Someone could start as a beginner on fretless. People put tape on violin and other stringed instruments for learning. The side dots help a lot on the fretless bass guitar.
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Fretless Bass
- Thread starter Magicrat
- Start date
So does this mean I don't have to worry about open strings not being tuned either???? Can't recall ever playing a gig where I didn't have to play at least 1 open string...or have to worry about tuning for that matter.....
This.
There's way too much mystic mumbo-jumbo and posturing surrounding fretless electrics. If you're that curious about it, get one and give it a try. You'll soon know if it's for you. And if it is - good for you! If it isn't…then so what? It's just another bass instrument.
I played lined fretless exclusively for about four years during a period when I was playing 200-250 dates a year, with a lot of vocals. In a short time I was no longer using the lines as a reference and when listening to recordings it's usually difficult to tell it's a fretless. If I can do it anyone can.
Heck, get a fretless. They're fun, they improve your playing immensely as well as your ear and it's a GREAT excuse to buy another bass. It will pay off in the future should you decide to learn cello (as did I), want to play a little something different in your band to change things up or want to buy another new bass. Hey Everyone needs a fretted P and a fretless P... or J or P/J or double bucker.....
Also known as why I'm selling my fretless. I got conned into being the lead vocalist, and Sting I am not.
You're doing better than me. I don't find that easy to sing at all, no matter what bass I'm playing.
You're doing better than me. I don't find that easy to sing at all, no matter what bass I'm playing.
It's not easy. It's one thing to actually SING and strum a guitar or play half or quarter notes on a bass; it's another thing entirely to hold a groove or difficult rhythm part and scream my lungs out!!! I realize that's not everyone's cuppatea, so save it.
As you can see my join date is rather recent but I've been playing bass for 30+ years. Why join now? About a year or so ago I happened (truly just happened) upon a fretless acoustic bass for a good price. I already played fretted for years (though not in a band for a long time), but thought I'd give it a try. I kept it in my living room so I could just pick it up and start playing. I was pretty out-of-tune at first but got better. I started playing it around the campfire (love to camp in the summer and always cranked the tunes, now I could play along!). Couldn't see the painted lines in the dark and found out that just using my ear was easier than I thought.
So fast forward several months and I decide to grab the fretted electric again. I found that all the hours on the fretless made me a much better fretted player as well. The fretless demands a greater precision and that transferred to smoother playing on the fretted. Now I actually am playing in two bands rather than by myself and am doing some playing out. It's great.
Just last weekend I picked up a used electric fretless (will have to write about that separately). I may not play out with it much, but I plan on practicing with it a bunch because I am convinced it makes you an overall better player, frets or no frets.
So fast forward several months and I decide to grab the fretted electric again. I found that all the hours on the fretless made me a much better fretted player as well. The fretless demands a greater precision and that transferred to smoother playing on the fretted. Now I actually am playing in two bands rather than by myself and am doing some playing out. It's great.
Just last weekend I picked up a used electric fretless (will have to write about that separately). I may not play out with it much, but I plan on practicing with it a bunch because I am convinced it makes you an overall better player, frets or no frets.
My wife appreciates the hand strength acquired by DB practice.
even on fretted bass he is quite something ( see Augury and Teramobil )
I really like what he's done with Terramobil. He's just an all-around great player.
I started as a double bass player, first electric then acoustic before I ever touched a bass guitar. The first one I tried was a fretted bass and I couldn't figure out what to do with the frets. They were in the way and noisy! Then I got a fretless bass guitar and it was much better. I now have fretted basses as well as fretless and can pretty much go from one to another without too much distress, but I still have a strong preference for fretless and will only gig with fretless. I guess it's really what you get used to.
In my experience with fretless bass the key to successful gigs is good monitoring. Lined or unlined you have to be able to hear yourself all the time, because it's very easy to be out of tune. Even if your fretting technique is perfect, strings do move a little for me during night. On a fretted you probably could get away with it, but fretless is less forgiving to me. One benefit is, I find that gibson guitars (but could be any guitar) seem to always go out of tune particularly the G string and others to a lesser degree. So being able to say "oh his G string has gone flat, so I'll just adjust my fingering and we won't get that ugly wobbling sound" is nice.
I started playing fretless less than a year after I got my first fretted bass ( now over 30 years ago). I tried ( and still try) to devote equal practice time to both and my development on both has progressed concurrently.
I play about 30% of my gigs on fretless lately, but that number fluctuates depending upon the types of projects I'm involved in at any given time. About two years ago it was closer to 60% fretless gigs.
If you like the sound of fretless and you're intrigued by the idea of playing one, I say do it! Just make sure to devote a lot of practice time to it - as you would any instrument you're taking seriously - as it's harder to get away with bad habits on the fretless, but the payoff is that it's great ear training and it's good for your technique as well.
Most importantly, it's fun!
I play about 30% of my gigs on fretless lately, but that number fluctuates depending upon the types of projects I'm involved in at any given time. About two years ago it was closer to 60% fretless gigs.
If you like the sound of fretless and you're intrigued by the idea of playing one, I say do it! Just make sure to devote a lot of practice time to it - as you would any instrument you're taking seriously - as it's harder to get away with bad habits on the fretless, but the payoff is that it's great ear training and it's good for your technique as well.
Most importantly, it's fun!
If you want to try it out without a big investment, you can buy a Mighty Mite fretless neck to fit a J or P for around $150.
