I'm a fretless only player, and since I'm only interested in playing jazz, it works out well.
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Exclusively fretless??
- Thread starter SteveC
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I'm a fretless only player, and since I'm only interested in playing jazz, it works out well.
There are years I have almost exclusively played the same fretless Rickenbacker bass. In fact one year I believe I really did just play THAT bass exclusively (not counting in-home noodling), and over a number of gigs, including some fairly aggressive rock. As one of my bands got more and more exposure I felt committed to have a bass fully set up just for that gig, so I moved to a fretted bass for that one. But when things weren't as serious I noticed that I almost preferred the fretless even when I was making it sound like a fretted bass by how I was playing it. All the attack, none of the fretting out or buzzing.
This.
This.
If that ramp'd be wood covered like the bass top, it'd rock
BTDT. I prefer black.
While I agree with Brad on the "it's not what you play but how you play it" idea, I could not just go fretless on all my gigs. Sometimes you get hired and you have zero control over your monitors for a range of reasons. And if you can't hear yourself on your fretless, you are finished. It is simply not enjoyable to you or to the people in the crowd who maybe can hear you and are suffering along. Nothing will ruin a gig like a guy trying to get in tune who can't hear himself well.
Sometimes frets are necessary as they keep things simple and grounded.
But it doesn't mean that you can't go fretless 95% of the time.
I would also disagree about the slap thing on fretless. If you look at your fretted hand when you fret a note, most of the time, the string is not touching the wood when it is fretted. It is "suspended" between the two fret wires. That's why the whole rosewood vs. maple debate is ridiculous, the strings hardly touch the board anyway. So when you slap, a lot of the sound you hear is from the fret wire, not the board. When you slap a fretless, you get the board. So yes, there is a sonic difference. There's no way around it.
Finally, when I want to use a fretless in a non fretless context, I turn up the bass knob. It tends to make many of the glisses, etc dissapear even if you slide. They become much harder to hear.
Enjoy your fretlesses, guys!
John
Sometimes frets are necessary as they keep things simple and grounded.
But it doesn't mean that you can't go fretless 95% of the time.
I would also disagree about the slap thing on fretless. If you look at your fretted hand when you fret a note, most of the time, the string is not touching the wood when it is fretted. It is "suspended" between the two fret wires. That's why the whole rosewood vs. maple debate is ridiculous, the strings hardly touch the board anyway. So when you slap, a lot of the sound you hear is from the fret wire, not the board. When you slap a fretless, you get the board. So yes, there is a sonic difference. There's no way around it.
Finally, when I want to use a fretless in a non fretless context, I turn up the bass knob. It tends to make many of the glisses, etc dissapear even if you slide. They become much harder to hear.
Enjoy your fretlesses, guys!
John
IMO, the biggest pro for a fretless is the expressive freedom you get. A close second is the fact that you can always get in tune with everyone else, even if they're tuned slightly sharp or flat.
However, that brings us to the biggest con, actually figuring out what in tune is. You need to have a good ear to have good intonation, and that takes a lot more practice.
However, that brings us to the biggest con, actually figuring out what in tune is. You need to have a good ear to have good intonation, and that takes a lot more practice.
The fretlesses I've had success slapping on both have ebony boards with hard gloss finishes (or in the case of my Zon, a composite neck). Works great for keeping a very precise sound when I want it.
Agreed that monitoring on stage is very important. Luckily I provide my own on the vast majority of my local gigs. That's where I tend to use fretless the most.
Agreed that monitoring on stage is very important. Luckily I provide my own on the vast majority of my local gigs. That's where I tend to use fretless the most.
I was recently forced to go fretless or stop playing, due to a recently emerging allergy to nickel. The switch to steel strings was not enough, apparently Fret's cause problems too. o.0 Anyway I went with a cheap Ibanez SR300 Lined fretless as a starter to get me used to the whole fretless concept. Turns out it's a great Bass, with an AMAZING tone, and the price can't be beat. Now that I've been playing fretless for about 6 months, I actually much prefer fretless for everything.(not that I have a choice anymore)
Just go with a lined fretboard...Problem solved.
Did I miss something?
Thousands of debates why unlined is better, no lined is better, but lined is probably best for metal.
We all have a good ear for intonation. You just don't realize how good your hearing is if you don't put it to the test.
You can easily distinguish if someone else is out of tune, right?
On a fretless, you're constantly out of tune at the very start of almost every note you play. You immediately correct and get the note in tune very fast. That's a big part of the fretless sound and why it sounds and feels more expressive.
You are right about practicing this stuff though.
If a mediocre bassist like me can afford to go exclusively fretless, anyone can. I still have a lot of flaws when I play, but that isn't because of the fretless. It are mistakes I also make on a fretted. IMO fretted isn't that much easier than fretless. You just need to get familiar with your type of instrument.
Concerning slap - yes you can slap a fretless. Yes, it can sound cool and serve the music. No, it will not sound like a fretted slapped (unless you have a really odd fretted bass). That is just the way it is. If you want/need the classic fretted slap tone you just cannot get that from a fretless. Doesn't matter what kind of fretboard you have.
That said, I certainly was able to play plenty of gigs without frets. And plenty of slap parts in tunes can be played fingerstyle and still serve/drive the song (the chorus of Peg comes to mind).
In the end, just get a fretless and do the experiment. That is the only way you'll know. If you do be sure to give yourself enough time to work through the issues, and buy a decent bass.
That said, I certainly was able to play plenty of gigs without frets. And plenty of slap parts in tunes can be played fingerstyle and still serve/drive the song (the chorus of Peg comes to mind).
In the end, just get a fretless and do the experiment. That is the only way you'll know. If you do be sure to give yourself enough time to work through the issues, and buy a decent bass.
René_Julien;10797164 said:
Big +1! I remember the first time I played a fretless (I like to tell this story so sorry if I'm repeating it from another post), I was in the house band of a big blues jam in Missouri and a guy came up to play bass on a couple of songs so I sat out and let him play--he was pretty good. He played a fretless Steinberger, and I was either playing a fretted Jazz Bass or 4003, I can't remember which. When he was done I said, "Nice job!" as I began to set back up to take over. He said, "Yeah, playing fretless like me takes balls," or something to that effect. I took it as a challenge and asked to borrow his bass for the rest of the evening, which I did. And while my guitarist about flipped his lid when he saw what I was doing, in a couple of minutes all fears were put to rest... playing that bass was super easy, intonation was not an issue whatsoever, and like Rene has said your ear auto-corrects the notes for you in microseconds. It's almost to the point of being instinctive. After that I got a fretless Jazz, but ultimately got a fretless Rickenbacker I liked better and still have as my main bass.
LOL. I wasn't trying to add fuel to the fire. But if you can't hit the notes on a fretless, it just made sense to me to use a lined one...
Lined is better for me because I'm transitioning from 10+ years of frets at the same time my band plays down tuned. My fingers aren't going to naturally gravitate where they should in C# as if I was tuned to say E standard. (hence I need to look at where my fingers are going)
The lined versus unlined issue is a non-issue for many of us, who can't look at the fingerboard while playing. I can only see the side dots, so lines or not, they're no help to me.
they key is to make the lines somewhat raised so you can feel them. And if you make them out of metal it also changes your tone as well.
oh wait...
oh wait...
Funny. I don't know if "exclusively fretless" is best for me. There have been some interesting and thought provoking posts tough.
While I believe that a fretless could work for most anything, I think that a more traditional fretted bass is what my gigs call for - the exception being the jazz quartet, although fretted works fine there as well. Fortunately, the people I play with aren't stodgy and are open to an electric fretted bass in a jazz setting. I think in that situation, a more "Rob Allen" type of bass would fill the bill better.
When we were chatting a bit today my wife said I don't mind you getting a $3,000 bass if you'd just be happy with it and keep it. If only I knew what that bass was.
Great story. I had similar experiences with guitarists when they saw me with a fretless for the first time.
As long as we are sharing stories, here's how I got hooked on fretless.
I was playing bass for almost a year (a fretted Squier Precision). Some friends, guitarists, adviced me to switch to guitar, to become a lead guitarist. Because I liked to solo a lot on bass (I was a big Cliff Burton wannabe in the day), and there was a need for a lead guitarist in some project. I went to a music store with the mission to buy a guitar and guitaramp (had my heart sat on some strat and a Roland JC-120). The guitar section was very crowded when I arrived, lots of people testing out gear... or just wanking about. So instead of waiting there I went over to the bass section of the store. I spotted a fretless Yamaha RBX260F. First time I ever saw one. I asked a salesperson about it. Told me the generic facts about fretless basses and he tried to demo it for me, unsuccesfully. He admitted he couldn't play fretless. He handed the bass over and said to give it time and try it out for a bit. "Okay, so I must just push the string against the neck"... "and just slide to the correct spots". After about 20 minutes or so, I started to feel a bit more comfortable. The instinct, like you say, came out in me. It was scary at first but very satisfying at the end. I didn't bought a guitar, I took the fretless bass home. And started playing and practicing and playing... about a week of home practice I was good enough to use it in a band context. I still had a long way to go then.
I now play fretless almost exlusively for 10 years now. I never looked back. I don't know if I would have stayed a bassist if I didn't discovered fretless bass back then. I'm still very happy with my instrument choice.
I don't know if "exclusively fretless" is best for me. There have been some interesting and thought provoking posts tough.
While I believe that a fretless could work for most anything, I think that a more traditional fretted bass is what my gigs call for - the exception being the jazz quartet, although fretted works fine there as well. Fortunately, the people I play with aren't stodgy and are open to an electric fretted bass in a jazz setting. I think in that situation, a more "Rob Allen" type of bass would fill the bill better.
When we were chatting a bit today my wife said I don't mind you getting a $3,000 bass if you'd just be happy with it and keep it. If only I knew what that bass was.
Well, for that budget I'd get this:
which can funk it up nicely: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
and this
And likewise: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Can easily do both for $3K if you get the RA used.
I don't know if "exclusively fretless" is best for me. There have been some interesting and thought provoking posts tough.
While I believe that a fretless could work for most anything, I think that a more traditional fretted bass is what my gigs call for - the exception being the jazz quartet, although fretted works fine there as well. Fortunately, the people I play with aren't stodgy and are open to an electric fretted bass in a jazz setting. I think in that situation, a more "Rob Allen" type of bass would fill the bill better.
When we were chatting a bit today my wife said I don't mind you getting a $3,000 bass if you'd just be happy with it and keep it. If only I knew what that bass was.
From my limited experience and my strong (and strange) opinion:
There isn't any type of music must play on a frettless and can't use a fretted... and vice versa, there isn't any type of music you must play on a fretted and can't use a fretless.
I mostly played in rock and metal bands with fretlesses. I can't play in a jazz band though I tried and like jazz.
Play what type of instrument you like and feel comfortable with. There's no need to play fretless in jazz... unless you want to learn fretless as a musician.
