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Anyone just play fretless bass?

#41
A few years ago I traded an amp for a fretless bass. I messed with it for a wee bit, but I just didn'take to it. The bass ended up being an ornament hanging on the wall.

Fast forward to the present. I'm Sting in a Police tribute band. What many people don't realize is that he plays a lot of the Police songs on a fretless, especially on the first couple of albums. I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to try again to learn to play the thing... And I am... And having a blast!!! Yeah I'm not perfect on the thing, and have intonation oopses here and there. But I'm having a blast!!! And the sound is truer to the Police sound. As my confidence level grows on the fretless, I find myself reaching less and for the fretted ones!!!
 
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#42
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Ok here they are
 
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#43
ofahy434 said:
Hello everyone!

So for some time now, I have imagined myself getting another bass to make fretless or just to buy one. However, reality has set in and I'm not going to get another one. With just purchasing a house and having a growing family, spare money is non-existent at this point; which I'm sure some can relate.

So currently I have a '98 Warwick FNA 5-string bass. The previous owner did not take great care of it so in the near future I'm going to refinish it and while I'm at it I was thinking to convert it to a fretless bass. I love the sound of a fretless bass, especially a Warwick, but I'm also hesitant and scared to do it. I have played fretless a few times and I know I will like it, but because its my only bass I'm worried it won't have the versatility like it has now. I play rock, acoustic, and church music primarily and I do almost no slap. What are your thoughts? Do you find that fretless has its own voice and can be incorporated anywhere or are there times you wish you had a fretted bass? I appreciate any wisdom shared! :D
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I went all fretless 6 months ago. Well I do have a fretted bass too, but I left it at home and have not used it since. At first it was difficult, and still I do need to have good stage sound to be able to play in tune, or close enough anyway. :) But now I happily do everything with my fretless. Slapping and all. Its not my first fretless though, I've been playing it along with the fretted from eighties. But will it work for you? Time will tell. You can always put the frets back on too, I've done that a couple of times too with certain basses that just did not work as a fretless after all.
 
#44
I love playing a fret-less from time to time but I never had the patience to get good at playing high up the fretboard 'in-tune'. In addition I'm a lover of chords and I found them REALLY hard to get in tune on a fretless as there's no forgiveness for your finger positioning. I also don't really like the sound of a fretless picked with a plec. I think unless you're going to spend loads of time practicing, or if the type of music you like to play really suits a fretless I would stick with a fretted bass. I found a good compromise was to use flat wounds of a fretted bass, you get the mellow tone of a fretless without the hardships. I recently put flat-wounds on my stingray and it transformed it into a smooth sounding warm and full instrument that could be used for any genre of music. That being said Its nice to have one of each.
 
#45
I have always played fretless basses, with the odd interlude where a fretted bass (70s J and MIJ Squier P) has joined the clan for a while. Actually after 30 years I now have a fretted keeper (SBMM Ray34) but my main thing beyond the Stick is fretless and has been from the start, so I am cool with only F/L. If it is new to you and you are considering F/L only you are right to give it the deliberation as it is a big decision, but IME you will be fine, esp. given the type of music you say you play. Not only that, if you do feel the need for fretted later when circumstances permit, there is a lot more choice out there in the used market...
 
#47
ofahy434 said:
Hello everyone!

So for some time now, I have imagined myself getting another bass to make fretless or just to buy one. However, reality has set in and I'm not going to get another one. With just purchasing a house and having a growing family, spare money is non-existent at this point; which I'm sure some can relate.

So currently I have a '98 Warwick FNA 5-string bass. The previous owner did not take great care of it so in the near future I'm going to refinish it and while I'm at it I was thinking to convert it to a fretless bass. I love the sound of a fretless bass, especially a Warwick, but I'm also hesitant and scared to do it. I have played fretless a few times and I know I will like it, but because its my only bass I'm worried it won't have the versatility like it has now. I play rock, acoustic, and church music primarily and I do almost no slap. What are your thoughts? Do you find that fretless has its own voice and can be incorporated anywhere or are there times you wish you had a fretted bass? I appreciate any wisdom shared! :D
Click to expand...

If it's your only bass I really, really wouldn't do it. I think having the option of both is key to being able to cover all ground on bass, but if you're only gonna have the guitar then keep the frets.
 
#48
I play only fretless. I love it. But I want to get me 2 fretted P basses cause I want some specific sounds off of them which I can't get with fretless basses, even a fretless P bass. But that is just for my pleasure. I can play my fretless basses on any type of music that I want, I don't need fretted, I want fretted :D
 
#49
I converted a fretted to a fretless several years ago, and it has overwhelmingly gotten the most play of any of my bases since then.

I don't exclusively play fretless, but when I play a fretted instrument now it's because I'm looking for a specific sound. It's the same way that I don't exclusively play fingerstyle; I'm playing with my fingers probably 99.9% or more of the time, but occasionally I'll play a song where I like the sound of a pick better. I'm also gravitating more and more toward flatwound strings these days.

A while back I realized that I really just want 4 basses: fretted with rounds, fretted with flats, fretless with rounds, and fretless with flats. Any bass beyond that, or duplication within one of those categories is just for fun and not serving me a specific need. I've yet to try tapewounds, though I want to, so that might up the number to 6 at some point.

With the symphony, I'm 100% fretless, flatwound, and acoustic, but I go back and forth between arco and pizz ;)
 
#57
I wouldn't defret a bass. I did once just to do it. It turned out fine (I actually sold the neck) but these days I buy. I know you said money is an object (it always is in one way or another) but there are some nice "entry level" options these days.
 
#58
You can cover a lot of ground on a fretless. I used to play a fretless almost exclusively. However, I've never liked my sound when I slap on a fretless. I don't use slap often, so that's not a big deterrent to me.

I like the sound I get from both fretted and fretless basses, so I tend to play both. I'm not someone who will be a "fretless only" or "fretless almost always" kind of guy. I am fairly happily a "mostly fretted, sometimes fretless" kind of guy. :)

On another note, I do like to mess with semantics: "fretless" suggests a loss (the "loss" of frets) -- how about "fret-free" for the implication of liberation?! :cool:
 
#59
There was a 10 year period where I played nothing but a fretless precision bass at gigs, including in a working cover band. I was lucky enough where no one asked or commented. I didn't ask permission either, I just did it. You just have to learn to listen and make adjustments to your intonation, it becomes second nature.

I once went to a jazz workshop where a internationally known bass player/teacher asked to use my fretless bass that I was playing in the class to demonstrate a concept he was talking about. He didn't know it was fretless, because it had maple lines on the fretboard. Only when he started playing it, did he realize that it was fretless. He was surprised by the fact that he couldn't tell by my playing. So, it's possible to master that aspect of the instrument if you work at it.

You may have a rough time when you first transition, so, defretting (professional job, please!) your only bass may not be a good option. For the cost of the defretting, I think you could probably find a fretless Fender Squire jazz or precision (or similar), somewhere. There are those out there that try it and find it doesn't work for them and end up selling it. Cheaper for you! That way you'll have more options as well.
 
#60
I like that, "Fret-free".

But another thought just occured... you bought a bass but got the frets for free – awe that ain't workin', that's the way you do it...

Sonicfrog said:
A few years ago I traded an amp for a fretless bass. I messed with it for a wee bit, but I just didn'take to it. The bass ended up being an ornament hanging on the wall.

Fast forward to the present. I'm Sting in a Police tribute band. What many people don't realize is that he plays a lot of the Police songs on a fretless, especially on the first couple of albums. I realized that this was the perfect opportunity to try again to learn to play the thing... And I am... And having a blast!!! Yeah I'm not perfect on the thing, and have intonation oopses here and there. But I'm having a blast!!! And the sound is truer to the Police sound. As my confidence level grows on the fretless, I find myself reaching less and for the fretted ones!!!
Click to expand...

Do you cover Sting's vocal parts as well? I can't sing and play at the same time, period. Must be tough on fret-free.

theduke1 said:
View attachment 616198...
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What a beautiful bass!


I used to be fret-free, completely, as I only played DB. I've picked up some fretted bass geetars and am trying to learn that now, too.

Maybe a de-fretted bass is a fretless, and a bass that never had frets from its inception is a fret-free.
 

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