Fretted vs Frwtless

[klaus486]

Kinda weird for me as I played fretless exclusively for like ten years then there was this fretted P-bass at work that I just couldn't put down! I now find it soooooo easy to play fretted bass and I found I missed chords so much that I dug out my Jonas Hellborg chord book! I really think that the touch I developed on the fretless has improved my fretted playing immensely. Get 1- play it alot. Don't sell your fretted bass. Oh I wonder who ended up with my gorgeous Modulus fretted Q5. It really is no big deal to transition to fretless-remember millions of tiny kids pick up the violin every year and the fact that it has no frets is never ever even mentioned. If little snotnosed rugrats can do it you can too. Keep in mind that basses with no lines are not without side position markers and even with lines there will be a period when things sound ugly (heck they still do 10+ years into it!) but the fun factor will out way any and all of that if you apply some thought and effort. Also an instructor may not be out of line if you're not so much a self starter.

 

[Pilgrim]

I took the frwts out of a bass once. It never peed on the furniture after that.

 

[mauerkraut_]

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

I'm getting lines as well. Just ordered a Warmoth Pau Ferro lined neck with cream inlays as well. Basically training wheels for fretless but I don't care, my band plays in darker settings and I wanna know where I am at all times. I can't wait til it gets here!

 

[polyrhythmia]

Been thinking about getting an Ibanez 5-string fretless, but not sure if they really exist. What I would really like is headless, fretless, and five-string. Gotta watch my spending, so it will have to wait.

 

[bassbenj]

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

Nah. I'll bet you really don't "need" lines! Most noobs think they do. I know I did. And it does help a bit at first. But when you are standing you can't see the lines anyway and have to use the side markers (and ears) like God intended. The main utility of lines (IMHO) is that they help you when training yourself to finger positions at a direct right angle across the neck There is a tendency to go across the neck at an angle that seems to come out of fretted playing and you have to train yourself out of it. Lines help with that.

But take my word for it, once you get going on fretless (and it's really NOT that difficult!) you will be wishing you had the coolness of an unlined finger board. I know I wish I never bought the lined basses, for looks if for no other reason. Looking back I can see that starting on an unlined fretless would have been very little harder than using the "helper" lines.

 

[Hobobob]

My intonation is generally worse on lined boards as opposed to unlined. They make me play with my eyes more than my ears, and I over-think everything.

 

[tutumiley]

^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...

Didn't Jaco say anything other than flatwounds chew the crap out of the neck on a fretless?

 

[rayzak]

Nah. I'll bet you really don't "need" lines!.

I agree that an unlined fingerboard looks much nicer. But, in my case, lines surely can't hurt

 

[BassChuck]

It takes some practice, but you're going to do that anyway, right? The biggest problem I had (have) is you really need to be able to hear yourself at gigs. Correct intonation is a technical point of fretless playing, but if you can't clearly hear your pitch over the drums and guitar or whatever else is playing, you could be in some trouble. Recently I did some theater work with two keyboards, one electric one acoustic.... they were not in tune with each other and it was very difficult to deal with it. If your guitar player is usually out of tune (and alot are!) that can be a hassle too.

 

[uethanian]

Didn't Jaco say anything other than flatwounds chew the crap out of the neck on a fretless?

just depends. rosewood will take a beating, but ebony or epoxied wood's show very little wear. and its an easy fix if the fb gets too worn - just some light sanding with a radius block

 

[GazzBass]

Don't worry about intonation. Just play it like you mean it. If you want to be in tune play a fretted.

 

[dj150888]

Didn't Jaco say anything other than flatwounds chew the crap out of the neck on a fretless?

Is Jaco someone you really want to base how you treat your instruments on?

 

[tutumiley]

Is Jaco someone you really want to base how you treat your instruments on?

Good point-Base-ing the treatment of a Bass on the way Jaco treated his. But every time I hear America The Beautiful I tear up....In a good way....

 

[Jaco D]

Picked-up the fretless within the past two years (got a pre-owned Squier VM) and I have to say that I've been playing that puppy more lately - I jsut replaced the flats with rounds. Give it a good set-up and you should be able to coax some basic fretless sounds from it in no time. Liked it so much I got another pre-owned Jazz with flats (this time a MIM) for that "thumpy" closer to upright sound. On hindsight, I wish i had learned bass on a fretless and transitioned or dabbled with fretted at a later time rather than the other way around. i've noticed that my fretting on a fretted seems to improve after playing fretless for a while since precise fretting is important on a fretless while you could live with shoddy fretting on a fretted bass since the frets can save you when you suck (which is often in my case).

 

[JACink]

I´m still torn between buying the VM fretless and keeping my old bass as a J/P fretted, or getting the VM fretted, and ripping out the frets on my old one...so many decisions!!!