Fretted vs Frwtless

[CTC564]

Although I've only played fretted basses my whole life, I'm becoming more interested in trying fretless...

Is it that difficult to make the transition?

Any advice?

 

[Shakin-Slim]

I had no trouble except initial intonation issues. That's all practice though. I would recommend playing it the same as your fretted and using the fretless capability on occasion when the song needs it.

 

[faiz0802]

^What he said. It's great fun though. You have to be very delicate with your fretting. Add some flatwounds to that and you have some very smooth lovin haha...

 

[bluesbasshound]

Not as hard as people would think. I made the transition a couple of years ago to playing fretless about 85% of my gig and it didn't take too long to adjust. Having fret lines helps, but mostly I just rely on my ears and developed my muscle memory with my fretting hand. After playing a 4 string fretless for a while I decided to commit to a fretless 5'ver and honestly will probably never go back to just playing fretted all the time. Fretless can be addictive once you get over any anxieties about it and start relaxing! Good Luck!

 

[puddin tame]

if your ears are good, and your fretted technique is good, then you can transition pretty much instantly

 

[rayzak]

This is good to hear because, like the OP, i've never really played much fretless but i've got the itch... bad. I'm hoping to pick up my first fretless some time next week. I hope I dig it as much as I think I will, because I sold a very nice Stingray to finance it------

 

[rayzak]

if your ears are good,and your fretted technique is good, then you can transition pretty much instantly

 

[lowsideonacurve]

I've only had my Squier VM Fretless Jazz a little over a month and I love it. The fret markers make for a painless transition. I often forget that I'm playing a fretless. I didn't think you could get such nice tone out of light flatwounds either.
I picked up three other fretted basses yesterday at GC while trying out my new amp, and even the smoothest of the three made me wish I had brought my bass to the store.

 

[mauerkraut_]

SO WEIRD! I just sold my StingRay to finance a fretless as well. My fears are the same as yours. I shared feelings of not being able to play well with a friend of mine who plays violin. She laughed and said it would be fine, and if not you'll just have to practice.

Which then it hit me like, duh! We've worked so long and hard to develop fretted style, it has got to be the same learning fretless, only easier since we know most of the basics. I've been practicing side to side vibrato on fretted already to try and rid myself of vertical vibrato.

I bet it will be a challenge to be amazing at fretless, but to play should come quickly... and with work... we'll nail it.

 

[PJMiDi]

I recently bought a new bass and ripped the frets out of my ibanez. I've played the ibanez easily 10x more than the new bass since. GO FOR IT

 

[seungkoo]

Only thing I really can't cop on my fretless is the slap and pop. While possible it's not the same. But I use the fretless more now

Sent from my iPod touch using TalkBass

 

[rayzak]

SO WEIRD! I just sold my StingRay to finance a fretless as well.

WEIRD.... AND you're in Cleveland too I'm in Streetsboro, just SW. Are you going with lines, or are you diving in head first. Me? I need lines

 

[smgleitch]

Go for it!!!! When I made the transition in thought it would be a lot harder than it was. Love playing fretless.

 

[eddievanbassman]

I had no problem, I'm a bass player, it was just natural...

 

[steelhead2]

`02 mexi Fender J with lines,weird deal=i play so much on my fretted P i look at it like it's the tones i seek not the fact it has or hasn't any frets.

i play an eclectic mix from bluegrass to `new rock'(on occaision),,the fretless J has tones i can't find with a P,,and of course when i want thunder i want the P.But i DO Skynyrd) with the fretless,,barely/i want a fretted J BAD probably with roundwounds instead of the Chromes on the fretless,witch are great(but i want a lot of things

if i play the fretless a couple nights in a row my P seems like it `has hair on it',half round strings,frets,balls you have to step up and play it,,,the J is like relax and enjoy it,like silk

gee life IS good!,just embrace it bro you'll love it.nice to have a selection is all i can say,the lines help but you can do semi-tones so who cares? grab a fretted version if you need one(ok more wine enough rambling just get one!

 

[steelhead2]

i found that to set intonation i use a credit card or something thick like that and post it directly on the 12th `fret'(of my lined fretless,so maybe having lines IS good for one thing anyway eh?,fingering was iffy,your milage may vary of course=peace ya'll

 

[BassNoob1]

Really not that hard if you play upright.

 

[Tom Howland]

I play both, and like them equally.
There is a small adjustment, but if your ears are good.
Have fun.
I find fretless playing easier than fretted.

 

[Antny]

I play both, and like them equally.
There is a small adjustment, but if your ears are good.
Have fun.
I find fretless playing easier than fretted.

Same here. I find myself picking up the fretless more and more. I find I'm much more creative with the fretless than the fretted bass. The sliding harmonics alone are just so cool.

 

[Big_Daddy]

If you've got halfway decent intonation, then you can pick up a fretless and play. My prefered method is to keep my hands moving as much as possible. You can easily compare it to going from 4 strings to 5 strings (at least I can...).

You can also get a fretless neck with lines to mark where the frets would be, and most come standard with dotted inlays at the top of the neck. I prefer either dotted inlays or no markings whatsoever. I find it makes me a better player because I have to rely on me ears more than my eyes.