Fretless players; lined or unlined? and why?

[steve_ss]

I voted unlined. I have a Fender with lines and Ric without lines. I prefer the look of the unlined fret board viewed from the front. I do, however, prefer to have fret dots or marks on the top of the neck that I can see while playing. I added a piece of tape to the top of the fret board and marked where the frets would be on the Ric. As a side note, I would like to have the fret board without the big dots at the 3, 5, 7... position on the front, just have them on the top of the neck. Make it look more like an upright bass.

 

[Bassaga]

I much prefer the look of lines. Unlined looks unfinished to me, like the maker couldn't be troubled to take the step of putting the markings in. I know that's not usually the case (except on the really inexpensive fretless models) and classical players have been unlined and fretless for centuries and all that, but still, that's what goes through my head whenever I see it. It just doesn't look done.

Though I do often feel like when I try to match my fingers to the lines, the intonation doesn't work out the way it should. I've wondered if going unlined and trusting my ear would actually yield better results. *shrug*

 

[40Hz]

I’ve got: completely blank (Godin), blank with position dots (Aria Pro II), and lined (Willcox Saber).

I couldn’t care less what’s on or not on the fingerboard as long as the neck feels good under the hand and it’s a nice sounding bass.

 

[Element Zero]

Both fretless basses I had were lined. I like the way it looks. Plus, no sense in making it hard on myself.

 

[Passinwind]

i have unlined axes. i voted "unlined." because: it's what i'm used to playing.

Same here. Anything is better than actual speed bumps though.

 

[Pings Bass]

unlined because I don't look at lines and unlined looks better

 

[5andFretless]

I have a couple of each, but my player is a Tony Franklin.

I personally prefer unlined, but it's simple vanity.

 

[micguy]

When I play fretless (any bass, actually), I don't hunch over the thing (that's bad ergonomics) - I can't see the fingerboard. Why would I put lines on a surface I can't see? Unined (smoothest board I can get), with dots on the side - where I CAN see them.

I also don't have position markers on the fretboards of any of my basses. But side dots? Absolutely! I play a lot of dark stages, so I can use all the help I can get:

 

[two fingers]

Unlined. But it's purely about esthetics for me. I don't judge lined board or the people who play them. But a black bass with a black unlined board is just slick to me.

Me a few weeks ago.

 

[Lownote38]

Unlined for me because if I'm playing a fretless, I want the audience to know by looking at it. It also just looks nicer to me.

Custon Jazz with Epoxy 2

• Lownote38
• Aug 5, 2015

 

[hotrodjohn]

Some manufacturers in addition to side dots put side lines, which I think is a great compromise for those who want the unlined look up front but need visual help with their intonation. I don’t know which specific manufacturers do it, I just remember seeing it somewhere.

 

[5StringBlues]

Unlined because I started on unlined and if I try to play a lined my fingers go for midway between lines anyway. Not good!

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Unlined as that's what I've always played. One I have has dots on the front but I'd prefer it didn't. Does anyone know what the dots on NS Design EUBs mean? I reckon it's some kind of alien mind control code.

 

[coy garcia]

Unlined!!. Lined fretless basses have the side dots in the center of frets usually which is confusing, also have to bend over forward to see the lines which is awkward at min. Unlined the side dots are in the correct position, can be seen on dark stage, and fretboard looks more natural.

 

[dkelley]

If I could choose my carvin again, I'd have gotten lines on it.

You can't hear if it's out of tune before you play the note. If you're about to start a note that has no reference point on the instrument, you CAN'T guarantee it's in tune simply by looking at the side markers, specially when on stage playing on the G string with the neck or your hand at an angle. Playing fast? Jumping around the board? You WILL eventually miss. I've played violin my entire life. You can play it very accurately (although sometimes still make mistakes) due to the feel of the hand position. You don't get that feel on an electric bass. There is virtually no feel at all that tells you when you are firmly in a known higher position, at least not until you hit the neck joint (which is way too high to be useful for most music).

Fretless with lined was how I made my career successful back in the day, and even though you don't need to look most of the time, when you have that big shift or jump coming up, or you want to solo, you'll really appreciate knowing where the hell your hand is BEFORE you hear that you missed or were out of tune.

There are those who say that isn't true if you practice enough.

I'm absolutely not saying that I'm as good as the great players out there. BUT, I do have 2 degrees in music performance and made a serious living playing full time on electric bass, fretless mostly, and on violin, for a long time. I'm not lacking anything in talent or ability to hear pitch, and I've performed some huge legendary works on violin, so I know how to practice.

But the bass guitar has a long neck with virtually no feel to where you are on it aside from large motor skills like your bicep and similar muscles, which are known to be inaccurate at exact location repeatability.

So don't deny physics, and don't pretend it's not true. You might be able to play great on unlined (I play unlined these days). But you can avoid a money-costing (or rehire-costing) booboo with fret lines. And yes you can look down at the front of the fingerboard if you need to... it's pretty easy actually.

Just my personal suggestion from my personal experiences. From a guy who plays unlined LoL.

 

[MVE]

Ultimately, it’s about making a certain sound come out of the speakers, so Im going climb up into the saddle of my metaphorical high horse and preach to you all that, “...it doesn’t freakin’ matter!!!”

But hey, if holding a bass that looks cool makes you feel cool, well I can certainly understand that too.

Frankly, for playing solo, I prefer lined. If there are no other instruments, it can be harder to be sure you’re on the right note.

If Im playing along, then it doesn’t matter to me.

 

[Jefenator]

Fretted vs fretless, lined vs unlined, wide vs narrow, short vs medium vs long vs extra long scale, single coil vs hum canceling, Barts vs EMGs, passive vs active, nitro vs poly - what's a poor luthier to do?
That said, definitely unlined for me.
It's a pity too because, contrary to the responses in this thread so far, the majority of fretless basses I see on the market seem to be lined. (A lot of other things I can go either way on, but for some reason the lines just bug me.)

 

[dkelley]

Unlined for me because if I'm playing a fretless, I want the audience to know by looking at it. It also just looks nicer to me.

Custon Jazz with Epoxy 2

• Lownote38
• Aug 5, 2015

That was my theory for my current unlined axe. Still true, I'm glad about it in that way. But I'm not as razor sharp accurate on it when I'm improvising, that's for sure.

 

[Danny O Danny]

I have both. I prefer unlined, though lined sure comes in handy when doing chordal stuff. My favorite configuration though is unlined with sidelines, such as on the Ibanez SRF700. It's the best of both worlds.

 

[Nick von Nick]

I've had both, but right now lined because it's what I can afford.
~NvN