The Fretless Fader Thread

[Deejaesnafu]

ok so as im sure some of you people here have become aware of , and may have interest in the fretless fader technology, I thought it might be useful to open a discussion about them.


as many know , the tech was originally dreamed up by john beez , and you can find more about his work here :

https://www.facebook.com/fretlessfader/?fref=nf


there seems to be a stand alone version of his build coming along, although there seems to only be a handful of prominent scratch DJs being let in so far, but he promises to release them at some point to the general public, although in general he seems tight lipped about his project/s.


now , as many may not be aware, there is a second developer now working on this idea , and his works can be seen here

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1016781758411616/



and he is actually selling to the public ALREADY at this site :

http://skratchamental.bigcartel.com/

he offers everything from a stand alone version, to fully hacked mixers , and also his Midi note fader system was used for DJ braces winning DMC set which can be seen here : ( the frettless cuts begin around 4:15 or so )





One important thing to note about this technology that I dont think the general observer is aware of is that in addition to the fretless fader , you also need a turntable capable of receiving MIDI IN. now as far as my research has gone, I am aware of only 3 possible routes to achieve this part of the equation and they are :


1. the vestax controller 1 turntable, which is basically impossible to get you hands on, due to vestax being out of business, and there only being 100 of these made to begin with, thus making them rare to say the least.

2. the vestax PDX 3000 , which is also extremely hard to find , because again , vestax is out of business, although many more of these were produced , not sure how many, but i was lucky enough to get one after searching for around a year, which was in my budget.

3. the Numark CDX, also out of production , and known for its mediocre build quality, and also a CD deck, but generally easier to find , probably because of the fact that its a crappy CD deck.


as of this writing there is one last , albeit less desirable option which is :



basically the second dev , Bob Kruijer , has found a way to hack traktor or serato to get a fretless effect, but i was told it doesnt necessarily keep the notes in key, and can only be done with DVS and not with regular vinyl , the way a set up with the MIDI IN turntable would.



anyway, after being on the quest to build one of these set ups myself since i first heard of it in like 2011, i thought some people might find this research useful or interesting.


good luck!