Top 10 Best Fretless Bass Players
You've heard the slides. You've felt the growl. That smooth, vocal-like tone that seems to breathe underneath the music? Yeah, that's fretless bass magic. And not just any player can pull it off. There's no safety net here. No frets to guide your fingers. Just muscle memory, pitch-perfect intuition, and soul.This list is for those who've mastered that slippery beast. They may play both fretless and fretted bass, but here we are interested only in their fretless bass playing. The ones who make the instrument sing, bend, wail, and whisper in ways that make even seasoned musicians sit up straight and go, "Wait, what was that?"
So which players deserve the spotlight for their fretless wizardry? That's your call. Vote for the ones who blow your mind, your ears, or your tuning fork. And if someone's missing? Add them. This list is built by fans who know the difference between sliding in tune and sliding into chaos.
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician, singer, songwriter, composer, author, and actor best known as the bassist and lead vocalist of the band Primus. He is recognized for his distinctive playing style, often incorporating tapping, slapping, and other unconventional techniques. Outside... read more Master of bass players. Playing guitar/bass with frets isn't very easy, and it's much harder playing bass/guitar without frets. Really great!
The best fretless player. He didn't invent it, but damn, does he master it.
He even sings while playing difficult basslines. That takes some real talent.
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III was an American jazz bassist who was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. He worked with Pat Metheny, Joni Mitchell, and recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader. He invented the modern way of playing fretless.
He was the pioneer of the fretless bass.
Jeroen Paul Thesseling is one of the most virtuoso fretless bassists.
He is an anomaly among bass players and has become a trailblazer in technical, progressive, and death metal. His roots and inspiration come from jazz fusion and world music.
He is a Dutch bass player who usually plays metal, especially fast and/or technical/progressive subgenres of metal. I've seen him playing a 7-string fretless bass (see the image). He played for Obscura, Pestilence, and a studio project called Ensemble Salazhar. For example, he played fretless bass on two Obscura albums: Cosmogenesis and Omnivium.
Steve Di Giorgio is an American musician of Italian descent. Di Giorgio has played bass guitar in many heavy metal and death metal bands. He plays metal and jazz. He's played for these metal bands: Death, Testament, Iced Earth, Obituary, Quo Vadis, Sadus, Charred Walls of the Damned. For example, he played fretless bass on the albums 'Individual Thought Patterns' by Death, 'Horror Show' by Iced Earth, and 'Defiant Imagination' by Quo Vadis.
Haunting and subtle with ease, the way he made his bass sound.
Inspired and inspiring. The man was a genius!
Lyrical and expressive, Percy Jones was the bassist for the prog rock/fusion band Brand X. If you're into fretless, you need to give them a listen, particularly "Unorthodox Behaviour" and "Moroccan Roll."
Very inventive master of the art of fretless bass playing.
Insane skills (Augury, Beyond Creation).
The Newcomers
A great Welsh fretless bassist. A real pro...
Anthony Frederick Levin is an American musician and composer, specializing in electric bass, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel.
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce was a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter known primarily for his contributions to the British supergroup Cream, which also included guitarist-singer Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker.
He plays for a famous band (Pearl Jam) but I didn't rank him very high because he plays the fretless bass like a fretted one and he rarely employs specific fretless techniques.
I guess he uses fretless bass for its different sound and not so much for its potential in terms of different techniques.
Simply amazing. Saw him perform live once with the Chick Corea Akoustic Band in a movie theater in Richmond, VA, and was totally blown away.
No, it's not John Petrucci of Dream Theater! Their names only look similar.
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE, known professionally by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the lead singer and bassist for the band The Police. Sting has also enjoyed a successful solo career,... read more Yes, he sometimes plays fretless bass, but he shouldn't be very high on this list because he can't be called a "master" of fretless playing.
Yes! His work on "You Can Call Me Al" is sublime.
Dutch bassist who plays both fretless and fretted bass (progressive, technical metal - Cynic, Ne Obliviscaris, and more).
I'm amazed this maestro hasn't made this list yet!
He's a left-handed player.