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Convince me why I should consider a fretless

#181
I appreciate all the feedback from you guys. My ears have never really been able to detect what was fretless or fretted in the music I've heard so it never really dawned on me to consider it, particularly for the music I play.

Then I went to a Rick Springfield concert last weekend (don't ask....work related) and saw the bass player playing a Sterling fretless. It made me wonder why....hence my intial OP question.
 
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#185
Walfretless5 said:
#2...I didn't mean that fingering and plucking aren't the same ,although some can argue that point as well,....maybe the player uses a pick, maybe
he is into slapping or some other techniques that don't necessarily translate that well on a fretless instrument. I studied with a very famous
fretless player and he taught me things that CANNOT be done on a fretted instrument , so the not everything crosses over from one to the
other.

#3....accuracy isn't important on a fretted instrument??? REALLY??? I'll tell that to my students.
Click to expand...

#2. What exactly cannot be done on a fretless? I don't slap, but I have seen others slap on a fretless. I use a pick occasionally. I play chords. What cannot be done?

I don't understand why somebody would teach someone limitations. It's like saying, "Don't be creative. If it hasn't been done before, don't do it."

#3. There is certainly a margin of error on a fretted that isn't available on a fretless. If I finger a note on a fretted bass and move my finger slightly while remaining behind the same fret the note doesn't change. Definitely not true with a fretless.
 
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#186
Skokiaan said:
#2. What exactly cannot be done on a fretless? I don't slap, but I have seen others slap on a fretless. I use a pick occasionally. I play chords. What cannot be done?

I don't understand why somebody would teach someone limitations. It's like saying, "Don't be creative. If it hasn't been done before, don't do it."

#3. There is certainly a margin of error on a fretted that isn't available on a fretless. If I finger a note on a fretted bass and move my finger slightly while remaining behind the same fret the note doesn't change. Definitely not true with a fretless.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should read my statement more carefully since you obviously missed my point and misconstrued my statement.....I didn't say you CANT SLAP on a fretless....I said that it doesn't TRANSLATE WELL and that happens to be true...There are very few fretless players that actually do it as part of their style....not say there aren't ANY but a FRETTED BASS is what makes the slap style sound like it does. And I can name a few techniques that you can do on a fretless that simply DO NOT WORK on a fretted instrument.

If you looked at my MICHAEL MANRING post you'll see that he is one who actually does slap on a fretless bass...there are exceptions , but he is an EXTRAORDINARY player....not the normal guy who happens to just casually pick up a fretless. Most of the top fretless players play it exclusively (I don't mean ALL so please don't challenge me back that I am saying something I am not....like you just did.

I also never said for anyone to NOT BE CREATIVE and not to do anything....and we are talking about a person that doesn't even know if he WANTS to play one. I figured there would be at least ONE person who was going to read one word and decide to jump on my statements without even understanding what I am saying....also your #3?...I have no idea what point you are even trying to make and how it relates to ANYTHING I stated.
 
#187
Walfretless5 said:
Perhaps you should read my statement more carefully since you obviously missed my point and misconstrued my statement.....I didn't say you CANT SLAP on a fretless....I said that it doesn't TRANSLATE WELL and that happens to be true...There are very few fretless players that actually do it as part of their style....not say there aren't ANY but a FRETTED BASS is what makes the slap style sound like it does. And I can name a few techniques that you can do on a fretless that simply DO NOT WORK on a fretted instrument.

If you looked at my MICHAEL MANRING post you'll see that he is one who actually does slap on a fretless bass...there are exceptions , but he is an EXTRAORDINARY player....not the normal guy who happens to just casually pick up a fretless. Most of the top fretless players play it exclusively (I don't mean ALL so please don't challenge me back that I am saying something I am not....like you just did.

I also never said for anyone to NOT BE CREATIVE and not to do anything....and we are talking about a person that doesn't even know if he WANTS to play one. I figured there would be at least ONE person who was going to read one word and decide to jump on my statements without even understanding what I am saying....also your #3?...I have no idea what point you are even trying to make and how it relates to ANYTHING I stated.
Click to expand...

Still ... what doesn't work on a fretted bass but do work on a fretless ?
 
#189
Skokiaan said:
#2. What exactly cannot be done on a fretless? I don't slap, but I have seen others slap on a fretless. I use a pick occasionally. I play chords. What cannot be done?

I don't understand why somebody would teach someone limitations. It's like saying, "Don't be creative. If it hasn't been done before, don't do it."

#3. There is certainly a margin of error on a fretted that isn't available on a fretless. If I finger a note on a fretted bass and move my finger slightly while remaining behind the same fret the note doesn't change. Definitely not true with a fretless.
Click to expand...
If your finger was slightly off on a fretless, you wouldn't notice. Simple test, play a fretless with your eyes closed and see how far off the mark your fingers are before you start to notice. When you are playing with other musicians, hearing them will help your intonation.
 
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#191
Walfretless5 said:
Perhaps you should read my statement more carefully since you obviously missed my point and misconstrued my statement.....I didn't say you CANT SLAP on a fretless....I said that it doesn't TRANSLATE WELL and that happens to be true...There are very few fretless players that actually do it as part of their style....not say there aren't ANY but a FRETTED BASS is what makes the slap style sound like it does. And I can name a few techniques that you can do on a fretless that simply DO NOT WORK on a fretted instrument.

If you looked at my MICHAEL MANRING post you'll see that he is one who actually does slap on a fretless bass...there are exceptions , but he is an EXTRAORDINARY player....not the normal guy who happens to just casually pick up a fretless. Most of the top fretless players play it exclusively (I don't mean ALL so please don't challenge me back that I am saying something I am not....like you just did.

I also never said for anyone to NOT BE CREATIVE and not to do anything....and we are talking about a person that doesn't even know if he WANTS to play one. I figured there would be at least ONE person who was going to read one word and decide to jump on my statements without even understanding what I am saying....also your #3?...I have no idea what point you are even trying to make and how it relates to ANYTHING I stated.
Click to expand...
A simple reason to play a fretless is, the same reason one would go from a 4 string, to a 5, 6, or 7 string bass and that is, curiosity.
 
#194
bryan gibson said:
Aw hellskeetoot man... a basic lined SX fretless is around $120 or so. Grab whichever one you think looks the coolest and just wing it ;) I was scared to death to try one, but after about 10 minutes and 3 or 4 tunes, it kinda started to flow subconsciously. That was back in 2001 and I still gig with that old Kramer on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

THIS^^^

We all play fretless simply because we LOVE THEM! So how do you know if you will love them or not? How can you figure out if they do anything for what you play? How can you tell if they are for you? Ask on TB if you should buy one? NAY!

You pick out a nice cheap fretless SX, buy it and then LIVE WITH IT for a while. If fretless speaks you you you'll know. If it's not for you, you simply sell it and move on. If you love it, by then you'll probably be GASSING for the fretless you think you really want and in any case you can still flip the SX and return a good percentage of the money you spent on "fretless lessons" by buying it.

Worked for me. Will work for you.
(Still own and sometimes still play my SX fretless $99 jazz bass clone. Still love it, though these days my main axe is my fretless USA G&L L2500)
 
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#195
Slides , sliding harmonics, vibrato and a few other ones not commonly seen...
radioface said:
If your finger was slightly off on a fretless, you wouldn't notice. Simple test, play a fretless with your eyes closed and see how far off the mark your fingers are before you start to notice. When you are playing with other musicians, hearing them will help your intonation.
Click to expand...
Absolutely untrue...if you have good pitch and a good ear you WILL notice....what do you think vibrato actually is? When you roll your finger tip you are changing the pitch to produce the vibrato effect and not even actually replacing where your finger is...
 
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#199
Walfretless5 said:
Perhaps you should read my statement more carefully since you obviously missed my point and misconstrued my statement.....I didn't say you CANT SLAP on a fretless....I said that it doesn't TRANSLATE WELL and that happens to be true...There are very few fretless players that actually do it as part of their style....not say there aren't ANY but a FRETTED BASS is what makes the slap style sound like it does. And I can name a few techniques that you can do on a fretless that simply DO NOT WORK on a fretted instrument.

If you looked at my MICHAEL MANRING post you'll see that he is one who actually does slap on a fretless bass...there are exceptions , but he is an EXTRAORDINARY player....not the normal guy who happens to just casually pick up a fretless. Most of the top fretless players play it exclusively (I don't mean ALL so please don't challenge me back that I am saying something I am not....like you just did.

I also never said for anyone to NOT BE CREATIVE and not to do anything....and we are talking about a person that doesn't even know if he WANTS to play one. I figured there would be at least ONE person who was going to read one word and decide to jump on my statements without even understanding what I am saying....also your #3?...I have no idea what point you are even trying to make and how it relates to ANYTHING I stated.
Click to expand...

So slapping doesn't translate well to fretless, but Michael Manring makes it work? That proves it translates just fine. One does not need to be an extraordinary player to make slap work on fretless. I've seen local amateurs do it. All it takes is acceptance that slap will sound different on fretless than fretted.

One down. What other techniques do you feel don't work on fretless?
 
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