Is transitioning from fretted to a fretless hard?

[AltGrendel]

Originally Posted by aasti3000

Is it a whole new ball game learning fretless or do I need to get the fretted bass down to a science before considering a fretless?

Just picking one up to noodle on at a store isn't a good way to test your fretless skills IMHO. It takes good practice habits to get good on one. Getting one will improve your ear for sure. If you have the spare $, I'd say go for it.

tl:dr

No, it doesn't.

[Seargant Waffle]

I just got my first fretless. It's lined, which I feel has really helped in the transition. I received the fretless on Friday, and I actually played it yesterday in church, with no complaints about my intonation!

[Orpheus55]

I play a very nice lined Fender Jazz MIM, and it's become one of my favorites. If the horn section doesn't comment, I know I'm in tune. I seldom look at the fretboard under any circumstances, but the lines on the Fender are dead on if you hit them on the line itself.

[iunno]

I find its a bit of a different instrument, I play fretted and fretless quite differently. Maybe it's a little harder, but you just have to focus on what you're playing a little more. Check out one of the Gary Willis basses if you decide to get one. Much, much nicer than the fretless Jazzes I played.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by zazz

The part of this thread about lines on the fretboard ...it's just a display of macho .... Look at me ..I don't need training wheels.... It may as well be a discussion about buying a car with an unmarked gear stick ...

Granted a pure ebony fretboard devoid of any blemishes is truly a thing of beauty.....but the music doesn't mind one jot.

Seems like everyone is more concerned about the look....not the sound....

Who cares about the look.....

Personally Given the choice i would get lines every time.......I may not need them ...maybe I do ..who knows?..... But at least they are there if required.

Hmm, either we have a troll here or somebody with some feelings of inadequacy, I think.

In the end, it is just about personal preferences, really, and what works for the individual. We are just offering our opinions and experiences here for the OP to make an INFORMED DECISION.

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by aasti3000

That explains it.

Sounds like you experience people are saying start with the lined fretless and then ditch it for an unlined after I'm comfortable with it?

No! All the lines do is add a false sense of security and then force you to make twice as many decisions as you need to make. First you have to find the side dot, then you have to figure out how far from the side dot to properly intonate the note. It makes no sense to me. All you really need are side dots at the correct pitch at 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17.

Using the dots to intonate notes on the E string, it is not that difficult to train yourself to properly intonate notes on the A, D, and G strings. The parallax error does change a bit from string to string, but hand - eye and your ear will sort that out.

My $0.02 anyway. Fretless for 20+ years.

[gumbynotpokey]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Nope, start with an unlined, they do have position dots on the side of the neck for all the reference you will ever really need.

+1

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by stettoman

I bought a Warwick Rockbass Corvette fretless about two years ago. I'd played a fretless P-Bass years ago and my intonation was near perfect at the start. I'm still working on it with the Warwick. Besides my ears getting old and stubborn, part of my problem is where the side dot markers are: Exactly where they'd be on a fretted model. My mind tries to trick me into fretting ON the dots, causing me to "fish" for pitch far too often.

That's a shame. My 2005 Warwick Corvette Std FL has the dots where they ought to be.

[zazz]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Hmm, either we have a troll here or somebody with some feelings of inadequacy, I think.

In the end, it is just about personal preferences, really, and what works for the individual. We are just offering our opinions and experiences here for the OP to make an INFORMED DECISION.

Just saying what I think....which bit of my post do you disagree with....and just give reasons .... It's a forum after all.

Trolls don't usually hang around on forums for ten years....

[Darren Low]

Originally Posted by dedpool1052

i'd put it like this, fretted bass is like walking down the stairs, fretless bass is like sliding down the banister.

I like that

[Mike M.]

After playing for many years (and still so much to learn) I bought my first fretless about a year and a half ago. Got a Squire VM fretless Jazz bass. Didn't want to spend big bucks because I didn't know how I'd take to it. It's cool!!

My only 'gig' is at church and after having the fretless for about a month I was confident enough to play it one Sunday for an acoustic set. Got lots of compliments on how well it fit with the set....so I guess I wasn't too bad at it! Still got a long, long way to go but I do practice fairly often on it.

Each to thier own and what works for you is fine by me. My bass has the lines and that's okay. I admit I still need them. But then Jaco had lines on his bass where the frets use to be and nobody thought less of him because of it.

[Engine207]

Originally Posted by Mike M.

Jaco had lines on his bass where the frets use to be and nobody thought less of him because of it.

I really don't think anybody really "thinks less" of lined players. If they do, it's just immature and churlish - just as it is being offended by such statements made by complete strangers. To me, it's just a preference, like four/five string or Ric/Fender or whatever.

I worry a whole lot more about my own playing and my own gear than I do about what others play and buy.

[FretlessMainly]

Originally Posted by Mike M.

But then Jaco had lines on his bass where the frets use to be and nobody thought less of him because of it.

I don't think less of lined players, I think less of the lines themselves. For mechanical, not aesthetic reasons.

[georgiagoodie]

Yes.
Unless you are going to practice a lot and only on a fretless, you should definitely get a lined fretless neck. Intonation is very difficult on a standard electric bass with the 34" scale. A double bass is much easier (to obtain correct intonation) due to the 42" scale.
Actually, I used a wishbass in my transition from BG to DB. Once I got to the DB, intonation seemed much easier, after spending time with the fretless BG. But, when I play the wishbass, proper intonation is tough!

[zfunkman]

Jaco played a lined fretless bass.

[KingOlav]

If a lined fretless neck is sealed in a clear gloss finish, does it matter what kind of inlays are used?

[Ezmar]

Originally Posted by georgiagoodie

Yes.
Unless you are going to practice a lot and only on a fretless, you should definitely get a lined fretless neck. Intonation is very difficult on a standard electric bass with the 34" scale. A double bass is much easier (to obtain correct intonation) due to the 42" scale.
Actually, I used a wishbass in my transition from BG to DB. Once I got to the DB, intonation seemed much easier, after spending time with the fretless BG. But, when I play the wishbass, proper intonation is tough!

Would this be in your opinion, or is there an actual reason that the 42" scale would be easier? The way I see it, Double bass is a little easier because you have the neck joint as an additional reference point.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Mike M.

...But then Jaco had lines on his bass where the frets use to be and nobody thought less of him because of it.

Originally Posted by zfunkman

Jaco played a lined fretless bass.

Jaco played a lined fretless because there were not too many choices in fretless basses back when he started doing so. He took the frets out of that Jazz Bass and filled them in and did the epoxy job to the fingerboard.

So, it is impossible to say whether he would have preferred a lined or unlined fretless, his was just what it was, a modified fretted bass.

Before i got my first unlined fretless (a Zon Sonus Special 5) I had taken the frets out of a '72 Telecaster Bass in 1976 (after hearing Unorthodox Behavior when it first came on the market, prior to my hearing Jaco's first album when it came out), later I had John Carruthers defret my old Yamaha BX-5 in 1987, and later still I had my old Alembic Exploiter defretted in 1996. I got the Sonus Special in 1997 and a second Zon, a Sonus 5/1 custom built for me, in 1999. I currently have a Martin Keith Elfin 5 fretless that I found at the 2010 NAMM Show when I first met Martin (wonderful bass and great guy!), I also currently have a Rick Turner RB4FL (I used to have a RB5FL), both of the Turners have fret lines. I used to have a Rickenbacker 4003FL, no lines but dots where they would be on a fretted bass. All of these bass sounded/sound great, lines or no lines. They just are what they are, great basses.

[Planet Boulder]

As with anything, the more intimidated you allow yourself to be, the harder it is to learn. Learn the proper technique and just....play. Don't overthink it, don't create unnecessary doubt, just play.

Your mind is your worst enemy.

[Moe Monsarrat]

I only use unlined necks because the dots are always off the note on lined ones. I don't have much intonation trouble because I also am the singer. But, when I have to look down at the dot and then find the line above the dot.......I got no time for that. When I got my 1st fretless I put everything else away and just played that. Didn't take long. Try practicing lines without looking at the neck and use open strings for pitch reference.