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Fretless - lined or unlined? Let's survey this question..What's your preference?

bassmanford

bassmanford

Jan 27, 2007
23
7
Chicago Area
#1
I'm not a regular browser of TB and may have missed discussions on this topic. If you can direct me to such please do.

I'm one of those who tossed their fretted necks for a fretless in the 70's upon the phenom of Jaco..(i didn't break my thumbs..). In those days it was the standard Fender unlined fretless neck. Mine is long gone and the many fretless basses I've owned since have all been unlined. Lined fretless basses are virtually unplayable for me, it's like looking at the LA freeway system..I suppose I could learn to get used to one.. I also play fretted basses and am quite comfortable with them.

Obviously the world has evolved to a mix of lined and unlined fingerboards and/or lines along the top edge of the neck.

The market seems to favor lined fretless necks..many brands have all but dropped unlined necks. I'm a Lakland fan and have a 4 string unlined fretless but I haven't seen a new one from them without fretlines in some years.

As example, I recently bought a Godin Ultra A5. I liked the bass so much I bought it, but only after my luthier confirmed he could remove the lines along the top edge of the neck and reposition the dots..he did a great job. During the research of this buy I queried Godin directly whether they could provide an unlined neck via a custom shop option. No Way! was their response..I wonder what/who conducts their market research to drop unlined necks..

So let's conduct our own Fretless Bass Market Survey

1) are you a regular fretless electric bassist? - Y/N

2) does the fingerboard or top edge of your favored fretless bass have lines, or is it fully unlined? - Lined/Unlined

3) all other things equal, if you bought your next fretless bass from a brand that offered the choice of either a Lined or Unlined fretless neck, which would you purchase? - Lined/Unlined

4) if you only had the one choice (as with Godin) of your less favored fingerboard preference, from your favored fretless bass brand, would you buy one? - Yes/No

5) Please describe your view on this subject? - ________________________


Thanks for taking the time to share your view..I will tabulate and probably share (no names) with a few brands and ask them to describe what their marketing strategy is in offering lined vs. unlined fretless basses..

Ted
 
#4
1- Yes
2- Current fretless has no lines and dots on top of neck
3- I'd buy lined
4- I'm happy with a good bass with or without lines
5- My main bass for years had dots on the top of the neck and a bare fingerboard and I did pretty well with her. I like the of small hash-marks on the bass side up to the octave and corresponding marks on the treble edge (similar to an F bass). Led markers would also be VERY nice
 
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#5
1 - Yes, fretless only.
2 - Completely naked.
3 - Does not apply, no need for another bass... but, unlined.
4 - No, but my favored fretless only comes naked.
5 - Don't really care what others like, but offer my .02 regardless.

I'll just step to the side now...

can-of-worms.jpg
 
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#6
1) Yes

2) Lined

3) Lined

4) No...That could change someday though. I've only been playing fretless for about 5 months.

5) I'm new to fretless so I'm still learning my way. The lines have been helpful for me thus far. I'll check out unlined models at some point. My bass is an Ibanez GWB35.

I'm not sure if I'll get another fretless anytime soon. I am enjoying the challenge.

I will add some LED fret markers ASAP. I have trouble using the fretless at gigs where the lighting is all over the place. I'm playing the fretless mainly at home and during practice sessions.
 
#8
bassmanford said:
If you can direct me to such please do
Click to expand...
Hiya. Because you asked, here's another poll to sate your curiosity.

Old topic, new thread.... FRETLESS: Lines? No Lines? Compromise? Innovate? VOTE!!

bassmanford said:
1) are you a regular fretless electric bassist? - Y/N

2) does the fingerboard or top edge of your favored fretless bass have lines, or is it fully unlined? - Lined/Unlined

3) all other things equal, if you bought your next fretless bass from a brand that offered the choice of either a Lined or Unlined fretless neck, which would you purchase? - Lined/Unlined

4) if you only had the one choice (as with Godin) of your less favored fingerboard preference, from your favored fretless bass brand, would you buy one? - Yes/No

5) Please describe your view on this subject?
Click to expand...
1) I was. I owned a fretless for about seven years and let it go back in April for a Jazz bass.

2) No lines at all, dots on side of fingerboard.

3) Unlined.

4) No.

5) ultimately, unimportant for me when it comes to playing. When I did play fretless I didn't look at the neck too often as I had a pretty good sense of positioning.
 
#9
1. yes. Fretless about 50%

2. Main axe is L2500 lined fretless with lines and dots in proper fretless position visible from top of neck. My choice would be blank with side dots, but this bass was used so I had to go with what it was.

3. Fingerboard on my Fav bass has lines and dots as noted. I prefer just dots in fretless position. Dots in fretted position without lines will get you lost in no time. Basses with lines but no dots (or dots in fretted position) MUST have lines quite visible from edge.

4.As indicated I bought the L2500 fretless lined though I prefer unlined. lined/unlined is not nearly as big a deal as good bass/bad bass! Basically I like the LOOK of a blank unlined fingerboard.

5. My view on the subject is that lines can help a beginner. I bought my Carvin AC50 fretless lined for that reason. And yes, it was a small help. But not a NECESSARY help. Later I was sorry I got lined because they didn't help that much and I really much preferred the look of unlined. I found with lined few people notice the bass is not fretted. Hence the "show biz" look of the blank neck.
 
#10
1) are you a regular fretless electric bassist? - Yes but not exclusively

2) does the fingerboard or top edge of your favored fretless bass have lines, or is it fully unlined? - Lined

3) all other things equal, if you bought your next fretless bass from a brand that offered the choice of either a Lined or Unlined fretless neck, which would you purchase? - Lined

4) if you only had the one choice (as with Godin) of your less favored fingerboard preference, from your favored fretless bass brand, would you buy one? - No

5) Please describe your view on this subject? -
I prefer the unlined look but I play solos in the upper register a lot and would struggle without the lines. I have respect for people who can play fast jazz solos on unlined, it's hard even with lines. I really don't like the side dot locations on fretless either, I covered mine up with paint (sacrilege) and added my own using a marker (I know, sacrilege...) in the place they would be on a fretted. I play both fretless and fretted and those dots confused me. I know I could get used to it in time but I'd rather be out playing my fretless than wait years till I've adjusted to it fully before taking it out of my house..
 
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#11
  1. Yes - but I play fretted basses regularly as well.
  2. No lines - but it doesn't matter to me. It's my favorite fretless because it has a 32" scale and it sounds nice. The fact it has a plain neck didn't factor into the purchase decision when I got it.
  3. Whatever the one I'm demoing has - because if I'm buying, I want to buy the one I actually just tried out.
  4. I have no preference one way or the other so it would be a nonissue for me.
  5. I have no position. Play whichever neck you want. Just spare me the justifications and explainations. Because in the larger scheme of things, AFAIC it really doesn't matter
YMMV. :cool:
 
#13
The market seems to favor lined fretless necks..many brands have 1) are you a regular fretless electric bassist? - Y/N 2) does the fingerboard or top edge of your favored fretless bass have lines said:
1.y
2.unlined
3. Unlined
4. Yes, I have a lined schecter
5. No lines is more obviously fretless, so it looks cooler.
Click to expand...
 
#14
1) Yes, I have played fretless electric bass since 1976. My first fretless EB was an Alembic Series I which had the frets removed. I used half rounds on that bass and no coating on the board, to get closer to upright tone and NOT be like Jaco. Since then I have gigged both lined and unlined boards.

2) My current fretless is a Zon Sonus 5 with a lined board. I prefer lined boards.

3) If I purchased a new fretless, it would be lined.

4) If my preferred builder did not offer lines, I would purchase a different bass with a lined board.

5) First, you will find many threads on this topic. I find players have very strong preferences on this topic and can post rather argumentative opinions. I merely have the following observations to offer.

A) Many, especially younger or newer fretless players believe blank fingerboards look cooler. That's fine as far as individual preferences go; but, reality is that no one in the audience cares what your bass looks like. The personal preference part of this is fine; the macho "I'm a more awesome player because I don't need those training wheels" perspective is foolish, IMO. My goal is to play my parts with excellent pitch discrimination, and I will use any device available to make sure that happens. BTW, I am not pitch discrimination deficit, having tested 96th percentile for pitch discrimination. I also play classical double bass.

B) Players who have learned to target the points in between the frets where the dots are on a fretted instrument can have great difficulty with the markings on a lined board, simply because you have to learn to target different points (on the lines), and that drastically changes the way you see the fingerboard. These folks vastly prefer the visual reference of a blank board with dots on the board edge. I always fingered by targeting the stop right on the back side of the fret; so, the transition to a lined board was more natural.

C) My $0.019 experience gigging the blank and lined boards is that the board edge position markers are perfectly adequate in the lower positions, where markings, such as lines, on the surface of the board are irrelevant. But, parts played up in the upper register above the octave are difficult for me when no markings are present on the fingerboard; because the pitch variation is more location specific, and the dots on the upper fingerboard edge are somewhat triangulated from the player perspective. So, I am OK playing lower positions with the blank board, but more uncertain playing upper register parts, especially when large shifts at rapid tempos with excellent pitch discrimination are required.

YMMV
 
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#19
So let's conduct our own Fretless Bass Market Survey

1) are you a regular fretless electric bassist? - Y/N

2) does the fingerboard or top edge of your favored fretless bass have lines, or is it fully unlined? - Lined/Unlined

3) all other things equal, if you bought your next fretless bass from a brand that offered the choice of either a Lined or Unlined fretless neck, which would you purchase? - Lined/Unlined

4) if you only had the one choice (as with Godin) of your less favored fingerboard preference, from your favored fretless bass brand, would you buy one? - Yes/No

5) Please describe your view on this subject? - ________________________


Thanks for taking the time to share your view..I will tabulate and probably share (no names) with a few brands and ask them to describe what their marketing strategy is in offering lined vs. unlined fretless basses..

Ted[/QUOTE]

1. Yes, I am. For a while I exclusively played fretlesses.
2. All my fretlesses have the lines at the top.
3. I would probably go unlined. However, I use and play both. I never let the fact that the fretless was lined keep me from buying a good sounding bass.
4. See #3.
5. I would prefer a fretless unlined, with the exception of those micro basses. But I have lined ones and they are fine. I do not agree with mindset that you can only play
unlined. I am for whatever is best or comfortable for any fretless beginner, if it will help them try one.
 

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