Fretless Bass

[drumsnbass]

Thanks for the feedback folks. So, lined is good, and unlined is good. Finished is good, and unfinished is good.

In that case I'll pick up the best fretless I can for the least money and not worry about too much else. You've both made it easier for me to move towards fretless.

Thanks for the feedback folks. So, lined is good, and unlined is good. Finished is good, and unfinished is good.

In that case I'll pick up the best fretless I can for the least money and not worry about too much else. You've both made it easier for me to move towards fretless.

Pedulla, the King of Fretless

For Trade - Feeler: Pedulla Thunderbuzz 5-er

Pedulla 5 string bass

 

[Hues]

I will try that out here soon. Why that song for you in this way?

For me, the emotion of the song builds up slowly,peaks,descends and back up again,so on, in a way that allows me to play short slides and rolls on some notes,long slides on a few,that make the whole piece more like I'm singing something more beautiful and soulful than my actual voice ever can....It's hard to put into words, but when I play it with frets I feel like a bird with clipped wings.

 

[BAG]

Pedulla, the King of Fretless

For Trade - Feeler: Pedulla Thunderbuzz 5-er

Pedulla 5 string bass

Not gonna happen. I've never played a 5'er or a fretless so i'm not going to pop both those cherries at the same time

 

[drumsnbass]

Not gonna happen. I've never played a 5'er or a fretless so i'm not going to pop both those cherries at the same time

I use a five mostly like a four with a thumb rest. Never worry about those low B string first few frets, but love having that string from from the D note on.

 

[BAG]

I use a five mostly like a four with a thumb rest. Never worry about those low B string first few frets, but love having that string from from the D note on.

I can see the point in that. It doesn't happen often but occasionally I'd really like that low D......

 

[neckdive]

I can see the point in that. It doesn't happen often but occasionally I'd really like that low D......

Tune one of your basses to D standard if you need the low D but prefer 4-strings.

 

[SteveCS]

Thanks for the feedback folks. So, lined is good, and unlined is good. Finished is good, and unfinished is good.

In that case I'll pick up the best fretless I can for the least money and not worry about too much else. You've both made it easier for me to move towards fretless.

Epoxy can be added and taken away...
Lines can be added but never really taken away without major surgery...

 

[Brad Johnson]

No wear with nickel wounds with any of my fretlesses. I have three long-term fretless basses, two are gigged regularly (did a full gig with my KXB-6 Custom fretless Wednesday night), the other has an unfinished board which isn't as versatile sonically IMO. I have low action and that helps.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Excellent point. Also, if one can play fretless without calling attention to that, it is an intonation and style accomplishment.

Some band leaders/mates are put off by exaggerated, overbearing fretless techniques. I'll often go to the other end of the spectrum, paring fretless techniques to a minimum, throwing them in as more subtle seasoning/spice/expression.

Am always pleased at the end of a gig when I ask a band leader/mate or audience member if they noticed the fretless tone, and they respond, "Oh, I didn't realize that you were playing fretless."

I love that! After all, I was actually playing music, while using fretless bass. Means to an end.

I ask similar questions, like how is my intonation and people know that an honest answer won't kill me. Many seem to wish I played fretless more often, it sounds great live in the mix.

 

[bassbenj]

Excellent point. Also, if one can play fretless without calling attention to that, it is an intonation and style accomplishment.

Some band leaders/mates are put off by exaggerated, overbearing fretless techniques. I'll often go to the other end of the spectrum, paring fretless techniques to a minimum, throwing them in as more subtle seasoning/spice/expression.

Am always pleased at the end of a gig when I ask a band leader/mate or audience member if they noticed the fretless tone, and they respond, "Oh, I didn't realize that you were playing fretless."

I love that! After all, I was actually playing music, while using fretless bass. Means to an end.

With a lined neck I'm often a little disappointed at the end of the gig that everybody thought the bass was fretted. I'm not going to overbearing fretless mwah and techniques just to be noticed, but I do like the statement an unlined neck makes especially if you are not doing a bunch of extreme fretless stuff.

 

[RicoTheBassMan]

Regarding lined vs. unlined, I think I had "eye contact" drilled into my band teacher while in school so when I play I am usually looking at other band members or the audience. My ears tell me when I'm off. Before I switched to fretless I noticed that if I looked at my left hand, I was looking its position compared to the side markers; not the frets on the neck. I think most players do that, so I think hesitancy to get an unlined is a bit overthought.

 

[spade2you]

Regarding the intonation and band leaders, isn't it possible for guitar bends, vocalists, and horn players to be a tad off with their pitch? The tone and scale length of uprights and most electric basses lends itself to be fairly forgiving in the lower register.

 

[blkpwdr]

Im interested on my next purchase to maybe get a fretless, are they a lot harder to play? By being fretless dose it give you endless play position or is it critical to place your fingers in the exact place? Thank you all in advance for your advice, oh and I'm very new at bass.

If you run across a nice fretless bass even as a beginner don't pass it up,I passed up a beautiful Yamaha fretless 5yrs ago as a beginner and I still kick myself for it!!

 

[Brad Johnson]

On the unlined tip, this is still my favorite fretless comment on a gig:

"You must be a professional... you don't have any notes".

 

[Windreaper]

Go for it if you have the slightest bit of interest. Saw a nice (lined) fretless Hamer Cruise for sale couple weeks ago and went for it. Took maybe couple hours to adjust, although I sometimes find myself a bit out of tune when playing higher up the neck. Luckily the couple first positions are more forgiving. Anyway, it's all I play these days unless a fiver is required.

 

[BAG]

With a lined neck I'm often a little disappointed at the end of the gig that everybody thought the bass was fretted. I'm not going to overbearing fretless mwah and techniques just to be noticed, but I do like the statement an unlined neck makes especially if you are not doing a bunch of extreme fretless stuff.

I understand and agree with what you are saying about the look of an unlined board, but that is high praise for your fretless playing.

I pulled the pin and bought an unlined fretless the other day.
1980's era MIJ P Bass body, Bill Lawrence Wilde P-46 pickup, Schaller machine heads, Gotoh bridge and Warmoth birds eye maple fretless Jazz neck with rosewood 'board. The seller also had a Warmoth fretted Jazz neck with reverse headstock which I picked up as well. I managed to get him down to $585 Aud for the lot (around $425 US).

As it turns out, i'm going to have to get the fretless fingerboard shaved/levelled or whatever the proper terminology is. There are some serious indentations with the D note on the A string being the worst. There's a few others that are not as bad but that D buzzes really badly when I dig in. It's obviously had quite a bit of use.

I have really been enjoying playing it, except for that D buzz, and my intonation is pretty good right off the bat but at the moment i've got to keep watching the dots to keep me in the right general area and use my ears for the finer positioning. I must be doing OK as my girls actually asked me to use it for a few songs at today's rehearsal and they are both very critical of tuning.

 

[bassbenj]

I understand and agree with what you are saying about the look of an unlined board, but that is high praise for your fretless playing.

I pulled the pin and bought an unlined fretless the other day.
1980's era MIJ P Bass body, Bill Lawrence Wilde P-46 pickup, Schaller machine heads, Gotoh bridge and Warmoth birds eye maple fretless Jazz neck with rosewood 'board. The seller also had a Warmoth fretted Jazz neck with reverse headstock which I picked up as well. I managed to get him down to $585 Aud for the lot (around $425 US).

As it turns out, i'm going to have to get the fretless fingerboard shaved/levelled or whatever the proper terminology is. There are some serious indentations with the D note on the A string being the worst. There's a few others that are not as bad but that D buzzes really badly when I dig in. It's obviously had quite a bit of use.

I have really been enjoying playing it, except for that D buzz, and my intonation is pretty good right off the bat but at the moment i've got to keep watching the dots to keep me in the right general area and use my ears for the finer positioning. I must be doing OK as my girls actually asked me to use it for a few songs at today's rehearsal and they are both very critical of tuning.

View attachment 867082

Not really such high praise. Lines are OK to help you get started. My first fretless (Carvin) was lined. But only after you get it to you suddenly realize that when you are standing you can't see anything but the edges of the lines and the dots suddenly become what you have to key off of! So there is not nearly as much gained from lined necks than you think there will be as a noobie.

Nice bass. I keep thinking one of these days I need to find or put together a nice fretless P-bass 5 string to go with my fretted P 5er. A spare neck can't hurt either.

As for leveling, it isn't that big a deal. Unless you use flats or ground wounds every now and then I like to just sand the groves out and get the fingerboard smooth again. I use a curved sanding block. I recently had a problem with my G&L fretless L2500 where I lowered the action and discovered buzzing in certain areas of the neck. I just took the appropriate block and sanded it flat and it was perfect. Also my Alembic fretless developed a couple of small cracks at the bottom end of the fingerboard. Ebony has this expansion problem that it doesn't match some other woods very well. But a little super glue and fine sanding and it was like new again.

If your neck has some serious grooves worn in it you can think about getting someone to get it back flat again, but once it's done just get a wooden sanding block of the right curvature and some fine sand paper and just to a periodic touch up. Keeps it looking good and keeps string wear from getting out of hand. Usually only round wound strings cause serious wear, but it's not so bad you can't just use them anyway if you want that sound. Personally I go for ground wounds to be bright but have less maintenance.

Fretless playing isn't as difficult as a lot of people think. You just need to get used to those dots and also the imaginary dots between the dots. Soon the whole thing feels completely natural . Of course where fretless takes some concentration is with chords or double stops. Trying to get multiple notes to sound in tune takes some careful finger placement. But practice makes perfect!

 

[BAG]

I still say it's high praise as they thought you were playing a fretted bass. Your intonation must be pretty good for comments like that. You've made an impact of sorts for sure as most people don't even notice bass until it stops anyway.

I think the previous owner of my bass(or the one before him) must have used round wounds and been pretty heavy on the fingering as you can really see the marks on the fretboard. Who knows how old the fretboard is as the body is nearly 30 years old and the Warmoth neck doesn't have a serial number or date, while the fretted one does.

I like the idea of getting a block with the right curvature. I'll have to make one myself, but first i'll get it finished properly.

 

[JRA]

Fretless isn't harder. Nobody's out putting frets on violins and selling them as "starter violins", are they? No. You will have to listen closely to what you are playing and use proper technique, but you should be doing that anyway.

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 see no reason not to start on a fretless... little kids start on unfretted violins.

i'm pretty much in this school. i only play fretless, but i do have one fretted bass (difficult for me to get a fretted sound on fretless) which i pick up and play a couple of times a year (sometimes to check a specific technique or to see how difficult a part is --- way more difficult on fretted, for me). i do like the metal to metal pops and snaps that only a fretted gets, but i use my fretlesses for all of my gigging situations just because i'm used to it after 'all these years'.

but regarding lined vs unlined boards: i don't recall ever having a choice when i started (30+ years), so my fingerboards are unlined: because, once again, i'm used to it. i went to sam ash last week to test drive some octave efx. the only fretless on the rack had lines: and i found myself looking at the board more, to check finger position, than i do on my own unlined instruments. so i had to chuckle to myself about the visually 'distracting' experience of lines --- for me! it didn't help that the bass, a squier i think, was not set up at all, so the strings were a mile and half from the fingerboard: the feel (lack of playability) was distracting as well.

after reading through the entire thread: i think it's more a case of what we start with, come to like or depend on, and therefore: what we end up trusting to get the job done. i remember starting fretless and thinking of it as a magical experience. but i also remember learning to drive a car and it was a magical experience, too. learning to use computers and the internet. but after a awhile, they're just useful tools to do a job. i have to say, however, that music itself remains magical to me. and i'm glad about that.

i think bass matters. but the other 'issues' on this thread: not so much. because at the end of the day, it's still practice, practice, practice!

 

[Feral Feline]

That ^ seems to be mandatory for Squier fretless in stores -- mile high action and nothing setup.

Tried out some last summer in Lung & McWeighed, mile high nothing setup -- pity cawz there were several to try; got back to HK and can't find any fretless to try...