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Fretless - Lined or Unlined?

#61
Bob Gollihur said:
Go unlined, the side dots are enough of a guide to get you started and be there as a safety net for jumps. You can always use tape lines or something as temporary "learning lines" if you really think you need them, but dependence is a fantasy as precision line/finger placement is not really possible from our typical vantage point. Ears work better in the long run. If the training wheels are welded to your bike...

Besides, I hate it when guitar players stare at their necks all night as if someone is about to steal their frets... if you don't have that as a distraction, you can enjoy more the pleasant distractions in the crowd.
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+1

It makes me laugh when I play with a guitarist who alternates between staring at their frets and everyone else's to see what's going on (usually they don't know the song well enough so they're trying to cheat off of the other kid's math test), then they get to me, get confused by the absence of frets and make this face like, "Duh...?"
 
#62
I have had both. When it gets loud I find the lines help.

Also, I don't mind if a guitar player looks at my hand when I am playing. I have never understood people who do. We are playing music, together.

NOt wanting another player to see where you were at would be like a drummer not wanting you to hear the kick.
 
#63
I have both. My rosewood board fretless basses are all lined. My maple board fretless basses are all unlined. Just worked out that way, but I dig them. My Modulus Genesis is a Wide spacing which is kind of difficult for me, but I do love the way it plays. I do however, prefer the look of the unlined maple board over the rosewood boards
 
#64
My fretless acoustic is unlined, but has side dots. This is enough for me. But I had learned the basics of double bass playing before getting it, so you might want lined if you have no experience playing a fretless instrument.

One of the bonuses of lined, however, is that it makes it guitarist-proof. :p
 
#65
Bob Gollihur said:
Besides, I hate it when guitar players stare at their necks all night as if someone is about to steal their frets... if you don't have that as a distraction, you can enjoy more the pleasant distractions in the crowd.
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This guitar player seems to do a pretty good job of NOT looking at his fretted neck, playing, and singing all at the same time...

Invalid Link Removed


:bassist:

George RULES!!!


Btw... I'm a 30 year guitar player in many styles (rock, country, flamenco, classical, jazz, blues, bluegrass) and my many hundreds of gigs, at least half the time I looked over at the bass players they were staring at their boards. So guitar players don't corner the market and looking at their left hands. ;)
 
#67
Unlined, why is this even a question? LOL, this isn't a big deal, just get one or the other. At some point you'll get the other style probably so don't worry about it. There isn't much difference as the unlined always have the side dots. I prefer unlined but I've been playing for 25+ years, I wouldn't thumb my nose at any player that wants lines. The only thing I'd be worried about are the stories going around about some of the entry level lined fretlesses having nonfitting lines that actually stick out a bit. Just play one before you put down the cash.
 
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#68
I suck at both but prefer looking at an unlined one when it's hanging on my wall looking cool. :)

IMG_0295.JPG
 
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#69
I think it's whatever you are comfortable dealing with. Don't go line-less just because some players might look at you funny.
Myself, if I ever were to attempt a fretless, my first would absolutely have to be lined. If I decided to stick with it, at some point if I ever got good enough, I would switch, but only if I felt confident enough in my skills. I figure for me at least, something like the Squier would be a good transitional instrument.
 
#74
Unlined. As long as you've got side dots in some or all of the fret positions you will have enough reference points and won't be looking at the lines anyway. Plus, unlined just looks cooler. If you're going to play a fretless, flaunt it!

As others have mentioned, unlined fretless basses are harder to come by, but with the advent of the "ESP LTD Vintage 214 Fretless ", almost anyone can now afford a decent unlined fretless P-bass.
 
#75
Which ever you are comfy with. I started with a lined 1996 P Bass and the lines helped out a lot until I developed my ears to listen. My second bass was a 5 string Carvin with an unlined neck. While there's nothing that is much more beautiful than an ebony fretless unlined neck with tapes on it. I still have and play my Fender P as well as a couple of other fretlesses. I would still recommend a lined neck in the beginning, and the Squire Jazz fretless is an excellent bass in which to start on. You may also want to check out the fretless basses at Rondo Music Home Page
 
#76
Batmensch said:
I think it's whatever you are comfortable dealing with. Don't go line-less just because some players might look at you funny.
Myself, if I ever were to attempt a fretless, my first would absolutely have to be lined. If I decided to stick with it, at some point if I ever got good enough, I would switch, but only if I felt confident enough in my skills. I figure for me at least, something like the Squier would be a good transitional instrument.
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Unlike your speculation years ago I did have a go at fretless. And actually I had two basses at the time, my Alembic Epic unlined 6 string fretless and my Carvin AC50 lined fretless which I ordered that way thinking as you are that it would be the way to start. Well at the time the blank 6er was way to much bass for me so learning proceeded on the Carvin. Well, I will admit, having a lined neck as a beginner is something of a help. Especially if you practice a lot seated. But I soon discovered that lines were not nearly the help I'd thought they would be. And even worse that Carvin was an earlier fretless and came with the side dots BETWEEN the fretlines just like a fretless. (like a fretted neck where you pulled the frets) I DO NOT recommend getting a lined bass like that. The lines on the Carvin are white and bright and can easily be seen from the edge so it's not too bad, but truth is standing with a strap all you see are the line edges so you really want ALL FRETLESS SIDE DOTS ON THE LINES! I have both lined and unlined and after you play for a while, you find no problem with either (though I prefer the look of unlined) especially if the side dots are properly placed.

But if I had to do it again, next time I would not begin on a lined neck because the difference in learning is so small and then you have to live with the lined look thereafter and in my case it had side dots between the fret lines which is not what you want at all.
 
#77
I don't play mine (unlined) live. In the studio, with my amp, my intonation is pretty good without looking, but on stage with IEMs and lots of low frequency stuff going on, my tuning is dreadful. Even with frets I still need to look down quite a lot to convince my brain I really am playing in Db, because I cannot tell if it's D! Not every song, but the keys player has quite a heavy left hand, and sometimes this seriously messes me up. I've tried the obvious things in the ears, best is me only left and him only right, but still is difficult. Hopeless with no frets, workable with frets.
 

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