Fretless Bass advice needed!

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Just remember that using your ears and not your eyes when playing is exactly the same as driving and telling if you're staying in your lane by using your ears instead of your eyes- by the time you hear you've made a mistake, it's already way too late Use everything you can to get your hands in the right place before you play a note. If you can play in tune, then no matter how you're doing it, you're doing it right. With or without lines, looking or not looking (those two are not synonymous- many unlined players look just as much or more than lined players)- doesn't matter. Only the end result does.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

Here's a practice tip for all basses, but ESPECIALLY for fretless:

If you practice while seated, get your strap set up, so that when you stand, your instrument doesn't move. 99% of the time, that means shortening it considerably. What you gain is consistency - when your bass drops by 8" on your body, all of your hand positions change, and you might as well be playing a different instrument, and all the practice you put into your intonation is worthless.

What you lose, is the rockstar pose!

(Wife snuck this shot of me last month - bass under my chin...)

View attachment 456525

I agree completely on adjusting your strap to be the exact same position when seated or standing- definitely helps in all areas, especially fretless. I'm guessing you hunch over a fair bit when seated based on your pic- I do as well (been trying to fix that lately as my back's getting worse).

I may have to infract you though for posting such an offensively bad beer in my forum

 

[tfer]

I try to watch my posture when in practicing. My bass is never actually resting on my lap when I'm seated. Usually hovers an inch or two above.

And I like cheap beer!

 

[zontar]

I wear my bass (& guitar) slightly lower than where it is when I'm seated--and the bass a bit lower than a guitar--but it's still in the neighbourhood.
it's what I find most comfortable.

 

[Ken J]

Coors Light and a natural finished bass
Two favorites of mine

 

[Hues]

Mine is unlined,but confess at times I wish had lines when playing chords.

 

[interp]

Here's a practice tip for all basses, but ESPECIALLY for fretless:

If you practice while seated, get your strap set up, so that when you stand, your instrument doesn't move. 99% of the time, that means shortening it considerably. What you gain is consistency - when your bass drops by 8" on your body, all of your hand positions change, and you might as well be playing a different instrument, and all the practice you put into your intonation is worthless.

What you lose, is the rockstar pose!

(Wife snuck this shot of me last month - bass under my chin...)

View attachment 456525

Could you show us a photo of you playing the bass while drinking a beer?

 

[interp]

I play fretless and fretted. For years I played a lined fretless, but just recently switched to an unlined 5-string. I now prefer the unlined and have discovered a practice technique that works well for me. About two weeks ago I started playing the unlined fretless only in the dark. At first it was a train wreck, but the muscle memory is now starting to develop.

As for getting visual clues from the fingerboard, my son, who teaches upright bass, gave me a couple of lessons on upright. When I started looking at the fingerboard for clues to where I should be he said, "Why are you looking there? There's no information there." He was right.

 

[SGT. BAKER]

I play a jazz bass fretless that it was defreted, so it´s lined.

I tried playing with unlined fretboards and it wasn´t hard to enonate for me. If you got enough muscle memory your fingers they´ll reach the right position in the fretboard. It´s necessary have trained the ears too. But I must say that while you´d been playing in live or whatever with your mates if you can´t hear your bass sound with the rest of the band fairly, if you have a lined fretboard it helps a lot to get accuray in your entonation.

Finally I´d wanna say that the relief of the neck it´s the thing. With a unlined fretboard your ears will guide your fingers to find the rigth position, so doesn´t matter to much in terms of tune wich is the relief. But I realized that in lined fretboard it´s too much important having a good relief in your neck for avoiding this fight between ears and eyes when you´re playing to find the right entonation. You´ll eyes they´ll see the fret line but yours ears they´ll saying you that you´d need correct a little bit your finger positions.

 

[phillybass101]

In the end while a valid question it's like asking us which brand of TP we use. We all have our opinions. From my experience which is about 2 Mos on Fretless LOL!!!! I was able to pick up that lines Fretless and record a track for a National and International recording Artist and he loved it so much he called me a left me a beautiful message. One that I have saved. If I had not had the lines, that track would have never been made on fretless due to learning curve necessary for developing my ear and technique that would have been necessary to pull it off. Again what's right for one person is not for the next. We all have out opinions and they're all valid. We're talking bass but we often tend to speak in absolutes and nothing is other than your final ticket out of here. I'd say play on both and then decide.

 

[bluesbasshound]

I have an Ibanez GBW1 and a Jaco design fretless, both with lines and it's comforting to be able to hone in on pitches using eye to finger coordination. Not sure if I truly need the lines anymore for guides but it helps develop good intonation for beginner to advanced. Lines are ok.

 

[rolandm]

In the end while a valid question it's like asking us which brand of TP we use. We all have our opinions.

I try not to have a need for TP when playing fretted or fretless basses. That being said, what's the best TP for metal?

 

[JPRecess]

I need TP only when using a five string tuned down a full step. Low A brown note.

 

[hrodbert696]

Don't currently own a fretless, but I have in the past and aim to get one again. My preference is for unlined. Part is just aesthetics - I think it looks cooler, and if you're going to play fretless, play something that people can SEE is fretless without having to squint at it. But the other thing is, I feel like lines on the board are deceptive. They make you think you know where the pitch is because that's where the line is, but ever so slight of a roll of your fingers and you're off pitch. Unlined, you don't suffer the illusion of being able to see where the pitch is. Side dots will tell you the neighborhood, but you have to use your ears to find it. Which is as it should be.

To the OP, in case it isn't obvious by now - as far as fretted vs. fretless goes, fretted is easier because the note is just THERE and you don't have to worry about positioning your fingertip just right.

 

[ArtechnikA]

...lines on the board are deceptive. They make you think you know where the pitch is because that's where the line is, but ever so slight of a roll of your fingers and you're off pitch.

Yes, and it's actually a little worse that that.
With a fretted instrument, once you establish intonation at the 12th fret, the frets are where they are.
With fretless, "the note" varies position with respect to the line as you move up and down the board. It is not exactly on the line at each fret, even if parallax were not a factor, which it is.

Gary Willis has a section about this in his "101 Bass Tips: Stuff All the Pros Know and Use" book. You get to tinker a bit to get the intonation where you want it, and the same on each string for as many strings as you've got.

 

[hrodbert696]

Yes, and it's actually a little worse that that.
With a fretted instrument, once you establish intonation at the 12th fret, the frets are where they are.
With fretless, "the note" varies position with respect to the line as you move up and down the board. It is not exactly on the line at each fret, even if parallax were not a factor, which it is.

Gary Willis has a section about this in his "101 Bass Tips: Stuff All the Pros Know and Use" book. You get to tinker a bit to get the intonation where you want it, and the same on each string for as many strings as you've got.

Back when I had a fretless, I discovered that by playing with a tuner on. In some parts of the fretboard, the note was "in tune" right on the line; other parts, "in tune" was sometimes slightly ahead of the line, sometimes slightly behind.

 

[zontar]

But the other thing is, I feel like lines on the board are deceptive. They make you think you know where the pitch is because that's where the line is, but ever so slight of a roll of your fingers and you're off pitch. Unlined, you don't suffer the illusion of being able to see where the pitch is. Side dots will tell you the neighborhood, but you have to use your ears to find it. Which is as it should be.

To the OP, in case it isn't obvious by now - as far as fretted vs. fretless goes, fretted is easier because the note is just THERE and you don't have to worry about positioning your fingertip just right.

This was one of the first things I noticed--and I had to adapt to it--so hearing yourself its important--and I have recorded myself a few times to listen back to it later-when you're playing it might sound fine, but when you listen back-it wasn't.

So record yourself as well--and it will help your ear