Convince me why I should consider a fretless

[jwr]

They are fun?

 

[Leiria]

They are fun?

Yes, a lot, even if you cant play them properly (I should know...)

 

[Walfretless5]

I agree with some, but not all of this.

Playing fretted and fretless are the exact same thing, if your technique is good. Fretted covers any number of flaws, because accuracy isn't required. I was fortunate enough to have had my first instructor INSIST on good technique, and it's because of that, that I was able to move to fretless so easily. One of the things, along with left hand fretting and right hand plucking technique that he insisted on was good posture. Being slouched over, staring at frets or lines, instantly puts your hands at an awkward position. If you sit (or stand) upright, with good posture, those lines are invisible. Side dots or marking are always there, ready to help you.

And you don't need a store with a bunch of fretless basses to play. You can do what I did, and buy a set of end nipper pliers, and have a fretless bass in minutes. There's now a thousand places to read how to do it right, but when I did it, I figured that the frets weren't there when the made the neck, so they must be removable. I ended up with some minor chips, and I used a couple of thick coats of lacquer, sanding between each coat. Had a fretless bass 8 hours after I wanted one.

We can agree to disagree on this....I do not think that playing fretted and fretless ARE the EXACT same thing...you yourself even add "IF" your technique is good. You will not convince me otherwise and not to open up a can of worms here and hopefully I won't be bombarded with negativity but here are some points:

#1...we know nothing about how the poster was taught, learned to play or "IF" his technique is good. You may have been fortunate enough to have
a good instructor to teach you proper technique....not everyone has...NOT TO SAY that some that didn't aren't still MONSTER players.
#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.
#4....Vibrato is a technique that is totally different on a fretless than on a fretted and takes a good amount of time to master.
#5....The lines do not become invisible....why do you think alot of people use them? The technique of playing any fretless instrument (I also play
violin) is playing "IN POSITION" , not all fretted players do that or even think about it.
#6....My statement was and still is true about the availability of fretless basses to try out...some people may not want to sacrifice and otherwise
BUTCHER a perfectly good fretted instrument on a whim. Yeah we all know JACO did it...the availability back then was even less than when I
started fretless back in the 80's and he KNEW he wanted one. The poster here again needs convincing, so I have kept the original question in
mind with my posts.

 

[SteveHeissner]

Here's a great reason to play fretless: people may not bother you about sitting in and/or playing your bass at gigs. Especially people who don't really play bass but assume it's easy because, "hey, it's only 4 strings..." There you have it. I may have just convinced myself to get one.

 

[BeardedFrog]

I find fretless more expressive, since subtle finger movements can add more nuance to your sound. The "mwah" tone you can get is pretty distinctive, and if you like that you can only really get it from a fretless.

In terms of mechanics, sliding is smoother and vibrato has more impact, but bends are harder and you do need to be a little more precise with your finger placement. There are some very fast players who use fretless for cool solos, but generally speaking I think it shines when you're playing the kind of bass lines you can sing.

Honestly, while a lot of people are kind of intimidated by fretless bass, it's not notably harder than playing fretted. It just takes a little bit of adjustment and it's best suited to a slightly different style of playing.

 

[Bare Bass]

Early on in my playing years, fretless called to me just like religion calls to some people and, I answered without regret. The sound of a fretless bass is the sound of a human voice, in all it's glory. I also occasionally slum on fretted bass but, I prefer the sight of a blank board with no markings. If a company made a fretless bass with no side markers, it would be difficult for me not to purchase it.

So true. Like bass itself, fretless was a calling. I knew it was for me as soon as I picked it up.

For decades I've played a fretless that wasn't meant to be a fretless, so it had position markers in between where the frets would be. Recently I bought a Wishbass with position markers where the 3/5/7/9 ... frets should be, except Mr. Wish screwed them up. Very distracting. So I set them in and covered them up with a darker putty. Still distracting. So put in position markers in between the fret marks with white putty. Still distracting. So I filed in fret markers and filled them in with dark putty too. Finally, I wasn't distracted by Wish's errant nail positions. I have to say, with the fret markers, my intonation is a bit better, but I don't think I play as well. I think I become more limited in my conception by having all the half-steps explicitly represented by marks. But that's OK, I have six fretlesses, if half have marks and half don't then it'll just be more variation in my playing, and I'm all about variation.

 

[Bare Bass]

Everyone needs frustration and a never ending project in life.

Unfinished projects = the illusion of immortality!

 

[bassist4dalord]

I'm getting the itch to pick up a fretless. I owned a fretless SX P-Bass (P pickup only) for a couple of months but didn't put the time in to get it.

I've got a birthday coming up and I'm sorely tempted to ask for a Rogue LX200BF from Musician's Friend. I would want an unlined fretless and a bridge pickup, so the Rogue would work. Plus it's cheap and might be an easier sell to the Mrs.

 

[bobba66]

Maybe a trombone would be a better choice.

 

[JMacBass65]

Take a few minutes and listen to this. This will give you an idea of what you can do and get out of a Fretless that you cannot get out of a fretted bass. It's also a good example of a rock player on Fretless, rather than a jazz thing. As far as any "disadvantages" to playing Fretless, well, I'd say you better be paying attention to what you are doing, and have great ears, cuz they are unforgiving. I found it helps to stay sober.

 

[Walfretless5]

Heres a great example of UNIQUE fretless playing.....My favorite piece is SELENE at 45:20.

 

[bearhart74]

If you dont know the difference between fretted and fretless you probably dont need one

 

[98mtd]

Do the homework, and listen to all the great fretless players. Start with Jaco, and the above clips with Manring and Franklin. Also, don't sleep on Alderete.

 

[Skokiaan]

Fretted bass is the right sound for those styles..IMO..and only IMO.. it works for me. I like fretless once in awhile for a ballad , but for an entire gig fretless starts to sound like an effect that you can turn off when you need to. again..IMO

I guarantee you've heard plenty of fretless on rock records without even realizing it. When I play, 99% of the time you'd have no idea I was playing fretless unless you look.

 

[bassdude51]

Not reading 9 pages so I hope I'm not repeating something.

I'm not gonna try to convince you to go fretless or not but you mention..........."I've never played a fretless and have no real clue what advantages they may or may not have over a fretted bass."

I think that you should try one out first before you buy one. Either borrow or buy a cheapie or spend 2 or 3 hours noodling on one at Guitar Center or somewhere.

My experience with a fretless was.....................they are fun to play. Sound REALLY GREAT! But they are also challenging! Especially when playing higher register where intonation (note location) is critical!

My opinion is that an electric bassist needs to play a fretless nearly exclusively to be any good at it. If one is a novice or a hobby bassist or a semi-pro bassist, it might be best to stick with frets.

On a 34" scale bass, ya gotta be pretty damn close on those notes or it sounds like the bass is out of tune.

After owning a fretless for about a year and hardly every playing it............I gave it up and sold it. For me, it just wasn't good to be dividing my limited skills on 2 very different instruments. The fretless required a whole different level of concentration compared to the fretted.

Also, IMO..............ya gotta have fret lines on a fretless to hit those notes correctly and that involves constantly looking at what your doing.

A stand-up is like 41" scale length and there is a lot of "forgiveness" on intonation. Not so with a 34" scale.

Finally, if you're gonna be using round wound strings on a fretless, they will destroy a fretboard. IMO, flats are necessary on a fretless. I mean, that's the whole idea, right? To get an electric bass to sound like a stand-up?

 

[hushnel]

"o) 34" is a piece of cake, try 18" or 20" scale, I had an Asbory (18" scale) until I finnaly just couldn't take the broken silicon strings every time I tried to use it. So I traded it for a ukulele I could fit in my saddle bags. Then I came across Owen Holt's Pahoehoe polyurethane strings, he was making bass ukulele then, 10 years or so ago. I contacted him and he set me up with the strings, modified tuners and a set of K&K pure Western transducers. I built this tacky little 20" cigar box bass that I've had a blast with. Up around the 12th fret just rolling your finger is a half step. Most bass player that have to give it a try pick up the intonation quickly, I do have MOP side fret markers that I installed at the point of intonation.

Like I said "intended to be tacky" part of my trailer trash line of instruments "o) I used one of my best pieces of mother of pearl I got from the Duke of Pearl at the Newport Guitar Festival, to cut this special inlay.

 

[Sixgunn]

Or to play "Love Cats" properly.

I also do Live It Up by Sheryl Crow ion fretless.

 

[fretno]

The perfectly executed fart sounds .

 

[JMacBass65]

They are even more rare in any music store, used or new, than lefty basses. When was the last time you saw a fretless bass in a music store?

Last two times I saw a Fretless in a music store I bought them.

First time was in 1988, The Guitar Shop in Washington DC. I used to drop in there during my lunch when I worked downtown. There was a lot of Fretless in play at the time. Paul Simons Graceland, Graham Parker's Mona Lisa's Sister, Robyn Hitchcocks Globe of Frogs, Pino's stuff with Paul Young and Don Henley, The Firm from a few years earlier.

So I bought this Peavey T40 Fretless (with fret markers) when I saw it at this shop and had some fun with it in my original band. Played it on a hanful of songs where I could exploit its characteristics. But at the end of the day I was clueless and my ear was not that good. Plus I was broke, and didn't totally dig the T40 itself, so I sold it.

Fast forward to late 2013, I drop into GC for the hell of it. There was a 1978 Fretless PBass hanging on the wall for a reasonable price. I played it, it spoke to me, and it seemed to make more sense to me than back in the day. Even w/o fret lines I found my intonation was pretty good, my ear had improved over the years. So I bought it, played it a few days latter w/ my blues band for about half the gig. Fast walking lines I still can't pull off well, but slower balled stuff, and basic blues riffs and whatnot, it works great on and let's me do a few cool things I wouldn't otherwise do. One definitely comes at it a bit differently.

There are a few Classic Rock standards out there where a fretless works. Black Velvet, You Oughtta Know and a couple of others. Can be nice accents on ballads, or keep you awake playing really boring lines. Alo: you can challenge yourself to play other, non-fretless songs on it without it sounding like a fretless.

All good points. Except Black Velvet is a synth.

If you doubt that it can be used for some old school classic rock, I'll simply mention again, all of Frampton Comes Alive was done on Fretless.

And, I can't believe it's not been mentioned, all of Bad Company's 70s output was Fretless.

I find fretless more expressive, since subtle finger movements can add more nuance to your sound. The "mwah" tone you can get is pretty distinctive, and if you like that you can only really get it from a fretless.

In terms of mechanics, sliding is smoother and vibrato has more impact, but bends are harder and you do need to be a little more precise with your finger placement. There are some very fast players who use fretless for cool solos, but generally speaking I think it shines when you're playing the kind of bass lines you can sing.

Honestly, while a lot of people are kind of intimidated by fretless bass, it's not notably harder than playing fretted. It just takes a little bit of adjustment and it's best suited to a slightly different style of playing.

All of this!

 

[MNAirHead]

I'll add another one... tone focus and ghost notes

You begin to understand the touch and approach a bit better... I'd say your tone improves and have more accentuated notes and more ghost notes.

I've noticed that most folks that really get into fretless will have the settings and setup change...


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UNFORTUNATELY, a bass withoutfrets is not the same as a fretless... (yes owned several)... It takes a bit more high end gear to get a pristine sound.... The lowest price one I owned that could get the "idol" tone was about $1200 used...

Note the guys who REALLY are known for playing are not usually playing cheap gear.