Help me love frets..

[MuseChaser]

I've been playing fretless most of my bass-playing life, and played string bass first. My formal schooling and degrees are in violin performance, and piano and violin were my first instruments of serious study, beginning at ages 5 and 8, respectively.

Picked up a fretted Peavey Grind5 a month or so ago as my first fretted bass to see what I've been missing, and have been dutifully practicing with it daily, but I confess I don't get it. It's kind of the way I feel when I have to play a sampled grand piano keyboard instead of a real beautiful concert grand piano; yes, it can work, and yes, it's always in tune, but it's just not as ... Flexible? Expressive? Not sure how to say it.. just like somebody took away some valued tools.

What are the plusses to frets, other than making percussive slapping easier and more effective?

Honest question... Not putting down or flaming/trolling fretters...

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

Who told you that you have to love or even like fretted basses?

If you're used to fretless instruments, go and enjoy them.

This isn't a popularity contest (85% of Internet content notwithstanding).

 

[Matt O]

What are the plusses to frets

Precision.

 

[VictorW126]

No plusses.

 

[MuseChaser]

Who told you that you have to love or even like fretted basses?

If you're used to fretless instruments, go and enjoy them.

This isn't a popularity contest (85% of Internet content notwithstanding).

No one has told me, steered me, or suggested anything. I just like to make sure I don't miss out on stuff, and love to learn. That's all. I have enough experience playing fretless instruments to know why I like them, how to play them well, and what they offer. I do not have the same experience and knowledge of fretted instruments, and am hoping to gain some, especially their advantages over fretless instruments and where those advantages are most helpful. That's all.

 

[jd56hawk]

Many good fretted basses available.
For every fretless bass out there, there are a few hundred fretted basses.
Other than that, not all frets are the same...different profiles.
Everything You Need To Know About Bass Guitar Frets – FuelRocks
Now, let's just say I have 2,000 songs on my iPod...just a guess, but I'm betting 90% of the basses are fretted.
Hey, play what you want, but to some degree, you're missing out.

 

[RSBBass]

There are some expressive options available on a fretted bass that aren't used much on fretless or aren't possible. Glissandos are different as they are a series of half steps. Try that on a fretless. String bending is much more common on fretted basses. Slap and pop style is more percussive. The attack on a fretted bass is faster, use it. Have fun.

 

[thisheregiraffe]

What are the plusses to frets, other than making percussive slapping easier and more effective?

I think the main plus is you can more easily achieve certain iconic tones on a fretted bass. I mainly play fretless basses, and I happily play along to my favourite Rush tunes on a fretless, for example. It doesn’t sound the same but I still think it sounds great. Then again, when I play those same tunes on my fretted bass, with the action set right, plucking real hard and banging the strings onto the frets, it definitely sounds closer to Geddy’s tone than the fretless basses. And that’s pretty cool IMO. I find I can also “lose myself” in the music a bit more (in a good sense) when playing a fretted bass. I still prefer the overall playing experience of fretless more, but every now and then fretted is a really fun time too.

 

[MattZilla]

just like somebody took away some valued tools.

What are the plusses to frets, other than making percussive slapping easier and more effective?

It’s a different sub-family of tool. Orbital sander vs handplane.

Most songs can be served adequately with a fretless. Some absolutely require the klang of frets, whether with rounds or even with flats. Even a stylish turnaround octave slur sounds better in some songs notched into a legato slide up and/or down the frets rather than gliss’d on a fretless.

Loving it is something else. Gotta have a good bedroom bass & decent bedroom amp. My favorite bedroom bass was a bubinga & wenge Warwick, I’ll probably get another one again in the future, probably a Thumb 5.

 

[roccobass]

Fretted basses are very different from fretlessI treat them as two separate animals. IMO.

I made a near complete switch from from fretted to fretless and it opened a plethora of sonic options to me. I still own my one fretted Jazz because I still have situations where I use it and it’s got a unique sound and I still like it. Sure, you can slap and do your best Chris Squire on one better than a fretless. But if that’s not your thing, than I would reconsider it.

Truly, if you have to be convinced, I really would say not to bother. Your first love and inspiration sounds like fretless. But if you want to be sure, you would need to get a fretted and play around with it and see for yourself. Also, even if the attempt fails to ignite an interest, you might pick up something that’ll transfer back over to the fretless. Happened to me. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Bassaga]

Fretless players sometimes refer to frets as speed bumps. I know it's a joke, but hey, sometimes speed bumps are necessary and beneficial. The freedom of fretless allows certain nuance, and the precision of frets allows other nuance.

My personal favorite things that I can do with frets that get way tougher on fretless are chords. You might experiment with chord melody and see if that's a road you'd enjoy pursuing. That'll definitely bring some value to frets for you.

 

[bholder]

It’s a different sub-family of tool. Orbital sander vs handplane.

Most songs can be served adequately with a fretless. Some absolutely require the klang of frets, whether with rounds or even with flats. Even a stylish turnaround octave slur sounds better in some songs notched into a legato slide up and/or down the frets rather than gliss’d on a fretless.

Loving it is something else. Gotta have a good bedroom bass & decent bedroom amp. My favorite bedroom bass was a bubinga & wenge Warwick, I’ll probably get another one again in the future, probably a Thumb 5.

I have yet to see any "orbital sanders" actually sand an orbit though. There's one for you, Elon! lolz

 

[BassBrass]

I started on fretless (after I pulled the frets out of an Italian hollowbody c. 1978) and when I got a good fretted bass, an S.D. Curley, I realized it was like a big bass dulcimer, it let those strings RING between metal and wood stops (as opposed to soft flesh) and it was a Relief to not Have To Articulate every dingdong Note! What a glorious sound that made.
You ever have a vocalist that was big on what he/she called "style" over actually singing...well fretted bass is like a person who isn't a "stylist", who just sings (because they have a voice), which again, I consider a RELIEF!!!
So what you Do Get over your stylistic loss is SUSTAIN and clean edges. Like a bowed bass.

 

[themickster]

I've been playing fretless most of my bass-playing life, and played string bass first. My formal schooling and degrees are in violin performance, and piano and violin were my first instruments of serious study, beginning at ages 5 and 8, respectively.

Picked up a fretted Peavey Grind5 a month or so ago as my first fretted bass to see what I've been missing, and have been dutifully practicing with it daily, but I confess I don't get it. It's kind of the way I feel when I have to play a sampled grand piano keyboard instead of a real beautiful concert grand piano; yes, it can work, and yes, it's always in tune, but it's just not as ... Flexible? Expressive? Not sure how to say it.. just like somebody took away some valued tools.

What are the plusses to frets, other than making percussive slapping easier and more effective?

Honest question... Not putting down or flaming/trolling fretters...

Do what works for you. Find a fretted cello or fiddle. I don't feel put down by what you said.

 

[Grinderman]

They're brushes. There are many types of brushes.

 

[Lo-E]

I treat them as two related but different instruments. The note envelope is completely different on a fretted bass. I prefer the playing experience of playing fretless and always have but there are styles of music that just lend themselves better to the tone of a fretted bass to my ears.

You don’t have to like frets but they only have nice things to say about you.

 

[logdrum]

Help to love - I don't think that's really possible. Have you heard of arrange marriages?

It's up to you. Get one and explore it. Now if you start to gig as an electric bass player. You may get more jobs if you can play fretted also. Viola de Gambas have been around.

 

[burgerdj]

The world needs more competent fretless players. Frets simply provide a different voice.

 

[Bass4LifeRS]

I've been playing fretless most of my bass-playing life, and played string bass first. My formal schooling and degrees are in violin performance, and piano and violin were my first instruments of serious study, beginning at ages 5 and 8, respectively.

Picked up a fretted Peavey Grind5 a month or so ago as my first fretted bass to see what I've been missing, and have been dutifully practicing with it daily, but I confess I don't get it. It's kind of the way I feel when I have to play a sampled grand piano keyboard instead of a real beautiful concert grand piano; yes, it can work, and yes, it's always in tune, but it's just not as ... Flexible? Expressive? Not sure how to say it.. just like somebody took away some valued tools.

What are the plusses to frets, other than making percussive slapping easier and more effective?

Honest question... Not putting down or flaming/trolling fretters...

You said it, to play in tune. Also, getting an attack and tone that isn't available from the fretless. Work within the confines if you will, make that fretted bass sing

 

[coy garcia]

I went from decades of playing fretted to only playing fretless. I would say the only advantages of fretted is clean 3 note chords, and fret noise....if you're into those things. With some top players the Clank is who they are.