Keir,
I had no idea you were actaully born in Scotland.
Some of my favourite fretless bass players are Flea from the Chilli Peppers and the guy in Pearl Jam.
Umm, that would be Geoff Ament from Pearl Jam, he plays a 4-string and a 5-string fretless.
An intonation nightmare.
"Waterfront" by Simple Minds was ground breaking stuff in bass guitar sound. Do you know what guitar and amp was used?
The guitar was a Warwick Thru neck model.
The amp matters nothing, because the same Bass was used on Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" the same year.
Recording gear gives you EQ to the Bass sound.
Plus or minus 20dB cut or boost, from a mixing desk can seriously change your bass sound.