Fretless Guitar

[TheBubbles9]

wow, that was kick ass!

[rippersk8er]

are those flatwounds guitar strings?

[dabajabaza111]

why does the shredding chick have more views than this?

[LarenMc96]

u must clean your guitar :D

[raveniskcrow]

Finally a guitarist with the guts to accept the challenge of intonation! You rock!

[SONGSTICKS]

I Rather like that groove.. it's very catchy !

Nice one friend

[cfiore88]

That was AWESOME. My buddy wants to do this to his acoustic guitar. He plays the cello as well, so he should be fine.

[Tyago2580]

iradooooooooooo



[grizzlytomahawk]

I was gettin' my swerve on to this song.

[3PupsMusic]

Si- great fretless performance I love you chose to groove. Sometimes fretless guitarists forget to carry the music I really liked that this was so well done by you. Great feel groove Si! African vibe strong.

[simonhayden]

@3PupsMusic Thanks mate, much appreciated!:)

[williamcha46]

lol.No frets or strings.

[demonoid47]

this is awesome

[Augustwi]

pretty fucking sick

[bryankjah]

vive en una pilña debajo ddel mar?



[Petercaroeelind]

reminds me of spongebob squarepants.

[MrGhostphone]

IT'S YOU 240p. ALAS - WE MEET AGAIN T_T

[strwy2hvn94]

the intro sounds so meaty

[MultiTechnicss]

bin platte en cliss

[perideath]

ahh... the beach, sand and a good massage

[Bitemedemilavato]

i feel like im on an island :)

[VincentStefanelli]

Very nicely done… sounds great!

VS

[mindbodymerge]

Awesome!!!!!What type of guitar is this? The percussive stuff is really happenin'!

[toonlink916]

so repetitive :/ but very cool

[TheOpethOfMastodon]

reminds me of Spongebob

[guyneverefromhell]

@TheOpethOfMastodon HAUAHUAHUAHAUHAUAHAHAUHAUHAUAH­UAHUA OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG HAUHAUAHUAHAUHAUAHAUHA

[DevilRaper]

Lol its awesome man sounds like a song that would fit in spongebob squarepants :D.

[theguitarczar]

I dig it! Is that a vintage 335 you did that to?

[ConnorFGuitar]

@theguitarczar It looks like an Aria to me.

No-one would dare de-fret an old 335 :D... I hope not anyway...

[MoveOverCasanova]

that silly little tune creeps into the brain in the most mean way -- but it is brillant

[Kefir96]

you are THE BOSS...

[dct1guy]

I watch your videos almost religiously. Damn you're good.

[jhump2431]

What kind of guitar ?

[heavyfuelv2]

killer ...

[drledsabbath]

Nice job man, sounds nice and funky.

[mlhensley93]

haha sounds like something from a pixar movie

[Mortimyer93]

These fret less guitars are so bizarre. Until today, I had no idea of their existence. I like it

[UnitedEffect]

Great groove you got going there. Very cool technique, especially that right hand constant driving pulse. Very unique.

[Keskusrikospoliisi]

you using jazz strings?

[hshugos1]

this song is epic!! ahah awsome xD



[raider2661]

I'd love to hear Jerry Garcia play one of these

[ReplayDead]

getting frets off -->

[tattleboad]

damn i want a fretless guitar now

[Emishmusic]

haha nice tune !

[Numpad9]

reminds me of spongebob

[Arklamissthdestroyer]

How do you make tabs for a fretless guitar?

[technoguyx]

@Arklamissthdestroyer Should be the same as with a fretted one (that's why there are fret markers, look closely), just that in tunes like this you'll notate lots of slides.

[tabotabojayar]

gotta learn how to read scores:(

[skaterocker666]

wooooooooow i love it!!

[theatomizer]

Hawaiians must love you. :3

[FLIGHTCOMPANY]

this makes me wanna drink water.idkwhy? Nice groovy tune!

[MrLintRoller]

70's porn anyone??? ^_^

[IgolForLife]

I love the ghost notes and the palm muted sounds ! I love it !

[pipsqueek14]

@simonhayden ok no problem.

just sounds awesome.

[Omagma0]

xD It sounds Cool!

[blyndt]

Thiis is sooooo coooool! :D

[Lippa100]

Sounds like Spongebob Squarepants!! (Y)

[xD0NKEYx]

@Lippa100

LMFAO

It does too.

[pipsqueek14]

do you have tabs for that one?

[KingofPho75]

@pipsqueek14 i think its 0-0-0-0

[pipsqueek14]

@KingofPho75 lol

[DyenastyT4]

@KingofPho75 wow i fail, i just commented that and u already did hahaha

[dblass222]

@KingofPho75 nope it 1-1-1-1-1

[jeremybam94]

@KingofPho75 no its 1-1-1-1-1

[Kamon0X]

@KingofPho75 Bulls*it x-x-x-x-x-x ; p

[SgtZaqq]

@KingofPho75 no, it's 7/9 7/9 7/9 3/5 3/5

[Bullet1852]

@KingofPho75 no, its 1-1-1-1

[ZeroOZeroO]

@pipsqueek14 dont tabs need frets? :P

[pipsqueek14]

@ZeroOZeroO yeah lol. i just mean where you would put your fingers if there were frets.

[DyenastyT4]

@pipsqueek14 yeah, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0...

[Keskusrikospoliisi]

@pipsqueek14 here you go:

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[NinjaLandscape]

@pipsqueek14 the tabs are going to be 0-0-0-0-0

[MrWilsonguitar]

@pipsqueek14 the tabs it 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

[arrackattack]

this is cool, when i close my eyes and hear this, it make me think of an ice cream car with a rasta in, riding in the city to give some love and ice cream to everybody ^^

[MrRazot]

wow... i never noticed the cam had been zooming in until i played the vid again.

well done.

[edthewave]

Bravo Sir! I enjoy your groovy playing. What I like is that you play a fretless while tastefully accenting with glissando. Most fretless players on Youtube just crank the distortion way up and don't utilize much musicality with the instrument.

[SitarKnight]

what's the tuning?

[philipthedude]

you are SO cool

[imbetarthenu]

i'm not betar then u

[mdw1977]

24 people like frets

[scaasi]

This is too cool, notes with smiles attached :o)

[epit0me]

i love the sound of the slides

[Joesus5000]

If people want tabs, I have them:

111111111111111111111111111111­111111111111111111111111111111­11111

[panbread89]

I never new fretless guitars existed, I knew about fretless bass guitars. You learn something everyday.

[equestrian208]

@panbread89 *knew.



[gromshit101]

hey man, i really wana do this to my guitars , can you send me a message on how to? id really appreceate it.

[zanyguitar]

@gromshit101 Actually the best filler material is marine epoxy. I've tried standard epoxy and it bulges when you put tension on the neck. I've used wood putty as well but it's hard to get it into the slot. I'd recommend using a fret puller(can be bought at stew-mac) instead of pliers. Wood will come up off the fretboard with regular pliers. Best, zanyguitar.

[FertigwareLetsPlays]

Man, thats my new Ringtone =D

[brunoostan]

your guitar is a little bit dirty hehe, coool

[Florrezmax]

Great Shit!

No overdrive, No frets

but it still rocks.

[MarmadukeLove]

great technique solid groove! fantastic! tums up!

[dukeofpearl]

great!! you can tell theres a load of beginners on you tube man! i mean tabs??? come on! play by ear and soul guys!!!

[jondawg123]

the "tabs" joke on these fretless guitar vids is kinda getting old. I mean, technically, he could tab it out. just because the guitar doesn't have frets doesn't mean he can't tell you where you SHOULD be playing, cus the only difference between fretless and fretted guitars is the tone quality and that the slides sound a lot smoother... they're both still using the same scales, chords, etc.

anyways, great job :) I'm loving this very up-beat, funky song

[e3axordos]

@simonhayden

cheers for that mate !

[ottozing]

tabs?

[2UIROGA]

@ottozing It's easy the tab for this are 111111111111111111111111

[Cj5v]

@2UIROGA Actually beign a fretless guitar the tab would be 00000000 Lmao

[Skitlus]

@Cj5v

No, it wouldn't.

[equestrian208]

@Cj5v Which makes no sense considering a 0 means that it's an open string.... *facepalm*



[wingeddemon5807]

@equestrian208 0 because there are 0 frets lol

[equestrian208]

@wingeddemon5807 Or it's just one big fret?

[sseexymf]

great

[tburn66]

please record an ep or summet i love it! uniqie =]

[simonhayden]

@tburn66 cheers dude, This track Soweto Groove is on The apparent rules of thumb solo guitar album/2009 .... best place to get a physical copy with free global postage is silveryrecords dotcom... or you can find it on iTunes by Si Hayden search. thanks again:) Si

[simonhayden]

@BullShnit cheers dude!

[TauKotoni]

I need TABs for this! :)

[duckness1]

Hey Simon, thanks for responding to my strings question. I just got a fretless and it feels like it has 10s on it. I originally thought about going up to those 12s in flatwounds, but when I push the 10s down, it just sounds so dull, like i'm not pushing the string down hard enough. What is your experience like with the strings you are using. Do you feel like they need a lot of pressure to hold down? Have you tried other gages? What did you think of those?

Thanks

[simonhayden]

@duckness1 No probs mate! Its always best to use flatwounds on a fretless as the grooves in normal strings dig in to the fingerboard, flatwounds don't mark or wear the wood. You should be ok with 10's, its probably the set-up, to play a fretless easily the strings need to be a nice low action, and check the strings at the nut are almost touching the fingerboard, this makes it feel and play better. I tend to get it set-up as low as poss & if any fingerboard buzz raise the bridge until its clean:)

[todomusika]

cool groove!

[simonhayden]

@todomusika cheers dude!:)

[ScottySolace]

How are your guitar strings sooooo shiny?

[simonhayden]

@ScottySolace flatwounds dude!

[rtfan13]

@ScottySolace its a CGI

[simonhayden]

@rtfan13 :)

[HeartcoreMitRA]

That's awesome.

[simonhayden]

@HeartcoreMitRA thanks dude!:)

[SuperCrazyIdiot]

wow man, this is simply amazing. there as so many clowns that "try" playing the fretless guitar, and fail at life. but YOU, my good sir, have risen to a fretless god status! (if there is no such thing, ive just made it up!)

this is so creative, i love it. you are my favourite fretless guitar player :)

thumbs up and favourited! :D

[simonhayden]

@SuperCrazyIdiot hey cheers dude, that means alot!.... if you could share it around that'd be awesome, more hits help the sales!:) Si

[SuperCrazyIdiot]

@simonhayden ill do my best, brother!

[duckness1]

hi.  love this track! I just got my own fretless guitar. What gage strings do you use on yours?

[simonhayden]

@duckness1 Cheers dude. The strings on here are 12-52 gauge D'Addario Flatwound Chromes.

[eaglerock999]

Guitars were orginally fretless then someone added markers and was accused of cheating,someone else added frets,double cheating ! someone then thought of capo's.... treble cheating! then amplified! so on....

It does't matter in the end how the music is produced as long as its enjoyable.

This was nice enough, clever too.

[simonhayden]

@eaglerock999 cheers dude!:)

[chamath1985]

I hate the sound of fretless guitars, but you make some music from it great job.

[simonhayden]

@chamath1985 cheers dude!

[sebasvelasco353]

dude, awsome job there... keep playing, youre doing it right.

peace :)

[simonhayden]

@sebasvelasco353 thanks man!:)

[gkidcj]

why do you always answer with "..." before what you are going to say? lol

[simonhayden]

@gkidcj haha:) i've only just realised that the name is shown in a different colour to the message, thats why I do it, to put a space between them!

[Ask6296]

very nice !

[simonhayden]

@Ask6296 ...cheers!

[junkiemunkie1000]

I always disliked fretless guitar, but this actually sounded really good. Good job!!

[simonhayden]

@junkiemunkie1000 ...thanks.

[SoulCalMusic]

Great playing dude :) just was wondering, did you defret that yourself if so howd you do it?

[simonhayden]

@SoulCalMusic ... thanks dude. yeah did it myself... basically just need to heat up frets(soldering iron), wood expands plus the oil in the wood makes them come out easy, then fill with superglue until the fill is pround of the fingerboard, once hard sand with large flat block and stain black! done:)

[Carthsting]

Does it takes more force to apply those strings?

Do you have to amplify and distort sound to get it actually sounding?

I liked it very much, it excpected some heavy metal as always, it turned out to be actually music.

[simonhayden]

@Carthsting .... haha thanks mate. It takes a little more force but its quite easy to play. It is audible without amplification, acoustic fretless guitars sound great. thanks again:)

[lilsoldado7]

Nicely done, I really enjoyed listening to this :)

[simonhayden]

@lilsoldado7 ...hey thanks man:)

[zooby11isbambam]

really nice feel. i wish more guitarist played like this.

[simonhayden]

@zooby11isbambam thanks mate.:)

[Subaro0o]

what tuning is this?

[simonhayden]

@Subaro0o ....... Standard guitar tuning.

[KennyTheRamp]

If you agree, i would sample it to make a beat :)

[simonhayden]

@KennyTheRamp ..... be my guest mate!:)..... The track is called 'Soweto Groove' by 'Si Hayden' for the sample tag.... by all means sample away!:)........ p.s... a higher quality audio is on iTunes, better still you can hear the full tune free at reverbnation/sihayden . cheers.

[KennyTheRamp]

@simonhayden thanks, man

[muskeskier]

love it!

[simonhayden]

@muskeskier ..... cheers dude!

[Hoopermazing]

This sounds like a Quincy Jones composed television theme song from the early 1970s.

[simonhayden]

@Hoopermazing ..... cool... Quincy's a legend. I'd love to hear it. Any idea what the tv series was called?

[Hoopermazing]

@simonhayden I didn't mean that it sounds like a specific Quincy Jones television theme. I meant that it evokes the feeling of them, e.g. "Hicky Burr" (the theme to the late 1960s Bill Cosby Show... not to be confused with the Huxtable one from the 1980s) and the theme from Sanford and Son.

[napalmnacey]

Sweet playing, sweet guitar! Love the sound!

[simonhayden]

@napalmnacey ..... cheers Nancy!:)

[Zebonka]

Waiting for the glue to dry on mine. (Cheap Tele copy). Can't wait to dive into some fretless, right on!

[simonhayden]

@Zebonka .... awesome mate, post a vid when its done!:)

[Zebonka]

All done! It's great fun!

[simonhayden]

@Zebonka ....awesome!:)

[chubbymosher700]

What guitar was that before you made it fretless?

[simonhayden]

@chubbymosher700 .......... an Aria TA65 semi-acoustic.

[ShortFingeredShreder]

It must suck to set the intonation on that thing.

[simonhayden]

@ShortFingeredShreder ... its tricky, but then its not much of a problem if the intonation is out being fretless.

[Hoopermazing]

@simonhayden Why is it tricky to set the intonation? It would seem to me that you could get the action super low, set the string lengths at the bridge... and then, as you said, play anywhere on the fretboard... including microtonal notes that can only be accomplished through bends on a fretted guitar.

[simonhayden]

@Hoopermazing ... Yep.... it makes no odds really being fretless, like a double bass if the bridge is too far down you just have to stretch your fingers a bit more between notes!

[simonhayden]

@MrMeddled ....... cheers dude!:).... yeah superglue rules for a glass finish, I used it on this one to fill the fret slots, takes a few days to keep topping it up but flats down easy to give great finish. I'm on the lookout for another semi to butcher!;).. happy bass slidin'

[ilikefluffycow]

I was hooked from that first slide :D

[simonhayden]

@ilikefluffycow .....cheers dude, glad you like it!:)

[Smithy2099]

is that the pickguard you keep reaching down and tapping? is this standard tuning?

[simonhayden]

@Smithy2099 .... Yeah its standard guitar tuning, all percussive sounds are from the strings only, not mic'd up it was just plugged into an SR Jam 150 acoustic amp then line out to the desk. The flick technique is just my thumb catching the strings on the way back up to keep the momentum of the groove!:) hope this makes sense?

[Smithy2099]

14 dislikes WTF?

[simonhayden]

@Smithy2099 ........ hey mate you can't please everybody!:)

[TeamLib3rty]

the beginning sounds like a porno.

[simonhayden]

@TeamLib3rty .......did you not watch it to the end?.... it actually turns into a porno!;)

[stoffthegreat]

@simonhayden i skippet all the way to the end.. i feel so stupid now!

:p

[buffalo672]

its not a little hard to know where to press the finger?

[simonhayden]

@buffalo672 .... hi mate, you soon get a feel for it:)

[MrNetzu]

mal richtig gut..=D

[jamiebirch81]

This should be flagged as offensive!!!!! Because there are guys like me that will never be able to achieve that level of playing.... Great work Mr Holden...

[simonhayden]

@jamiebirch81 ......... thanks Birchy!... but I could show you that technique in one sitting mate!... next time your round willdo! HOLDEN>>>> right your Frank Zipper from now on!;)x

[Theblob516]

Where does one buy a fretless guitar like this? Or do you get it custom made?