presenting a softer, quieter Melonhead for a soothing evening vibe 😉. I enjoy the challenge of getting to play ‘unplugged’ on my acoustic fretless bass — it requires adapting my bass lines to the highlight the essence of the song without getting in the way. I find that it’s much harder to play slow and quiet and still maintain technique and accuracy, because there’s a lot more room to mess up, and there’s no where to hide. At the same time, nothing’s more expressive than an a pared down acoustic song. It tugs at the heart 🖤.

You can watch some videos of me playing this bass on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr4r2OwDRmHkgkrxpOYXCgw

on by Danny Knapp

Of all the fretless basses I’ve owned, this one is definitely my favorite.

Of all the fretless basses I’ve owned, this one is definitely my favorite. The rosewood in the custom @alperiouspickguard matches the rosewood in the neck, and features Alper’s signature ‘Exotic Shine’ design. This bass was originally a fretted Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray5H, but the team at @13thstreetguitars converted it to fretless using strips of rosewood to replace the frets, PLEK’d it, and set it up for me. The unfinished neck feels great and the tone is fantastic. I use @ernieball cobalt flatwound strings on this bass, which provide a nice blend of modern brightness and transients while still getting that classic flatwound thump. It’s easy to get this bass to produce those quintessential ‘growls & mewls’ that fretless instruments are known for, which is why I named it “Maulladora”.