Fretless-Lined or unlined?

[Red Planet]

Only if you're doing it wrong, which is of course the fault of the player and not the bass. That's like blaming gum if you can't walk and chew it at the same time.



The only thing that puts you in the right place is your hands. Whether you adjust your hands using just your ears, just your eyes, or both is up to you, but the fact remains that your eyes can put your hands in the right place. You can technically play fretless perfectly without even being able to hear if you use your eyes and a tuner. That's not ideal though

OK take you ears off and see how well you play.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

As I said, it wouldn't be ideal There's just a seemingly endless line of BS from people that you'll become a better player/use your ears more/bed a million women if you use an unlined. It's pure nonsense- it's all a function of how a player handles his instrument, and it gets really old when people blame their instrument for their shortcomings.

 

[FunkyMcNasty]

As I said, it wouldn't be ideal There's just a seemingly endless line of BS from people that you'll become a better player/use your ears more/bed a million women if you use an unlined. It's pure nonsense- it's all a function of how a player handles his instrument, and it gets really old when people blame their instrument for their shortcomings.

Well put.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

OK take you ears off and see how well you play.

I'll keep in mind deaf musicians are no good the next time I listen to Beethoven

 

[MD]

As the note develops, I can hear you adjusting pitch. Its a feed back loop all players deal with: start the note, hear it, adjust as necessary. Small adjustments, and done musically. No biggie, just a sign of someone using their ears. My first upright teacher, Bob Gladstone spent some time discussing it as part of lessons.

That style, BTW lends itself to that approach. I tend to just use an upright when I want that sound. No, it doesn't have lines.

Ah cool. I listen for it. Thanks.
I don't play my upright much these days, but that's the only music I play.

 

[Red Planet]

I'll keep in mind deaf musicians are no good the next time I listen to Beethoven

So you were there?


Cool.


Writing notes on a piece of paper is one thing, playing a fretless bass with no ears is another. Nice dodge though.

 

[Wyrm74]

I wouldn't expect you to if you haven't done it.


Yes. Dark stage, not the best mix.

Nonsense. I can close my eyes and use only my ears, same as you. And since when is a stage THAT dark? I've played hundreds of live shows and never has it been so dark that I couldn't see my bass. Do you play a lot of unlit coal mines or something? Besides, if it really is THAT dark I can use only my ears and be fine, it's just not what i prefer. I use eyes and ears both and don't feel lesser for it.

If you feel somehow superior with your unlined bass, go on with your bad self. More power to ANYONE on here that's actually playing their bass instead of posting on here! (I'm super guilty of that of posting more than practicing)

 

[Antny]

As I said, it wouldn't be ideal There's just a seemingly endless line of BS from people that you'll become a better player/use your ears more/bed a million women if you use an unlined. It's pure nonsense- it's all a function of how a player handles his instrument, and it gets really old when people blame their instrument for their shortcomings.

It worked for me, it's not BS. It's only BS to those that refuse to believe it. I have not bedded a million women though.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

It worked for me, it's not BS. It's only BS to those that refuse to believe it. I have not bedded a million women though.

No, it's BS because you chose to get better. You didn't have to. The bass did nothing- it's inanimate. If you didn't choose to get better, the bass would not have done anything to make you so.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

So you were there?


Cool.


Writing notes on a piece of paper is one thing, playing a fretless bass with no ears is another. Nice dodge though.

You didn't have to be there to know he went deaf. And if you think playing fretless with no ears is more difficult than writing his later symphonies with no ears, well- any logical responses would be completely lost on you. And it's no dodge because my ears don't come off. That doesn't change the fact that you can play fretless, or piano, or most other instruments without your use of hearing. You should do some serious research into deaf musicians if you aren't aware of this.

 

[Antny]

No, it's BS because you chose to get better. You didn't have to. The bass did nothing- it's inanimate. If you didn't choose to get better, the bass would not have done anything to make you so.

I was drawn to the lines like a moth to a bulb. Short of going to a shrink to break me of this habit, my instructor took my lined bass away and lent me his unlined bass.....and it forced me to use my ears more than my eyes. It worked. Maybe we're saying the same thing. But it was this switch to an unlined bass that made me use my ears/become better. That said, I do use the top dots for a general frame of reference. I won't give those up. lol.

OK, I have a gig in 30 minutes. Gotta go! WoOt!

 

[Mushroo]

Sorry, but if your bass has dots that show you where the notes are, then it is LINED... Feeling superior because your "lines" happen to be dot-shaped is ridiculous.

I'm thinking of using Flatwounds so I won't wear my fingerboard.
I really don't want my fingerboard to get much wear,because then its a headache getting it into a better condition,or just putting epoxy coating for it.

So if I do like Flatwounds+clear wood,and my fingerboard gets wear,then I might have to put epoxy cover,and that sucks!

And lets just say I prefer spending less money to make sure my bass ain't gonna die lol!

In my opinion you should choose the combination that gives you the sound you want... if you are going to spend a lot of money on a custom bass, you should get EXACTLY the sound that's in your head. If you want the Jaco sound, go for roundwounds+epoxy, if you want a woody upright sound, choose flatwounds and unfinished wood, etc.

Again there is no substitute for playing a lot of basses to determine the qualities that are ideal for YOU. Talkbass is full of lots of opinions, but always trust your ears.

 

[bassbenj]

Say, Wait a minute! A couple of my fretless basses are unlined.
I really want to hear more about this "bed a million women" thing...

 

[MD]

Sorry, but if your bass has dots that show you where the notes are, then it is LINED... Feeling superior because your "lines" happen to be dot-shaped is ridiculous.

If a bass has a few dots spaced out on the side of its neck at the 3rd/5th/7th/9th/12th half step, along the length of a naked, unmarked finger board, it is certainly NOT LINED.

It does however, have position guides.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Say, Wait a minute! A couple of my fretless basses are unlined.
I really want to hear more about this "bed a million women" thing...

After the fist few thousand they will all seem the same.

 

[lpdeluxe]

I have owned all three: lined fretless, unlined fretless, and sort-of-unlined fretless. The first was a Standard Jazz Fretless that I traded for:

Very easy to play, great action, easy to play well intonated, but I'm just not a J fan. Sorry.

Next up was an attempt to get the P sound out of a fretless (MIM FSR, Warmoth neck):

Nope, didn't do it. It's waiting on a maple fingerboard fretted neck.

Here's the one that KILLS: Godin A5 natural fretless, short lines that stop just past the B string, looks unlined from 5 feet away, sounds like an upright, soooo easy to play in tune!
If I could just get the P sound out of it.... But I'll gig with it twice by the end of the month. I think this may be THE ONE.

 

[OmnitzGarima]

If you have to ask, get lines. (In my opinion) there is no disadvantage to having lines, only advantage.

I agree. I played a short set where the bass was too low in the monitor for me to hear. I struggled through it, but without lines it would have been brutal. Probably more so for the audience than for me.

 

[cassius987]

After the fist few thousand they will all seem the same.

Sad but true!!

 

[MD]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott
After the fist few thousand they will all seem the same.

Sad but true!!

By then, we all have lines.

 

[Kael]

I agree. I played a short set where the bass was too low in the monitor for me to hear. I struggled through it, but without lines it would have been brutal. Probably more so for the audience than for me.

I play quite a few gigs where louder amps on stage are flat out not kosher. Hell, some gigs there is a clause in the contract that specifies no amps allowed. At times, trying to get the yay-who at the mixing console to put an adequate amount of me in the solitary wedge (a 12" way too often) they'll place on the stage for me is a futile effort. In these situations I can either have a lined instrument or turn down the gig and wait for the guy hiring me to start calling someone else in the future when they want fretless. I like money more than I like my bass looking cool. I play lined.