Don't be scared to play fretless!

[darwin-bass]

Yes. And no.

Yes, any of us can probably play fretless. It isn't that hard, after all. At the same time, it is more difficult. Finger placement is far more critical than on fretted. Fretless is much less forgiving of sloppy or bad technique.

Not all of us are great at hearing pitch errors. I don't hear pitch errors as easily as others so I may think I'm sounding fine when in fact I'm out of tune. I've had to really pay attention to my L hand technique and to really listen for those subtle pitch errors that others hear with no problems.

In the end I find fretless to be more of a challenge than fretted and that is exactly what make it more fun.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Frets are like barriers, or handcuffs, or maybe even prison walls

 

[DRBP]

I play fretless occasionally when I am doing musical theater work but generally play fretted with my cover band. However, it is really good practice (for me anyway...) to occasionally run my cover tunes with the fretless. It really helps you improve your accuracy and gives you another perspective musically. If there was always enough room on stage for another guitar stand I would bring a fretless to my cover gigs as there are some tunes that really sound better with it than fretted.

 

[Pings Bass]

Well, don't be afraid, but be wary: you can't fake it as easily with a fretless. If you have musical training on voice, winds or strings you can jump right into it. But if you're not used to listening for intonation constantly, you may struggle. It's not magic, it's ear training.

 

[monsterthompson]

I've got two

 

[mb94952]

Good timing on this thread !!! I JUST got my first fretless this week !!! Well, I had the body and I got an Ali Express fretless neck, which is SUPER awesome by the way. No regrets here.

I've been practicing all week and already I see a difference. It is SO much fun and you can do stuff you can;'t do on a fretted bass. There's a lot of room for sound effects, etc that the fretless pulls out of you.

MF also had a sale on ROGUE fretless for $99 SHIPPED, so I bought one of those, too !!!

 

[mb94952]

I have been playing fretless exclusively for 30+ years primarily for rock/classic rock. I've been lucky that throughout those years my bandmates didn't give a rat's a$$ that I played fretless, especially doing cover songs. More recently I have been playing fretless uke basses with ultra short scale to make it easier on my problematic pinky and ring fingers on the fretting hand. Again, no one seems to care thankfully. On my current five string 23" scale fretless it does get kind of hairy playing past the 12th fret. Intonation has to be spot on and if you are off by literally 1 millimeter things sound bad. But its a fun challenge.
View attachment 4431031

That entire setup you have it TOP SHELF !!!!!

 

[JimmyM]

Not scared at all. I just don't feel like it.

 

[mb94952]

OMG this is THE COOLEST fretless video I've ever seen !!

 

[Old_Noob]

Been playing a year and thinking of trying FL. Can someone reccy a decent cheap neck

 

[Old_Noob]

Good timing on this thread !!! I JUST got my first fretless this week !!! Well, I had the body and I got an Ali Express fretless neck, which is SUPER awesome by the way. No regrets here.

I've been practicing all week and already I see a difference. It is SO much fun and you can do stuff you can;'t do on a fretted bass. There's a lot of room for sound effects, etc that the fretless pulls out of you.

MF also had a sale on ROGUE fretless for $99 SHIPPED, so I bought one of those, too !!!

View attachment 4431454
View attachment 4431457

what neck?standard fender spec?

 

[mb94952]

what neck?standard fender spec?

Seems like standard Fender size. Personally, I find this neck to be SUPER COMFY. I was pleasantly surprised just how good this neck is. It is laminate and not real zebrawood, but who cares.
Fretless Bass guitar neck 20fret 34 inch Zebra wood Fingerboard part Gloss | eBay

There's also this one, and if you look at "fretless bass neck" on Ebay, you'll see a bunch from China that are great starter necks, and keeper necks, IMO.
Best Maple 20 Fret 4string FRETLESS Rosewood Fretboard Electric Bass Guitar Neck | eBay

 

[bassike]

if those who claim not to be good enough had interest, wouldn't they be playing flretless by now?
dont mind them and just play

 

[nonohmic]

Good timing on this thread !!! I JUST got my first fretless this week !!! Well, I had the body and I got an Ali Express fretless neck, which is SUPER awesome by the way. No regrets here.

I've been practicing all week and already I see a difference. It is SO much fun and you can do stuff you can;'t do on a fretted bass. There's a lot of room for sound effects, etc that the fretless pulls out of you.

MF also had a sale on ROGUE fretless for $99 SHIPPED, so I bought one of those, too !!!

View attachment 4431454
View attachment 4431457

I need to look out for the next time they run that special. Wanna try unlined.

 

[mb94952]

I need to look out for the next time they run that special. Wanna try unlined.

It's going on NOW UNLINED !!!!!
Rogue LX200BF Fretless Series III Electric Bass Guitar Pearl Black 656238014670 | eBay
Personally, I like my Ali Express neck better, but for $99 you can't go wrong, and I got it just to learn on. It arrived in ONE day !!!
EDIT : When it arrived, it was 95% set up correctly AND had flats on it !!! Flats are expensive, about $30/set so this is a NO BRAINER !!!

 

[Jackcrow]

Maybe I’m just terrible at playing fretless and don’t know it but I thought it would be much harder than it is. I HAVE played it live with my band and they didn’t boo me off the stage so…

Fretless is fun. Everyone should try it

 

[nonohmic]

It's going on NOW UNLINED !!!!!
Rogue LX200BF Fretless Series III Electric Bass Guitar Pearl Black 656238014670 | eBay
Personally, I like my Ali Express neck better, but for $99 you can't go wrong, and I got it just to learn on. It arrived in ONE day !!!
EDIT : When it arrived, it was 95% set up correctly AND had flats on it !!! Flats are expensive, about $30/set so this is a NO BRAINER !!!

Booya! Thanks

 

[Old_Noob]

It's going on NOW UNLINED !!!!!
Rogue LX200BF Fretless Series III Electric Bass Guitar Pearl Black 656238014670 | eBay
Personally, I like my Ali Express neck better, but for $99 you can't go wrong, and I got it just to learn on. It arrived in ONE day !!!
EDIT : When it arrived, it was 95% set up correctly AND had flats on it !!! Flats are expensive, about $30/set so this is a NO BRAINER !!!

god damnit. I am building a bass and my wife will KILL me if i get this...but i cant afford not to

 

[mb94952]

god damnit. I am building a bass and my wife will KILL me if i get this...but i cant afford not to

YES !!!! I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!

 

[frankie5string]

If we lived in a time before electric bass guitar, I doubt many of the folks on Talkbass would ever play a double-bass. Dare I say many would be very surprised or even disenchanted with how much work it takes to sound good on one.

It's a completely different instrument with very different ergonomic challenges. Just look at all the posts here about people wanting insanely low action. Not having frets is a very, very small issue compared to working with a bow, working on projection, and getting a good sound out of your fingers. Intonation is really part of the absolute basics of the instrument. In fact, some double-bassists use intonation creatively to create tension, release, and emotion in their playing.

Anthony Jackson had pretty good insight on how it's closer in relation to the Spanish guitar than any orchestral stringed instrument, fretless or otherwise.