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Fretless bass!!??

#21
Jonki said:
Its brilliant! Its insanely fun to play and the sound is cosmic!
But, yeah, its very unforgiving when you miss the notes, the bright side of that is that you really learn how to intonate when you play. :)

Ahh yes, forgot something, buy a fretless bass without lines and dots, thats the whole point of a fretless, more or less.
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Plus, it looks nicer. Something about a spotless ebony fingerboard that I really dig.
 
#24
T. B. Player said:
Make sure you get a fretless that's a real fretless, and not one that the frets have been removed.

Check the side of the neck for the position marker dots. The dots on the fretless are where the frets are supposed to be, so position your fingers to play "on the dots."

If you get a bass that has been "defretted," your dots are in the middle of the fret, rather than where the fret should be.

And don't get a lined fretboard....that's cheating.

Z
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Mine is a defretted one, and lined AND I use cheat dots on the side (white marks where the bands are), and you know, it sounds just as good as any other fretless bass, and oh, the lines are really useful as hints for where to keep fingers when you get lost..

All these details, are just up to you, if you find a fretless bass you like, just get it...

(You can listen to my fretless playing by clicking my tune of the month in my sig).

;)

D.Don
 
#25
Dane, I would recommend against learning fretless with a lined fretless. There was a good thread about this recently. You have to develop your own sense of "aural dexterity" to play a fretless, and if you have lines, it is too easy to "cheat" and damage this process. If you're interested in playing fretless bass, I highly recommend getting an inexpensive, unlined fretless and spending a lot of time really internalizing the tones and developing good intonation.

If you later want to use lines, that's fine. Gary Willis, Jaco etc have/had incredible experiences on lined fretless bass, but I think that developing your sense of intonation and properly needs to be done on an unlined fretless to give your ears the workout they need to get it right.

Read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_memory

Hope this helps!
 
#28
Dave Muscato said:
Dane, I would recommend against learning fretless with a lined fretless. There was a good thread about this recently. You have to develop your own sense of "aural dexterity" to play a fretless, and if you have lines, it is too easy to "cheat" and damage this process. If you're interested in playing fretless bass, I highly recommend getting an inexpensive, unlined fretless and spending a lot of time really internalizing the tones and developing good intonation.

If you later want to use lines, that's fine. Gary Willis, Jaco etc have/had incredible experiences on lined fretless bass, but I think that developing your sense of intonation and properly needs to be done on an unlined fretless to give your ears the workout they need to get it right.

Read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_memory

Hope this helps!
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Yeah, that's sort of what I thought, it would be very beneficial to actually learn the NOTES, not the FRETS. But picking up an unlined fretless would be very unnerving, because I'd be aware of the vague location of all the notes, but not sure at all.

I would like an unlined fretless though. Nothing like the shiny expanse of an ebony fingerboard.
 
#29
I would suggest that you have your new fretless bass set up by somebody professional to asure that the instruments intonation is correct. I would suggest practicing scales as a starting point. Learn the modes if you dont already know them and just like the Karate Kid (wax on, wax off) you will be a monster in no time.

I really like DR sunbeam strings on my fretless. Good look and post questions. We will all respond. Post a picture of your fretless bass!


FretlessArt
 
#31
Fretlines or not, find one you LIKE the sound and feel of and use that. A lot of people are hating on lined-fretless but its the best way to get USED to not having frets IMO. You get used to not having them but the lines are like your training wheels. Then later on when you get it down, you can go to something without fretlines on it and be a one of the "Cool" fretless players lol
 
#32
The key is consistent and immediate feedback on your intonation. You can't learn intonation very well by playing solo fretless - you need to learn by playing along with others or with recordings. I find that playing along with folk music (acoustic guitar & vocals) is an easy way to learn, because it's easy to find folk music without a bass on the recording, and it's also very easy to hear the acoustic guitar as a reference. Then just practice improv soloing over it, especially arpeggios and diads, stretches, shifting positions, and playing in the higher registers, etc. You'll pick it up quickly if you have decent dexterity and a decent ear.
 
#33
Great! There is simply nothing else like them. You will either really love them, or you probably won't like them much at all. Very few neutral opinions on this one.
The fretless is a very expressive instrument, with volume swells (mwah) to its slippery sliding sounds it just has a sound all of its own. It will make you use your ears and depend more on them instead of looking so much at the neck.
As for the lined versus the unlined, I can say only this. You do what is best for you. If you are more comfortable with a lined fretless, then that is what you should buy. If you like the looks of a plain board (I think there are few things more beautful than one of those) then that's great too.
If you just want to try one out, and do not want to spend a lot of money, the look at the fretless basses on rondomusic.com
I wish you well with what ever you decide to do.
 
#35
What's with the fret line hating? It almost sounds like some people are implying that playing without the lines makes you a super cool/better person or something. It all comes down to what makes the player comfortable enough to serve the music in the best way. The point of playing fretless is not about looking cool or showing off your awesome intonation. It is about the music and the sound of the bass. Just because the lines are there, it doesn't mean the playing is any less meaningful or the player has bad ears. I am primary an upright player (no lines) and a fretted electric player. I don't consider myself a fretless player but occossionaly need to play one. I can play upright in tune, but I have always struggled with unlined fretless basses. Sure, I can adjust my pitch but I have trouble nailing it on the first try sometimes because the note spacing is different than the upright. I like to have the lines as a referance and starting point so I can be in tune right out of the gate without sliding around. Between the upright and fretted electric, my plate is full so I don't have the time to practice the fretless bass, so I don't have the fretless muscle memory together. For me having the lines is the best solution so when I do need fretless (wich is not often) I can sound good on it. Each player is different. Don't feel bad if you get a bass with lines. Do what is best for the music.
 
#36
joel kelsey said:
What's with the fret line hating? It almost sounds like some people are implying that playing without the lines makes you a super cool/better person or something. It all comes down to what makes the player comfortable enough to serve the music in the best way. The point of playing fretless is not about looking cool or showing off your awesome intonation. It is about the music and the sound of the bass. Just because the lines are there, it doesn't mean the playing is any less meaningful or the player has bad ears. I am primary an upright player (no lines) and a fretted electric player. I don't consider myself a fretless player but occossionaly need to play one. I can play upright in tune, but I have always struggled with unlined fretless basses. Sure, I can adjust my pitch but I have trouble nailing it on the first try sometimes because the note spacing is different than the upright. I like to have the lines as a referance and starting point so I can be in tune right out of the gate without sliding around. Between the upright and fretted electric, my plate is full so I don't have the time to practice the fretless bass, so I don't have the fretless muscle memory together. For me having the lines is the best solution so when I do need fretless (wich is not often) I can sound good on it. Each player is different. Don't feel bad if you get a bass with lines. Do what is best for the music.
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Actually, I said it's best to learn on an unlined and then go from there (to lined, if you want) ;) It has nothing to do with looking cool; I couldn't care less about that. However, when it comes to developing an ear for good intonation and learning muscle-memory and hand/ear coordination, an unlined fretless is best (in my experience). Your mileage may vary. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fret-lines *provided that you have already developed an excellent ear for intonation,* in my opinion. Hope this helps.
 
#39
Let's not fire up this debate again. Lines are fine. No lines are fine.

My fretless doesn't have lines for the simple reason that they annoy me.

Jaco's bass had lines.

I'm not a better bassist than Jaco. I'll bet he could have taken my unlined bass and made it talk. I'll further bet that I could have taken his lined bass and sounded like a dork.

Let's leave it at that.
 
#40
Bought an SX fretless jazz 6 years ago and epoxy-ed the fingerboard. It was fun, but I started playing upright four years ago, and needed a bass with active electronics (my fretless), but was rather discouraged by its lack of frets. I had taken to upright a lot easier than fretless, so I bought a fretted SX neck and put it on. Haven't looked back since.

One pro of fretless...no sharp unfiled frets?:hiding:
 

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