# Music by Genre > Rock, Folk Rock, Roots Rock, Rockabilly >  George Harrison's fretless guitar

## AlanN

Bet it's tough to play well.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rare-geor...100451790.html

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## mandolinstew

My viola is my fretless mandolin

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## Marty Jacobson

300,00-400,000 GBP? Keep smoking that good good leaf.

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## mandolinstew

Just pull the frets out of your guitar.Jaco did.

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## Marty Jacobson

Blasphemy. Jaco would not be caught in the same room with a guitar. This makes Me Sad.

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lowtone2

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## Mike Buesseler

https://youtu.be/al1Fp6wd-P8

I saw this guy last month.  Who needs frets?

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## Jim Garber

Bartell's of Califormoa made it. Their non-Beatle, fretted guitars run about $1000-1500 on the vintage market. The funniest thing is that the guy who owns it is only known as "a guitarist named Ray".  I wonder if he has any proof that John and George ever owned it.

Here's a *less annoying article* that doesn't change like the Yahoo one does.

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## mandolinstew

Who needs chords?After Jaco pulled the frets on his bass he filled tho slots and applied marine varnish.He found extra notes.

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## allenhopkins

> My viola is my fretless mandolin


Actually it's your fretless _mandola._  That is, if tuned CGDA.

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## mandolinstew

It’s tuned e a d g (I got an e string for viola and the neck is the same size as a mandolin)I’m going to put frets on it.It is tuned like a mandola.I was wondering if someone would notice that.

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## Ray(T)

> Bartell's of Califormoa made it. Their non-Beatle, fretted guitars run about $1000-1500 on the vintage market. The funniest thing is that the guy who owns it is only known as "a guitarist named Ray".  I wonder if he has any proof that John and George ever owned it.
> 
> Here's a *less annoying article* that doesn't change like the Yahoo one does.


I saw the programme and the bloke that owned it also had a photograph of George Harrison standing amongst a collection of instruments including the one in question.

A luthier mate of mine once built a resonator uke for GH - he always wondered what happened to it after GH died and always regretted cashing the cheque.

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## MikeZito

These TV shows are great at telling you what they _think_ something is worth, but in most cases we never find out what they actually sell for . . . .

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## pops1

That same show priced a Gibson Jr. mandolin at $7000. Need I say more.

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## Jeff Mando

Years ago I read the back of a sitar album and it said Indian music used a 167 note scale, IIRC........

I assume Harrison would be looking for those notes that are between the frets, considering his interest in sitar.

"We" might call those semi-tones.....I might go so far as to call them notes I don't need very often......to put it politely.

OTOH, Derek Trucks uses a slide to reach some raga-territory notes and it sounds good incorporated into some ballads.  The Allman Brothers (later version with Warren Haynes singing) do a version of "Into The Mystic" that is great and Derek plays some Eastern-influenced slide on it.

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## Paul Statman

> My viola is my fretless mandolin


Viola = fretless mandola, n'est pas?

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## Ray(T)

It’s for sale with an auction estimate of £200,000 to £300,000 - any takers? :Wink: 

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25996/lot/184/

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## Ray(T)

> Bartell's of Califormoa made it. Their non-Beatle, fretted guitars run about $1000-1500 on the vintage market. The funniest thing is that the guy who owns it is only known as "a guitarist named Ray".  I wonder if he has any proof that John and George ever owned it.
> 
> Here's a *less annoying article* that doesn't change like the Yahoo one does.


For the record, the “guitarist named Ray” isn’t me!

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## Jacob

Adventurous guitarists can order a fretless model here.. (NFI.)

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## Dagger Gordon

Efren Lopez playing fretless guitar.

https://vimeo.com/57078999

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## DavidKOS

Oud players deal with a fretless neck all the time...and there are Turkish fretless guitars.

- - - Updated - - -




> Who needs chords?After Jaco pulled the frets on his bass he filled tho slots and applied marine varnish.He found extra notes.


Jaco also had played string bass in school.

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## DavidKOS

> Blasphemy. Jaco would not be caught in the same room with a guitar. This makes Me Sad.


Check out the "Trio of Doom" for Jaco with a guitar in the room.

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Paul Statman

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## Paul Statman

> It’s for sale with an auction estimate of £200,000 to £300,000 - any takers?
> 
> https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25996/lot/184/


Can I get a discount on two, d'ya think?

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## Ray(T)

> Can I get a discount on two, d'ya think?


The discount comes in the auction house charges. If it doesn’t go higher than £300,000, you’ll only have to pay an extra 25% commission + 20% tax. Once it goes over £300,000 the drops to 20%. (That’s £90,000 if it goes for £300,000 which would buy you a half decent mandolin!)

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## Paul Statman

> The discount comes in the auction house charges. If it doesn’t go higher than £300,000, you’ll only have to pay an extra 25% commission + 20% tax. Once it goes over £300,000 the drops to 20%. (That’s £90,000 if it goes for £300,000 which would buy you a half decent mandolin!)


...how much for the fret-puller again?

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## Ray(T)

If anyone's still interested, it was originally over-valued and sold for £237,562 including the auction house's charges. I'll let somebody else work out what the hammer price was - clearly too much!

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Paul Statman

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## Paul Statman

> If anyone's still interested, it was originally over-valued and sold for £237,562 including the auction house's charges. I'll let somebody else work out what the hammer price was - clearly too much!


I'll pass on this and take the Loar, thanks.

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