Fret # Preference

[Craig Orndorff]

There’s always the jokes about never going beyond the fifth fret in some genres, but how many frets do you prefer on your basses? I have some books where the exercises go up to the 21st fret (in the case I’m thinking of, it’s playing the E blues scale all the way up, but again, it’s just an exercise), but it’s my understanding that, at least for Fender, the world ends at 20. My EB-3 has 22 frets, which helped convinced me to bring it home for the summer. What do ya’ll like?

 

[MonetBass]

20, 21, 24, 16 (bass uke), zero ... it doesn't matter as long as the bass sounds good.

 

[Bassclef46]

64

 

[WillyW]

I found out one of my basses has 24 frets after I had it for a couple years.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Two of my sixers have 24 frets.
(My fretless has 24 positions)

My BTB has 22.

 

[LowWay]

I have an arrangement of Silent Night I wrote for my mom for solo bass that requires 23 frets to play in standard tuning on a 4 string. It spans low E to high F#. I need one bass for this. I rely on 3 open strings to be able to play it, so I can play on a 22 fret 4 string tuned EADG#. Other than that one piece, it doesn’t matter. Any typical bass has enough frets.

 

[el murdoque]

Currenly, my basses have 24, 23, 20 and 16.
I prefer 24 for ease of navigation.

 

[arbiterusa]

Something something the money’s below something something

 

[bholder]

I like the 3rd fret a lot, honestly.

 

[Pings Bass]

I like zero, but fretless smarminess aside, finger board length has never influenced a purchase decision. I just don't play up the neck that much.

One of the nice things about a 6-string is that you don't need to run all the way up the neck to hit the high notes. Nevertheless the sixer I have on order has 30 (!) "frets". That's a whole lot of glorious fingerboard that's not going to see much action from me, but c'est la vie, it's just part of the package.

 

[MattZilla]

♾

 

[Leigh Semmens]

As many frets as the song requires. My current bass has at least 24, that is all I know. This question is not unlike, "How many strings should a Bass have?" or "What is the best tuning for a bass?", "What colour should your (insert part name here) be?", "Flat wound or Roundwound?"........................................

 

[chris_b]

I've never got close to running out of frets on any bass.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

Last year the question got asked with an additional option

 

[SLPimp]

7

 

[Thumpin6string]

24

 

[Jefenator]

24 is fun and I can use it.
20 is cool for old-school. That plus one can be nice for a full 3-octave range on a 4-string.
22 is annoying to me. Not modern, not traditional, just confusing (in the heat of the moment I mistake that 4th marker for the 3rd).

 

[Silky Johnson]

Im not that hung up on how many frets there are, but there is subtle effect on tone in specific situations, particularly when slapping with the thumb right at end of fretboard, it effects the timbre and background harmonics. Also if ur fingering right there on the last fret it can affect things. At least in my experience

 

[micguy]

I don't have 24 frets on any of my current basses, but I like the idea for a relatively odd reason:

To give you access to the higher frets, the body design naturally cuts away some wood there. That makes it lighter, which I like.

 

[G On Bass]

I dunno. I don't go up there much. Ideally it would be one fret less than is needed to play "All Right Now".