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How important it is to have 24 frets?

#241
superheavyfunk said:
I'd like to have a bass with 26 frets but mainly just so I can wank when I'm doing solo stuff, or annoy guitarists when I decide to cop a solo in their frequency range. My main bass is 24 frets and my backup has 20 (I think). Its never made a real difddiffer though... When playing with a band, there's rarely a reason to go beyond the 9th or 10th fret.
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Since this thread has been randomly revived (I love zombie threads!) I’ll reply to my own post from 2018:

I love 24 fret basses! Although I definitely don’t go above the 7th or 9th much on my “money” gigs, I’m often chilling up high at jams and improv sessions, especially when I’m using an octaver or distortion. And not just for chording either - Ive come to realize the importance of having some theory under my belt and knowing the neck extremely well… with these tools, playing up high is a joy! I can both keep the foundation going and also jump up for some very cool fills that impress the crap out of everybody.

Everybody should have 24 frets, imo. If you don’t have them, you can’t use them!
 
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#243
superheavyfunk said:
Since this thread has been randomly revived (I love zombie threads!) I’ll reply to my own post from 2018:

I love 24 fret basses! Although I definitely don’t go above the 7th or 9th much on my “money” gigs, I’m often chilling up high at jams and improv sessions, especially when I’m using an octaver or distortion. And not just for chording either - Ive come to realize the importance of having some theory under my belt and knowing the neck extremely well… with these tools, playing up high is a joy! I can both keep the foundation going and also jump up for some very cool fills that impress the crap out of everybody.

Everybody should have 24 frets, imo. If you don’t have them, you can’t use them!
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Sorry, but... no. Like I said in my first post back in 2018; for me, 15 or 16 frets is probably too many. I started playing bass back in 1968; in all those years, nothing I've ever played has required me to play up past the 12th fret. Not ever, once. In fact, to this day, I've never given more than pro forma attention to any of my bass's intonation. It's nice to know that it's sorta close, but it's not necessary - and back in the day, nobody I ever knew bothered about their bass's intonation, either. In fact, I have more than one bass that's practically impossible to intonate (can you say "Beatle Bass"?). But, for what gets played on it... it ain't necessary. Ever played the bass part for Gloria (a staple for the band I played in, back in 1973)? 5th fret and 7th fret - only. Almost everything I play - and have ever played - is pretty much the same. If you like - and use - all those frets? Play on, Brother; Play on. But, like I said in my first post; they do make the neck look nice, but those frets are just something I have to keep polished... Although, I suppose I could think of them as "spares"...:whistle:
 
#244
GIBrat51 said:
Sorry, but... no. Like I said in my first post back in 2018; for me, 15 or 16 frets is probably too many.
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…uhh. Ok? I didn’t say anything to or about you and your preferences. I literally only quoted and replied to myself, expounding on MY love of MY 24 fret bass. If you don’t like them, it really makes no difference.

If you’ve never “needed” to play up there, then you’re just not playing the same stuff I am and not exploring as much as you could. That’s your choice and again, I don’t really care. I still love my 24 fret bass and using the entirety of it as much as I can - so do the many ppl I play with and that’s enough for me. :thumbsup:
 
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#246
Even if I never played up to the 24th fret, it seems silly to me not to have 24 frets. Maybe I just wanna goof around up there once in a while on m own time.
It doesn't change the scale length or the sound of the bass, it's just adding a little length to the FB and a few more frets.
Why chop it off at a random number, instead of a nice even number and another full octave? It keeps my OCD from flaring up, keeps the universe balanced and it hurts absolutely nothing.
If you don't play passed the 12th, 15th, 16th fret,....then why would it matter if you have 20, 21, 22 or 24 frets? (BTW, why no 23 frets?)
 
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#247
RichterScale said:
Even if I never played up to the 24th fret, it seems silly to me not to have 24 frets. Maybe I just wanna goof around up there once in a while on m own time.
It doesn't change the scale length or the sound of the bass, it's just adding a little length to the FB and a few more frets.
Why chop it off at a random number, instead of a nice even number and another full octave? It keeps my OCD from flaring up, keeps the universe balanced and it hurts absolutely nothing.
If you don't play passed the 12th, 15th, 16th fret,....then why would it matter if you have 20, 21, 22 or 24 frets? (BTW, why no 23 frets?)
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But… if all the notes are found on one string, then why do we need more than one string? Maybe just an E string with just 12 frets? :woot::laugh:;):roflmao::smug:
 
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#248
Barticus said:
But… if all the notes are found on one string, then why do we need more than one string? Maybe just an E string with just 12 frets? :woot::laugh:;):roflmao::smug:
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It's a, I'd rather have it and not need it, situation.
What happens when the devil comes down to Georgia and wants to have a bass battle? You wanna get caught with 20 frets? He's gonna be doing a face melter solo and then what,...you gonna come at him, walkin the dog?
 
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#249
RichterScale said:
It's a, I'd rather have it and not need it, situation.
What happens when the devil comes down to Georgia and wants to have a bass battle? You wanna get caught with 20 frets? He's gonna be doing a face melter solo and then what,...you gonna come at him, walkin the dog?
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Yep, don’t wanna lose that battle either… mine all have a min of 5 strings and 24 frets. :thumbsup:

But based on some of the logic above, a 1-stringer may work :woot:
 
#252
for gigging, honestly I just need the first 5 frets lmao.
for slapping I prefer 21 fret because I sometimes hit harmonics on a 24 fretter, and also I think the 21 fret sounds fuller idk...
but i do have a 6er with 24 frets for chordal and solo stuff, but it's a bit heavy for extended use

maybe i should get a 24 fret 5er
 
#253
In some ways I prefer not having all those extra frets because they eat up space where you could be plucking and getting different tones up near the neck. Also, having fewer frets increases the amount of room for string excursion when digging in harder. You can play hard on a 24 fret bass too of course but it's a lot more dependent on always having a perfect setup, which gets tedious.
 
#254
nostatic said:
^^^ this

The whole "Jaco didn't need..." (and other equivalent) trope is pretty tired. Jaco is dead, I doubt he is reincarnated into any current TB member.

Not everyone is playing detuned metal or Mustang Sally in a garage band or P&W in church on Sun. All kinds of music, all kinds of ways to use bass in those situations. For a number of years my main band didn't have guitar or keys - it was bass, drums, and some variety of horns. What, how, and why I played on those gigs was far different than I played in other bands.

There is no "right" answer other than for the individual.
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The OX used a 20 fret bass to record The Real Me. The OX may have owned basses with 24, and some with even more frets, but The Ox never needed 24 frets. :D
 
#257
40Hz said:
A 5-string bass with a high-C string set eliminates the need to have 24 frets on a 4-string bass.

Also far less fingerboard gymnastics required to hit hit those higher notes. :thumbsup:
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This is the logic behind the Fender Bass V from the late 1960s. It was the first ever 5 string bass, it had exactly 15 frets, and it was tuned EADGC.

To answer the original question, it's not important for me. I've only owned 1 bass with more than 20 frets since 2009 and I've gotten on just fine. However, I wish I had 24 frets on my piccolo bass so I can have more frets to solo on.
 
#258
MrAB4003 said:
To answer the original question, it's not important for me. I've only owned 1 bass with more than 20 frets since 2009 and I've gotten on just fine. However, I wish I had 24 frets on my piccolo bass so I can have more frets to solo on.
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I hear you. :thumbsup:

I’m not too big on bass soloing per se. I’m more into the baroque polyphonic gamba and cello vibe. So being able to more easily finger triads and scale intervals, and having more notes available within a given span, is a big plus for me. And high-C tuning on my 24 fret fiver with the E string dropped to D gives me a huge range of notes to work with. :)
 

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