My Roscoe came with lines (bought it used). Bass sounds and plays great, could care less if it has lines or not. I dont spend much time looking to see if I am in tune.
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Fretless Players: How long before you switched to unlined?
- Thread starter pablomigraine
- Start date
I can play unlined just fine, but I prefer the look of a lined fretless board, at least on boards with fairly boring grains.
When I jumped into the "fretless world" I chose an unlined 6er, and I'll always be happy of my choice. I discovered to be a natural at playing fretless and now I almost only play my 6er, but your previous experience (even if it's been a long time since) should help your ear to adjust the intonation when playing. Just keep on practising.
The side markers are the key. I started on an upright, but my first fretless bass guitar was a lined Carvin acoustic. I got it lined because I thought it would be easier to learn fretless on. (I bought the "training wheels" story) And to a degree it was easier. The most important thing with lines is that it trains you to play exactly perpendicular to the neck across the strings. Without the lines you have a tendency to finger across the neck at some angle depending on how you are holding the guitar. And it takes ears and practice not to do that. But when seriously playing you can't see the lines anyway, so only the side markers (and muscle memory) matter anyway.
My next fretless was my unlined Alembic 6. And it's main problem is that the side markers are brass dots that get dark with age! They get REALLY hard to see on a dark stage. I wish, I wish, I'd bought the side marker LEDs when I bought it!
<sigh>
One thing about lined fretless. Everyone in the audience assumes it's just a normal fretted bass. So you don't get any "appearance points" out of a lined fretless.
Engine207
Losing faith in humanity...one call at a time.
I'm making the switch now, but it has more to do with my own birdbrained mentality. My MIM Jazz (for sale in the classifieds) is lined, and sounds great in the hands of a good fretless player. But I feel like I am playing it the same way I play my fretted basses - without using my ears and "fretless technique". I'm sure it's all in my head, but if the lines are there, I play to them. I can't help myself.
I'm hoping that when I finally find a maple unlined for my P-bass, I can overcome using lines as a crutch (no offense to the lined players out there who don't consider it a "crutch") and start playing fretless with my ears instead of my eyes.
I'm hoping that when I finally find a maple unlined for my P-bass, I can overcome using lines as a crutch (no offense to the lined players out there who don't consider it a "crutch") and start playing fretless with my ears instead of my eyes.
I have played an unlined fretless bass of one kind or another since 1978. I prefer
an unlined fretboard. Lines or no lines, the issue of correct intonation is resolved with a good set-up and lots of listening and fine-tuning of technique. Great attention to the details and nuances of technique(both hands; position, pressure, attack,etc.) yields a great sound. It requires patience and persistence. I've found practicing with drone tones and/or an in-tune piano/keyboard to be fruitful.
an unlined fretboard. Lines or no lines, the issue of correct intonation is resolved with a good set-up and lots of listening and fine-tuning of technique. Great attention to the details and nuances of technique(both hands; position, pressure, attack,etc.) yields a great sound. It requires patience and persistence. I've found practicing with drone tones and/or an in-tune piano/keyboard to be fruitful.
You know it makes sense
Old Pino interview, I forget which Paul Young track, has a chord in the intro, Pino himself said... 'live, I usually give that a miss', but I've found even with lines...you have to be feeling that extra bit confident for it to sing in tune, I have much respect for the great fretless guy's, constant great intonation is a tall order, full stop.I don't have any fretless however I've always been curious about this. With a fretted bass you of course play just behind the fret. If you have a lined fretless do you play on the line or behind the line? My guess is on the line.
For 18 years I've set it so it intones as if you were playing with frets, just behind the line, unfortunatley because your finger flattens out when fretting (or fretlessing
)the edges creep over slightly before the underside is in tune, so even this is a bit weird, I notice Gary Willis has his now set so your playing directly on the line, halfing your finger, split vision like this may be the way to go, if Willis's analytical mind has decided upon this as a better intonation solution, I'll be getting the screwdrivers and tuner out soon and checking it out.
I started with no lines, picked up an unlined fretless, got over my dislike of lines. My latest fretlesses are unlined only because that's what I prefer. I can play either.
No matter what you get, you'll still need to learn to play that particular bass. Side dots and lines are only references. I know folks who fight with either because they want to make the note be where they think it should be. That's not how it works.
No matter what you get, you'll still need to learn to play that particular bass. Side dots and lines are only references. I know folks who fight with either because they want to make the note be where they think it should be. That's not how it works.
There are people who play on the fret... I've seen it and it's kind of weird.
Where you play on a fretless will be determined by the bass in question and the setup. You can ofttimes adjust intonation to get in the ballpark of where you want to be.
Here is a fun training tool you can use with your lined fretless.
Grab a tuner and set it where you can see it. Turn away from it and start playing something. Doesn't matter what tune. As you play try to close your eyes and "hear" where you are on the finger board. When you come to a stop try to stop on "A" that isn't an open string.
swing around to the tuner and see how well you are doing.
The more you do that, the more you get used to being in tune.
In that vein, use your open strings as guides.
I bought my MIM Jazz lined fretless in '96 when I was 17. Roundwounds killed the rosewood so I bought an unlined wenge/ebony neck from warmoth. Without lines , I found myself listening more to the note instead of looking at the fret lines.
Just my $.02
Just my $.02
If you haven't already, try some nickel roundwounds like DR Sunbeams or Ken Smith Burners. Either have been great on fretless for me with no wear issues.
- Jul 30, 2006
- 2,315
- 453
- Disclosures
- Endorsing artist:Regenerate Guitar Works Carvin, Micheal Kelly Guitars
I only play unlined fretless basses. The conversions or lined ones always have the side dots in the wrong place. Since I'm usually singing, it makes it easy to stay in tune & I never look at the fingerboard.
The original question makes a badly mistaken assumption, because there is no inherent virtue in playing either lined or unlined. What matters is that the instrument works for you.
There are people who play on the fret... I've seen it and it's kind of weird.
Where you play on a fretless will be determined by the bass in question and the setup. You can ofttimes adjust intonation to get in the ballpark of where you want to be.
woops, I'm going to pick up BG, and as I've never been used to frets I'm gonna play right where the notes are
Is this weird in BG world?
