Active Band Man Chats - Testing the Limits of Fretless Edition

What’s on the agenda today?

Today, let’s try a little experiment!

An experiment!?

How far can we “lose” parts on guitars and basses?

Pardon?

Just imagine…

You mean, in our imagination, we start removing various parts?

Sharp observation! As expected of a headless guitar enthusiast!

W-well… (blushing) this is definitely going to be a gag episode… Shall we give it a try? Bass is fine, right?

Yeah. First, let’s remove the head!

Sure. I have a few basses, so honestly, I’m more used to seeing them without heads anyway.

If the head is gone, the tuning pegs automatically go missing too.

If that’s the case, the tuning wheels move to the bridge, right?

And next, another classic—let’s make it fretless!

Sure. I use fretless Jazz Basses and EUBs a lot, so I’m fine with that. If you think about double basses or cellos, fretless actually feels more natural for a string instrument.

Next, shall we remove about half the body?

Okay.

Think of it like a Steinberger “bento box”. Just the bare body is fine.

I see. An XL-type body, then. It’ll be lighter, too.

Let’s also make the body about half as thick.

Slim! I’m worried about the resonance… this is starting to get a bit questionable.

It’s not questionable at all! Since the space inside the body for circuits is reduced, let’s also cut down the controls. Volume and tone knobs are gone!

Wait, even that? I kinda want those, both for playability and…

Nope! Use a volume pedal or EQ at your feet to handle it!

Seriously… that’s tough!

Don’t worry, horry, you can do it!

W-well… (blushing, again) If it really has to be, I can manage with picking strength, finger technique, where I play, and pedals.

So cool!

So basically, the neck itself is always at full tension, right? Naturally, the kill switch (the on/off switch)…?

Gone! Handle it with the tuner’s mute function! So, what else should we remove?

Uh… pickups, maybe?

Yeah! Let’s remove them. Remove both the front and rear pickups, leaving only the piezo. Visually, it gives a really minimal, or “less is more” look!

Sure, but it ends up looking kinda sprase, or… I don’t know…

Faceless! And of course, no pickguard either!

Well, yeah…

I also want to remove the joint plate, so let’s go with a through-neck design. When the joint is smooth like that, it’s called “heel-less”, right? And, let’s remove the high positions too! Seven frets should be enough, right?

Not enough! I want at least twelve frets…

Practical and realistic—nice! With twelve frets, you can reach an octave from the open string… okay, then let’s do a twelve-fret version with no high positions. Position markers completely gone.

I’m not even sure a twelve-fret bass like that is possible…

Let’s remove the truss rod too! The neck should be made of a material that doesn’t warp.

Hmm… then aluminum or carbon, maybe…

Also, the endpin sticks out too much, so I’ll remove it.

Wait, what about a strap?

Fretless! Sit down and play!

Eh—?

It’s okay! You can do it, horry! (second time)

W-well… (blushing, third time) So it’s basically a “bento box” type, right… Can I at least have a leg rest? And then…?

You’ll still need the bridge and nut, right…?

Well, yes, that’s true.

Ah! How about no screws?

Sounds seriously minimalist (laughs)

Let’s tape down whatever parts are left with masking tape as much as possible!

No way… (laughs nervously)

So, basically as long as the neck, fingerboard, bridge, and nut exist, it’ll somehow work!? Probably!

Uh, I’m not so sure…

In the end, we have a headless, fretless, pegless, half-body, knobless, pickup-less, pickguard-less, endpin-less, screwless, joint-plate-less, heel-less, high-position-less, position-marker-less, twelve-fret aluminum through-neck! And we even managed the twelve-less!

Well, if it’s headless, it’s automatically pegless… Isn’t this just you wanting to say “less”? (laughs)

Yep, that’s right. I even drew a concept sketch!

I mean… can that even really count as a bass…?

Don’t worry! You can do it, horry! (third time)

W-well… (blushing, fourth time) But, no matter what kind of bass it is, the joy of playing it is priceless…

Nice! You got me there at the end. Alright, let’s master the “less”! So, everything is…?

For love!