Fretless what can you tell me about them to persude me to get one.

[Gilmourisgod]

How does having lines restrict tonal control? Barriers? My fingers slide right over the lines whenever I feel like it, not feeling any constraints other than my ear’s preference for notes in tune, but intentional dissonance is never more than a fingertip away if that’s what you are shooting for. Percy Jones does that a lot, though I’m not always sure it’s intentional.

 

[Johno Dunn]

100%... if you play unlined for bragging rights.. and your intonation is off on a single note.. its on you.

I get what you guys are saying, but when I played a fretless (about 10 years) I wanted no lines. Not for ego, but because I personally felt it was a hinderence to my progress. When I had played lined fretless, I found my intonation was not as good as when I had no lines. It forced me to use my ears more than my eyes. TEHO, and YMMV, but if I ever get another fretless, it will have no lines.

 

[Newer Dave]

They look purty.

 

[Newer Dave]

Also, they sound like this - just awesome.

 

[MordBass]

I get what you guys are saying, but when I played a fretless (about 10 years) I wanted no lines. Not for ego, but because I personally felt it was a hinderence to my progress. When I had played lined fretless, I found my intonation was not as good as when I had no lines. It forced me to use my ears more than my eyes. TEHO, and YMMV, but if I ever get another fretless, it will have no lines.

Now THAT is a very respectable outlook. Im personally good with either to be honest... Ive owned both and would take lined if ordering custom but wouldnt shy away from a great used model if unlined.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

Lately for some reason Ive been drawn to fretless basses.No idea why. Ive only held one a cpl of days ago for the first time..So a P a J a Squire(they seem to get some love on sweetwater). My local store has a cpl of fretless there a P and a J The Fender 1970's P is way out of my price range the Fender 1990's J is alot closer.I think the J is a little over priced but it only has two very minor blemishes on it so there's that.
Other than the no fret thing is there a major difference in sound?Since there are no frets I'd imagine a change in fingering would be in order. Intrigued by them lately for some odd reason(gas?)

I felt the need for fretless.

The Epi TBird I bought off of EBay, for this purpose is now fretless. Figured if I didn't get along with it, I would turn it into a FenderBird.

I like it.

Still need a FenderBird though.

Meanwhile I'm having fun....under $300.00.

 

[Johno Dunn]

They look purty.

View attachment 3203471

And they sound even more purtier!

 

[rwkeating]

Finding the pitch on your own, the simple construction of a piece of wood with no frets, where you are responsible for making music from within the limitations of that simplicity ... that earthy, organic, somewhat primitive vibe. I dig it and you might too.

I profusely apologies for sounding like a "new age woo" type person, something I certainly am not! I hope my message came across properly.

 

[JJR58]

Listen to Patrick O'hearn here
.........Yeah, off the map.

 

[kentiki]

You'll have something to sell in the TB classifieds in a couple of months.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Try not to gaze deep into this parsec of starless space.....

 

[Karl_V]

picture is worth a thousand words

 

[matthewbrown]

 

[Steadfast]

Just do it. Don't look back and don't give up. There is a point early on when you realize your intonation needs a lot of work. Get over that hump and never look back.

Learn to play it so cleanly that no one can tell if it is fretless or not unless you want it to sound fretless.

 

[theduke1]

When I thought I would like to try fretless I purchased an inexpensive Brice 5 string and did not like the feel or sound and quickly traded it for a Hartke 4x10 XL bass cabinet
As I have played G&Ls since 86 I may be a little spoiled lol
My next run at fretless is my current one a 1997 l2500 I purchased from the original owner about 10 years ago.
The inexpensive way didn’t work for me.
While I mostly play it at church I do carry it on out of town gigs as a backup where I play it on a few of our tunes
So
I’m not saying going inexpensive doesn’t work it just didn’t for me
Oh
And here it is

 

[Doctor Intrepid]

The vast majority of guitars and basses have position markers on the fingerboard as a quick visual orientation, but for some reason people think this is a “crutch” of some sort on a fretless, which is utter nonsense. Having fret lines is zerobetween notes, and a huge aid in accurate intonation, particularly above the 12th fret, where the difference between in and out of tune gets progressively more incremental. The Precision Bass was named that by Leo Fender because the notes could be fretted with “Precision”, while any fretless instrument is always at best a close approximation of perfect intonation. The better the player, the better the intonation, but everyone has had the experience of hearing upright bassists who are slightly out of tune, and it’s accepted as normal. With years of practice, the same level of rigor required to achieve the “muscle memory” classical stringed players achieve is fully possible, but if fretless isn’t your primary instrument, and you prefer playing in tune, get a lined FB, like those notable crappy lined fretless slackers, Jaco Pastorius and Mark Egan, to name two.

 

[Johno Dunn]

Now THAT is a very respectable outlook. Im personally good with either to be honest... Ive owned both and would take lined if ordering custom but wouldnt shy away from a great used model if unlined.

If I were to order a custom, I would definitely have dots on the top of the neck at every fret. If I get another fretless, it will probably be an Ibanez Portamento 4, which has this feature.

 

[PennyroyalWe]

I love the fretless for it’s ability to fit into almost any application. Play up on the fingerboard and it’s very close to an upright, down by the bridge nice and bright modern sound, with a pick it’ll growl, you can slap on them too and get a very distinctive slap tone that’s not a dime a dozen. I personally use flatwounds to preserve the fretboard (plus I love the sound, very Jameson-y) but many love the bright mwah of rounds. Not to mention the vibrato you can get to really add a new level of musicality and emotion to your lines. Having come from an orchestra & jazz band background on upright, I can’t see myself ever using a fretted bass as my main axe ever again, I just don’t identify with it. There’s just so much control and so many options available without the frets! The metal/hard rock band I’m playing in now loves it, pretty sure it’s half the reason I got the gig.

 

[Deleted member 165050]

The rules of fretless bass:

1. Never use roundwounds
2. Never use a pick
3. Never slap
4. You only need 4 strings
5. Unlined is best
6. Lined is best
7. Ignore all that and do what you want

 

[sawzalot]

Fretless bass is amazing. I sold mine a few years ago, missed it a lot, and then picked up another one recently. I absolutely love it. I think it's almost a different instrument. If you have a good fretless where the notes really bloom, there's nothing like it. As for the comparison between what it's like to play them, you just have to play one, and maybe for a fairly extended period, to "get" what it's all about. All I can say is that sometimes frets really get in the way. Fretless opens up new ways of expression that are not available on a fretted bass (and vice versa too).