Fretless or Another Five?

[Dr. Cheese]

There is 60th Anniversary MIM Fretless Jazz that I have laid away as either a Christmas or a birthday present to myself. I love fretless, but I have never kept one for long. This one may break the streak because it is a great combination of being inexpensive and well made. That said, I keep thinking that I would get more out of another five since the only place I play is church, and I use the B string a lot.

 

[Immigrant]

If I can ever afford another bass, it'll be a fretless five.

Good luck with your choice. It sounds like you'd be happiest with another five, but everyone should have at least one fretless around.

 

[punisher911]

Why not a fretless 5?

 

[russpurdy]

Fretless fiver? Do you already have a good five string and/or do you need a second one for different tonal options? If your fine with your fiver then get the fretless. If you truly need another five string and you have already tried fretless and not kept one around then I guess it's a fiver.

If it were me and I knew I had gotten rid of other fretless basses in the past I would find a five string that offers other tonal options I don't already have.

 

[nostatic]

A good fretless will enable you to do things that you can't really do on a fretted. Still a question of whether or not you *want* to do those things, but I find it is really good for not only giving a different voice but also ear training.

If you've already got a fretted 5, no reason to have another (unless you want to string it E-C )

 

[SteveC]

Get a fretless. You know I'm in the same situation - play at church. I use my Roscoe 5 all the time but back when I had that fretless Roscoe 5 I used that more. I even tried to buy it back. I find myself using the B string less lately - and looking for a fretless again.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

A good fretless will enable you to do things that you can't really do on a fretted. Still a question of whether or not you *want* to do those things, but I find it is really good for not only giving a different voice but also ear training.

If you've already got a fretted 5, no reason to have another (unless you want to string it E-C )

I love the things I can do with a fretless. I just need to keep one long enough to have decent intonation. I am getting a fretless four because I just happened to find a nice one that is cheap.
I always prefer fives, but fours are a challenge because I have mainly played fives since the late Eighties.

 

[jim777]

The way I rationalize it (because I am such a mediocre fretless player), is that I play fretted for the rest of the world, and fretless for myself I am not great at it, but I feel a good fretless is an absolute necessity for my own happiness. I recently sold a very nice Moses necked Jazz fretless, which was very versatile, and traded for an MTD 5'er. I am VERY much looking forward to spending the winter with that! But whether it is actually useful or not really isn't of the slightest concern to me; fretless, no matter how good or bad I am at it, makes me happier (most of the time) than fretted basses do. And that, in a nutshell, is why I play: to make myself happy and quench that "Must Make Music!" thirst we all share.

 

[nostatic]

I love the things I can do with a fretless. I just need to keep one long enough to have decent intonation. I am getting a fretless four because I just happened to find a nice one that is cheap.
I always prefer fives, but fours are a challenge because I have mainly played fives since the late Eighties.

fwiw I played nothing but 5s (mostly fretless B-G) from 2000-2010. I picked up a 4 in 2011 to "simplifize" my playing and it has been really instructive. Turns out it stuck and I'm primarily a 4 player these days. In fact, I don't even have a bass with a B-string right now (my 5 is E-C).

In this case though you'll have a bit of a double whammy if you get a fretless 4. So clearly you should buy a fretted 4 as well

 

[bassbenj]

I love the things I can do with a fretless. I just need to keep one long enough to have decent intonation. I am getting a fretless four because I just happened to find a nice one that is cheap.
I always prefer fives, but fours are a challenge because I have mainly played fives since the late Eighties.

While I can't argue with finding a super bass deal, I am a big fan of the fretted/fretless pair. I've got a pair of blueburst G&L L2500 basses in fretted and fretless and I LOVE the way that works out. I also have a pair of SX 5er fretted/ fretless basses and also have THREE SX six string Fender clone basses (Fretted flats, fretted rounds, fretless).

Current GAS is to get a P/J 5 string fretless to match my Squire P/J fretted 5er.

So a good deal bass is a nice toy too, but I vote with the guys who say get fretless 5er. A fretted/fretless pair is especially nice because it gives a very nice tonal variety and yet because the basses are alike they both also fit the same musical situations.

 

[sonicblue62]

Fretless G&L L2500. That is a happy place.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I agree that a fretted and of the same model would be ideal.

 

[Fuzzbass]

I'm like you: I've never kept a fretless for long. They're fun for me to play, but because my intonation is not good, my playing would not be fun for others to listen to. So, I stick with fretted fives, knowing that I don't have the interest in putting in the necessary time to get my fretless skillz gig-ready.

Another take: a local bass instructor I know who was playing four string exclusively opted for a change but couldn't decide between fretless or five string. So he got himself a fretless five string, and that's all he plays anymore.

 

[two fingers]

Same boat as you Doc. I have owned several but never kept them long.

The thing is, it never sounds like a fretless when I play one anyway. I have done whole shows with one and nobody could even tell (including a guitar player I have done hundreds of shows with). It was after the show before anyone even realized I was playing fretless.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Same boat as you Doc. I have owned several but never kept them long.

The thing is, it never sounds like a fretless when I play one anyway. I have done whole shows with one and nobody could even tell (including a guitar player I have done hundreds of shows with). It was after the show before anyone even realized I was playing fretless.

If no one can tell, you must have killer intonation!
BTW, one thing I like about the bass I have put up is that it is fitted with flats, and it gets a killer vintage tone when I don't go for a fretless sound.
If I get the fretless, I need to get another five as a back up or at least, I will take my Millennium down from Classifieds and tune it DGCF.

 

[frankieC]

Fretless 5.

I have one, and when I do use a 5 I usually select the fretless one.

 

[SteveC]

I agree that a fretted and of the same model would be ideal.

I had that, and wish I still did. That said, I have a fretted 5 and am thinking if I go fretless that 4 would be fine. The lower notes - at least for my fretless use - wouldn't be that necessary. I'm finding myself going the direction nostatic took. The "simplicity" for lack of a better term of a 4 string is kind of appealing lately. Going low doesn't have the appeal it used to for me.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The more I think about, the more I think I should be realistic, and say that I will probably get a whole lot more use out of a fretted five than a Fretless four or five.

 

[SteveC]

The more I think about, the more I think I should be realistic, and say that I will probably get a whole lot more use out of a fretted five than a Fretless four or five.

Maybe. Only you can answer that of course. But I will say, when I had just my fretless and was waiting for my fretted build, I really enjoyed playing fretless and didn't use the fretted very much when I first got it.

Sometimes I think I'm meant to be a full time (or majority time) fretless player.

 

[ArtechnikA]

I have a matched pair of fretted and fretless 5's, and a fretless 6. I've never owned a 4-string bass...

The fretted 5 has been in its bag since its fretless twin arrived.
I'm glad I bought it to start, and I expect I'll keep it forever.
But for me, fretless is what I want to do.
(If you keep trying it and not liking it, it's probably a sign...)

I'd guess it depends in part on your musical goals.
As countless threads already discuss, you can slap a fretless, and a 5 (or 6...).
But I don't slap...

It can be argued that with enough frets, you don't 'need' a high-C.
And you can string a 4 BEAD if you want the lows. You can go as high up the neck as you want, but you're not getting the lows without the equipment ;-)

I can't imagine why you wouldn't want (at least) a five although it would be presumptively more expensive, heavier, and wider through the neck. But I'm glad there are choices - pick one!