Double bass with fretlines?

[MatsD]

I'm looking for a double bass with fretlines, not dots, but actual lines. Last I saw one was when Rosoce Beck played his at a Leonard Cohen concert a few moths back. It may have been custom made, I'm not sure, haven't found any info about it on the web. And no, it was not an electric upright. If anyone has information about some brand that puts fretlines on their double basses from factory or as an option, I would be very grateful.

I know there has been DIY discussions here about putting fret markers on a double bass, but that's not what I want to do, I want it factory made and permanent as on certain fretless basses.

And please, let's skip the comments about how wrong, unprofessional and bad for my playing fretlines on a double bass would be.

[koricancowboy]

I saw the concert too. Was surprised to see the lines on Roscoe's bass. Hey what ever gets the job done. Just like dots, (which are always custom) you will be 99.99% unlikely to find this already on a bass unless you pay extra cash to have a luthier put them on for you or you buy Roscoe's bass from him. The reality is it will alwys be approximate anyhow because the fingerboard positions move like crazy as the seasons change. I have dots and they are always a guide not a destination. There is tape you can use. Beginning string students often use the tape. Anyhow good luck finding a factory that has it stock.

[Nagrom]

Its really hard to see those lines with your eyes closed

[Gary Lynch]

Think about resurfacing a fingerboard with fretlines inlaid. That might be why you never see these, as well as for the obvious reasons like when you play written music you look at the chart, not the fingerboard.

I have never seen one myself.

Lets us know if you find one. I'd like to see one.

[MatsD]

I guess on an old solid wood bass with no truss the intonation would differ considerably with season, temperature and humidity, but on something like a laminated King Slap King with steel reinforced neck, I hardly think intonation is a bigger problem than on any fretted jazz guitar.

Perhaps the way to do it is to ask a luthier to do it, rather than looking for it on a stock instrument.

[Bassist4Life]

Originally Posted by koricancowboy

The reality is it will alwys be approximate anyhow because the fingerboard positions move like crazy as the seasons change.

+1

You need to use your ear anyhow. You can always use a pencil to mark where a problematic pitch is for whatever you're doing at that time. It rubs right off. I know professionals that have done this in the upper register if they needed to start with a higher pitch right from the start of a piece.

The tape idea is a good one. I'm a middle school orchestra director and deal with tapes all the time, mostly for my 6th grade students. By 8th grade most of the students have removed their own tapes because they trust their ears and finger/hand position.

I would avoid scotch tape and masking tape. Scotch gets really gooey. Masking tape, if left on for a long time, becomes like concrete. I find that automobile pinstripe tape works really well. It goes on easily and comes off relatively clean. You can get it in black so it's not soooo obvious. Also, you can get it really thin so you don't need to cut it.

[Nagrom]

An artist's pencil, yellow for instance, makes a nice line that rubs off nicely and can easily be renewed as you see fit.

[JKincaid]

Heartland String Bass put these on one of their basses. inlaid lines

As you can see, the blood wood markers are practically invisible at any kind of distance (except to the player.)different angle

[Bass]

Originally Posted by MatsD

...If anyone has information about some brand that puts fretlines on their double basses from factory or as an option, I would be very grateful....

I would guess that Upton or King Doublebass would put fretlines on as an option.

What type of inlay will you get? Bone? Abalone? Mother of Pearl?

You should consider getting LED or optical fibre inlays so they really stand out, and you could even inlay the lights along the purfling to match.

[EggyToast]

I like the optical fiber idea, especially if they're plugged into a pickup inside the body so that the resonating strings cause the lights to flicker, creating odd strobe effects that cause anyone in the first few rows to pass out in epileptic shock.

If you're putting in lines as custom, though, I don't know why you wouldn't just skip that and go right to frets. You could just attach catgut to the fretboard a la the sitar and be able to move them with the seasons.