You blew off answering my simple question.
Would you say the player in that video I posted has poor technique?
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Fretless playing question ...
- Thread starter David Sutkin
- Start date
Would you say the player in that video I posted has poor technique?
Or this guy, ALSO bad technique?
Who are you to say that these two well respected professional players have poor technique?
And despite him not playing "the only factually correct way near the frets" on his fretted bass he can also play wicked lines on fretless too........ lined and unlined!!
That video has been playing in the background while I'm at work all day today .... it's soooooo good and the groove is really fresh and interesting ... great stuff!
You're relentless bro! lol
You're relentless bro! lol
When my fretless was lined,I would put my fingers HERE for a C#.
for the proper note.
Now that it is not lined I put my fingers in the exact same place.
Now that it is not lined I put my fingers in the exact same place.
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Resurrecting an old thread. I am looking for a way to become an expert fretless player, but without having to do the work or put in the time. Yes, I am kidding. I really do think the lines on my fretless are a bad idea. They only distract me from using my ear.
In using my ear, I notice that I can tell when a note is flat, but not when it is sharp. This is probably because I have spent a lifetime tuning basses by adjusting the tuner flat, then increasing pitch until the note is tuned. When I hit a flat note on the fretless, I recognize it and can adjust quickly. But when it is sharp, it just sounds out of tune. I wish I had an unlined fretless. Either way, I think I just need to learn that when a note sounds out of tune but is not flat, then it is sharp. My unconscious needs to learn this now.
In using my ear, I notice that I can tell when a note is flat, but not when it is sharp. This is probably because I have spent a lifetime tuning basses by adjusting the tuner flat, then increasing pitch until the note is tuned. When I hit a flat note on the fretless, I recognize it and can adjust quickly. But when it is sharp, it just sounds out of tune. I wish I had an unlined fretless. Either way, I think I just need to learn that when a note sounds out of tune but is not flat, then it is sharp. My unconscious needs to learn this now.
I have a similar problem.
I often push things like 5ths and octaves sharp by 10-20 cents. It just sounds “right” to me.
Star Spangled Banner is one of my practice songs. And if I play it solo with my eyes shut, Ill end up a quarter tone sharp by the end.
Im aware of it and working on it, but I truly think some people are simply better at it than others.
I have been playing fretless bass for a very long time and have never liked fret lines
For me, it has always been easier to play an unlined neck
That being said, there are some great players who swear by the lines. I have always felt particularly up high on the neck to get in the way
For me, it has always been easier to play an unlined neck
That being said, there are some great players who swear by the lines. I have always felt particularly up high on the neck to get in the way
IMO, lines ultimately don't make any really detectable difference. I've played unlined for the vast majority of the last 20 years or so I've been on the FL, and my current jaco pastorius is the 2nd lined I've ever had. But the first I'm actually going to keep.
The truth is, I'm finding that I intonate equally badly on all fretless basses. My intonation on the jaco is about as good as I got on my L2K which prior to this bass, was the one I seemed to be able to intonate on the best.
Intonation isn't about your flying fingers just happening to land in the right place; its about how well and quickly you can adjust from wherever you are, which will never be exactly "on it". And well enough that the note "sounds like" it's in tune. On a lined, I think it helps you kind of stumble into the right area of the fingerboard initially, but eventually you get to more or less the same skill level with just side dots. At the end of the day, you still get as good at shifts etc., and still make the same level of adjustments.
I'm kind of relearning how to play after a layoff and I'm appreciating the lines on my jaco as an aid for my flying hand to land somewhere in the neighborhood. But I'm also finding I sound just as bad on it as I did all my other unlined basses and equally out of tune everywhere just as I did on my unlined basses.
The other disadvantage of lines too is the necessary cuts they make into the fingerboard and how much harder it is to get a truly flat, divet-free board no matter how carefully the inserts are put in and how well done the board is.
My jaco is an exception, it was really really well done even with the inserts in it.
But for that practical mechanical reason, I've always preferred unlined....
L
The truth is, I'm finding that I intonate equally badly on all fretless basses. My intonation on the jaco is about as good as I got on my L2K which prior to this bass, was the one I seemed to be able to intonate on the best.
Intonation isn't about your flying fingers just happening to land in the right place; its about how well and quickly you can adjust from wherever you are, which will never be exactly "on it". And well enough that the note "sounds like" it's in tune. On a lined, I think it helps you kind of stumble into the right area of the fingerboard initially, but eventually you get to more or less the same skill level with just side dots. At the end of the day, you still get as good at shifts etc., and still make the same level of adjustments.
I'm kind of relearning how to play after a layoff and I'm appreciating the lines on my jaco as an aid for my flying hand to land somewhere in the neighborhood. But I'm also finding I sound just as bad on it as I did all my other unlined basses and equally out of tune everywhere just as I did on my unlined basses.
The other disadvantage of lines too is the necessary cuts they make into the fingerboard and how much harder it is to get a truly flat, divet-free board no matter how carefully the inserts are put in and how well done the board is.
My jaco is an exception, it was really really well done even with the inserts in it.
But for that practical mechanical reason, I've always preferred unlined....
L
I have always wondered about the usefulness of any kind of visual marks on the front of the fingerboard, as it is outside of my field of view, in normal playing situation.
So I believe that visual marks, if needed should be located on the side of the fingerboard. On a lined fretless, usually the fretlines are visible on the side, with dots located centered between fretlines below fretlines 3, 5, 7,9,12, 15,17,19,21,24. For players familiar with fretted bass, this maybe convenient as it is makes the neck similar to what they see on their fretted bass. For me, as I have never even tried to play a fretted bass, these markings confuse me a lot. There is too much information for eye and brain to process.
I this prefer unlined bass, with side dots on the harmonic positions, which correspond to the position of frets 12 (harm 2),7,19 (harm 3), 5,24 (harm 4),9 (harm 5),15,3 (harm 6). The use of the marks is not to tell you exactly where to stop the string, but rather to outline the geographical map of the fingerboard. I find it completely useless to have every single position indicated, as interpolating is not particularly difficult and has to be directed by the ear instead of the eye.
So I believe that visual marks, if needed should be located on the side of the fingerboard. On a lined fretless, usually the fretlines are visible on the side, with dots located centered between fretlines below fretlines 3, 5, 7,9,12, 15,17,19,21,24. For players familiar with fretted bass, this maybe convenient as it is makes the neck similar to what they see on their fretted bass. For me, as I have never even tried to play a fretted bass, these markings confuse me a lot. There is too much information for eye and brain to process.
I this prefer unlined bass, with side dots on the harmonic positions, which correspond to the position of frets 12 (harm 2),7,19 (harm 3), 5,24 (harm 4),9 (harm 5),15,3 (harm 6). The use of the marks is not to tell you exactly where to stop the string, but rather to outline the geographical map of the fingerboard. I find it completely useless to have every single position indicated, as interpolating is not particularly difficult and has to be directed by the ear instead of the eye.
Hi all. New here but wanted to share a video I did for Elixir strings discusing how I work on my fretless (and Upright) intonation. I hope this helps and I wish you all my very best.
On a defret, side dots and lines line up as you described. On an unlined fretless the dots typically line up where the fret would be. On a lined fretless I'd put the position markers at the line instead of between them.
For a long time I really disliked lined fretlesses, preferred unlined. Then I realized that if I didn't focus on them i could play that bass. I still prefer and own only unlined basses but lined doesn't bother me as much anymore.
Very nice bass!! What is it?
The lined vs unlined discussion is getting boring. You see this discussion and similar threads and arguments here every week. Every fretless bass topic here results in that same discussion.
