Fretless bass!!??

[john_g]

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.

Yeah, really!

I recommend getting one with lines because if you are coming from a fretted bass, it can get really frustrating really fast to keep intonated, even with lines! Ive seen many guys put it away because of this fact and go back to the fretted bass. I got a lined fretless and SO, SO, SO glad I did. And, it only helps a little, it still takes a good ear anyway.

You know what matters? The sound coming from your amp.

 

[keb]

Oh god, not the lined/unlined thing again. This should be a verboten, thread-closing topic like extended range bass bashing.

It's the SOUND people. The MUSIC that matters! You think Joe Blow listening to your CD cares whether your bass has lines on it or not? Does he even know what the frak a "fretless bass" is anyway?

 

[joel kelsey]

I am not trying to debate the line thing. I thought it was weird that someone said "get one without lines because that is what fretless is about". It is about the music and what works. Just thought that I would share what has worked for me. Different strokes for different folks.

 

[DanielleMuscato]

Joel, that "Stripped Naked" tune is nice.

 

[lumito]

I ask again
Is a contra-bass similar to play as fretless?

 

[RustyAxe]

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.

You haven't noticed the constant "one up-manship" that happens in all these guitar/bass forums? Within a dozen posts in nearly any gear thread you'll see the "my gear" or "my way" is better than "your gear" or "your way" ... Often the question the OP posed is completely forgotten.

 

[spade2you]

I ask again
Is a contra-bass similar to play as fretless?

Not really.

 

[CraigG]

It's easier than you think. Fretless is super fast, and rather unforgiving, but it's a blast. With a minimal amount of practice you'll feel right at home.

+1. You would likely want to start out with a "lined" fretless bass. The biggest challenge, and it's not huge, is learning that you basically play ON the fret line on a lined fretless. If you have been playing fretted long enough and have a really good ear for intonation, you may find that you don't even have to think about it as your fingers will be accustomed to stretching the right distances.

I enjoyed fretless so much that I was compelled to expand into the world up upright bass which has been even more of a treat for me than fretless electric.

 

[Robin UK]

I started as a calssical double bass player, and ventured into bass gutiar with a lined fretless, and found the lines increadibly useful un the upper octave of each string as there is no reference point like the neck on a double bass. However iw ouldn't say they stunt intonation as i would say i spend 80% of my time watching other band memeber and interracting rather than following my fingers.

Also, i don't quite understand why people seem to think you need no ear and intonation to play a fretted bass. I find this intonation was alot harder, as when is a whole band ever in tune? so i'm constantly adjusting tuning of any prominent harmony/unison notes to create the effect of us all being in tune. For instance many gigs i have turned up to and the house piano has had key notes (for particular tunes) quite out, which doesn't sound great on the piano alone, but adding a bass out of tune with the piano on cadences etc. just sounds dreadful.

But maybe having a 'better ear' from playing fretless makes me worry about this more. (plus my fretted neck is going abit skewy and the octaves are having tuning issues).

Also, someone commented that fretelss has the possibility of semi-tones, i assume the reference was to microtones?

Having said all this i am currently buyign a warmoth unlined fretless.

 

[kesslari]

Fretless is fun, and expressive, and challenging.
Playing fretless has added a huge depth to my experience and enjoyment of playing.

Re the unlined is better thing -

I must be a loser. I play a fretless with lines.
When I play it, people ask me if I'd play in their bands, and/or record tunes with them.
I should really tell them "sorry, I really suck because my bass has lines on it, you should find a REAL fretless player who owns an unlined bass".
But I don't. I do the gig, or the recording.
They're happy, and I'm happy.

But late at night, the line haters slip into my dreams and make me feel very, very guilty.
I need more tin foil to line my room...

 

[dave251]

Here's a photo of a bass I'm putting paint on this week. Last coats today.

Anyway, I use a "large dot/small dot" scheme....big side dots at the "normal" positions and small dots for the rest. You still need a good ear, but the dots at least get you into the neighborhood. Takes about two minutes to get used to it.

 

[spade2you]

Here's a photo of a bass I'm putting paint on this week. Last coats today.

Anyway, I use a "large dot/small dot" scheme....big side dots at the "normal" positions and small dots for the rest. You still need a good ear, but the dots at least get you into the neighborhood. Takes about two minutes to get used to it.

When I purchased my first fretless, it was set up like that because the previous owner modded it that way. What makes this config really handy is being able to get a visual reference on how to space your fingers when switching between different basses.

 

[Flintc]

When I got a fretless, I was concerned about getting lost on a blank neck, so I went with big, visible bright lines.

Turns out, it really doesn't make much difference. If your fingers don't know exactly where to go, lines won't put them there. Next fretless I get, I'll make this decison based on cost. If lines cost extra, I won't get them.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned about fretless, though, is chord intonation. One reason I play six (or more) strings is to play rhythm chords up at high frets. And chords of three or more notes are problematic on fretless, especially adjacent strings playing the same "fret". For me, at least, chording technique is the single biggest challenge. Chords seem to magnify intonation imperfections a bunch.

 

[dave251]

When I purchased my first fretless, it was set up like that because the previous owner modded it that way. What makes this config really handy is being able to get a visual reference on how to space your fingers when switching between different basses.

Spade....I noticed in your sig line you have a PV Cirrus....I was the QA engineer at the PV factory when those were first coming on line. When I left PV, they gave me a big pallet of cutoffs from the neck-through blanks....plenty of lumber to make a bolt on bass neck from. My father in law ended up with most of them, but I finally got around to trying one out. The side dots photo above is the first attempt using these TEN YEAR OLD blanks. Here's a photo from the back side of the neck...see if it looks familiar. Last finish coats go on today.

Also, I listened to the tunes on your myspace page...great stuff. I have several customers that doing this sort of ambient/new age/fusion style. Works great with these instruments.

Anyway, I thought you'd find the "reuse" of throw away lumber interesting.....

 

[Fretlessboy]

I prefer blank boards. My Smith 5 is a big piece of blank ebony. I want a Lakland JO5 fretless but the Skyline is in the budget and it has lines. I guess I'll suffer for now.

 

[Hoover]

how is it to play one of these?

Have you ever greased up your arm with a giant dollop of AstroGlide (or KY, or Crisco) and then deeply fisted someone who you love very much?

It's kinda like that

(...only the sounds it makes are generally a bit lower.)

 

[spade2you]

Spade....I noticed in your sig line you have a PV Cirrus....I was the QA engineer at the PV factory when those were first coming on line. When I left PV, they gave me a big pallet of cutoffs from the neck-through blanks....plenty of lumber to make a bolt on bass neck from. My father in law ended up with most of them, but I finally got around to trying one out. The side dots photo above is the first attempt using these TEN YEAR OLD blanks. Here's a photo from the back side of the neck...see if it looks familiar. Last finish coats go on today.

Also, I listened to the tunes on your myspace page...great stuff. I have several customers that doing this sort of ambient/new age/fusion style. Works great with these instruments.

Anyway, I thought you'd find the "reuse" of throw away lumber interesting.....

Very cool! Yeah, I have a few Peaveys.

The bubinga/walnut Cirrus was my first bass and more or less really impacted my playing style. I really grew accustomed to the ultra low action (was this intentional by PV or just the way things are??) and radiused pickups that I used like ramps. The action was so good that I had to resort to custom basses to find anything close, which is frustrating since the Fender style bass is so popular.

Anyway, my Cirrus fretless was purchased 2nd hand and was one of the first Cirrus basses from the custom shop that was actually spec'd by a customer. Prior to that, they released a few custom basses (mostly custom colors) to their top dealers, which happened to be my usual shop and I snagged the red quilt. The guy ordered an unlined Cirrus with an ebony FB and a finished neck. The only downside was that Peavey placed the dots in the WRONG place, so he had the dots pulled and filled, then redone with dots at every position, not the most meticulous job, but it worked and wasn't visible to the audience.

Glad you liked the tunes....too bad my guitarist turned into a turd and burned it all to the ground. My myspace page is up to entice local people to hit me up, but not much luck yet.

 

[CraigG]

Lined or unlined, ultimately you're not going to spend much time looking at the neck anyhow once you get the feel and muscle memory and intonation start to take you where you need to go. If you get a lined fretless and later decide you don't like the fret lines I suppose you always have the option of neatly covering them up with permanent magic marker - stranger things have been done to make a bass fit the player.

Craig

 

[CapnSev]

Highly recommended. If I didn't love the fretted slap sound so much, I'd use fretless exclusively.

BIG FATTY +1!