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Fretless-Lined or unlined?

#81
I have lined and unlined...I think you will get used to whatever after a little practice.

Hell, I switch between fretless and fretted and there are times when I forget that I am playing fretless. If you practice enough it will become second nature regardless of the frets or lack there of.
 
#82
bassbenj said:
Heh. How old is it? Graphite neck I presume? I could see Zon doing the fretted converted to fretless routine not wishing to make a new mold to move the markers to the right places. I have heard of Zon cutting corners on expensive basses before...

I suppose one can get used to anything, but personally I find it extremely nerve-wracking to play a fretless bass with between the fret positions markers. It's bad enough mentally subdividing the fretlines between the markers without also making the adjustment that this marker is actually BETWEEN two frets as well! Zon can stuff it! :D
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It's this crummy instrument. Almost unplayable.:ninja:
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#85
bassbenj said:
Heh. How old is it? Graphite neck I presume? I could see Zon doing the fretted converted to fretless routine not wishing to make a new mold to move the markers to the right places. I have heard of Zon cutting corners on expensive basses before...

I suppose one can get used to anything, but personally I find it extremely nerve-wracking to play a fretless bass with between the fret positions markers. It's bad enough mentally subdividing the fretlines between the markers without also making the adjustment that this marker is actually BETWEEN two frets as well! Zon can stuff it! :D
Click to expand...

Zon also offers "half lines" which are really much much less - about 1/4" of line on the top edge. Very accurate position references, leaving most of the board blank.
fretlessHalfLined_lrg.jpg
 
#88
I always have my side dots placed directly under the fretlines- they're useless and confusing to me anywhere else. A TBer I know with a nice Zon fretless has them placed there as well- they're very uncommon though.
 
#91
IMO, it's all just what you are used to.

Since I started using a fretless seriously in about 1976, the only side marking normally available were either as shown in Kesslari's photo or the simple dots where the lines would be for the unlined boards. Initially, the only fretless instruments other than the factory Fender P (no lines), were instruments that we had defretted. Of course, those appeared as in the photo above. That was the norm, kiddies. Then in the '80's, there were the Pedullas, which were really the first designed modern fretless, a few Tobiases, and maybe a few others, but that was it. ALL of the Pedullas, Tobiases etc in that time frame had this marking. So, for me and a lot of other players that became the reference.

The first dot on line marking that I recall was somewhere in the mid-90's when Fender introduced a factory fretless J. And, that may well be the standard for a lot of current players. I never was able to adjust to that scheme. Never needed to.

Anyhow, back to the previous comment, the marking on the Zon is not a design flaw. Far from it. Joe has been simply making what his players are used to. I have no doubt he and other makers are now making whatever kind of marking the customer wants. Calling it a design flaw is inaccurate.
 
#93
I struggled with this decision about a year ago while having a Warmoth neck made for a Highway One Fender jazz body I picked up cheap off ebay - ended up going the unlined route. The idea was to use it as a tool to develop my ear more around the house and for the occasional acoustic based sets with my (usually loud & heavily distorted) band. No problems for the home use part, as you can generally hear yourself at all times in a nice controlled setting. After awhile I realized the damn thing sounded better than both my other basses (I can't say enough good things about wenge) and decided to bring it to band practice...which, again, is usually loud and heavily distorted. Apparently I didn't realize how often I really did use visual references in that setting and noticed during playback and certain parts of the room I was making some mistakes here and there - particularly in the higher registers. Basically I over-estimated myself and had a nice humbling experience. It got better but the fear of this happening on stage at ANY time got the best of me....so I had it lined by a local builder *hangs head in shame*. I'm not claiming to be the best musician on the planet by any means, but far from a newbie all the same...so there you go. Good luck in any case man.
 
#94
I'm accustomed to the dots being inbetween the "frets" on a lined fretless bass. You can see the line as easily as you can see a fret either straight on or from the side IME. If you can play a fretted bass consistently placing your fingers right on the fret, you can play a fretless with this set of markings.
 
#96
I have always played unlined, but it was more of an accident of the instruments I had available to me than any active decision on my part. I'm pretty happy with it, and it's easier than you think. But there have definitely been a few times when I wished I had lines, especially above the 12th "fret". Anyway, both are respectable choices, so my advice would be to stay out of the lined/unlined religious wars and do whatever works for you.

Open strings are a great way to stay in tune. I also practice along with beats I make on my computer, and sometimes I will program it to play notes or chords I can use as a reference for tuning. I keep a tuner running on my pedalboard when I play live, but it's mostly just useful as a sanity check. At the end of the day, really, the very best practice is to play with other musicians where you are listening and reacting in real time to what's going on around you.

Good luck!
 
#98
I recently attended a high school concert. Looking at all the young cellists, bassists, violinists and violists, all playing without fret lines, made me wonder why I should require fret lines. Also, I've had two fretless basses, both of which had buzzing issues due to the fret markers. I say go unlined.
 
#99
Yeah well,the thing is that I'm more afraid about no lines in the higher frets,where the distance between each note is getting really tiny.
So without lines,I think its really hard getting the right notes if you are new to unlined fretless.
 
#100
Striver said:
I recently attended a high school concert. Looking at all the young cellists, bassists, violinists and violists, all playing without fret lines, made me wonder why I should require fret lines. Also, I've had two fretless basses, both of which had buzzing issues due to the fret markers. I say go unlined.
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None of those instrument are played in a manner where fretlines would be of much help- looking down at an instrument will not give you much help in knowing where the line is. Even the four big tape lines they put on my violin when I was little were of much help. Not to mention people do things in the name of tradition that aren't necessarily the best/smartest idea all the time (not that going unlined is a less intelligent choice).
 

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