How important it is to have 24 frets?

[el_Bajo_Verde]

For me, having 24 frets is essential. I will never settle for less than 5 strings and 24 frets.

Every song ever written can be played on a 20-fret, 4-string bass tuned EADG.

This may have been true 60 years ago, but it's just not the case in 2018...

 

[NateWin]

...because 11 is better than 10...Nigel would go with at least 26 frets.

 

[Steadfast]

I wrote a song that features a bass melody on my Bongo bass. When I play my fender jazz -- I have to play it an octave lower. Doesn't sound right down an octave. Someday I would like a fretless fender jazz with that extra half octave.

 

[wmhill]

I have a couple with 24 frets.... never needed to go that high. Ever.

 

[ll Rip ll]

More frets = more notes, regardless of tuning. If I knew I would only use the 24th fret one time, I'd want to have it. Would it be necessary? No. Is it nice? I think so.
Find your sound. Don't just be one of 10,000 duplicates all trying to sound identical.

 

[Old Garage-Bander]

Didn't he pretty famously rip all 20 of those frets out?

Dang! You're right!
I guess he only needed zero.

 

[Chrisk-K]

Sir Paul, Jaco, Geddy, Squire and Geezer never needed the 24th fret G note. Just saying.

 

[nostatic]

Allow me to apply the following TB fallacy.

"If I don't need to use it, nobody else does either."

^^^ 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.

 

[sawzalot]

For years I thought, "the more frets the better". Then I realized that there are tonal options available to me plucking up by the 20th fret on a Jazz that I wouldn't have if I had 24 frets. Combine that with the fact that like 0.01% of songs require notes that high and those that do I'll hit with harmonics. So I don't care one bit about that anymore: 24 frets, 22 frets, 20 frets, I've got basses with them all and I'm just fine no matter how many are there.

Tom

 

[Nakoatron]

Who needs a 24th fret when you can just play the open string??

 

[Mike Sorr]

Jaco didn’t need 24 frets. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ...

 

[BobKay]

Sheesh - it's a bass. Play the low notes.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I ask for my Fender P-Bass is a 24 fret bass and we have at least one song where I use all 24 frets.

Which has got me thinking:

1. How many if much songs require you to have 24 frets?
2. Should I just go with the 5 string?
3. if I do #2 wouldn't having a 4 string and a 5 string make things complicated.

I am more stuck on the importance on having 24 frets.

Some 24 fret basses have there pros and cons. I’ve had some 24 fret basses where Id unintentionally hit the harmonic on the 24th fret with my thumb when slapping all the time. I don’t mean like every time I slapped but sometimes once or twice in songs where I did a lot of slapping. That was pretty annoying and one of the reasons I don’t slap as much as I used to. But for the most part I do like 24 fret basses. I play some stuff that goes up pretty high. It’s not that I really need all 24 frets as much is seeing that 24th fret side marker and kind of knowing and having a feel for the distance from the end of the fingerboard it helps me know where I am when playing higher up the neck. Also 24 fret basses tend to have better cutaways so you can actually play around the 20th and 21st fret area easier. But yeah especially in my original bands first and second album I played a lot of stuff up high. It was just my way of making things fun to play and musical in a one guitar band.

There’s a part around 2:00 this one

The verse part in this song goes all the way to the F on the 22nd fret on the g string.


I don’t do it as much in our newer albums. But one this song around 3:00 I go pretty high.

 

[GlennRH]

Q: How important is it to have 24 frets?

A: Totally unimportant.

My first couple of basses had 24-fret necks. In those years, I considered a 24-fret neck to be complete and any fewer frets to be a compromise.

When I got a bass with a 21-fret neck, I did so despite my prejudice against any bass with fewer than 24 frets.

Playing that bass basically taught me how silly I had been in my number-of-frets snobbery.

For a few years now, I've had only one bass: one with a 21-fret neck. My playing is better than ever. There's nothing missing. The E to E range of this 21-fret bass is complete.

 

[bassliner50]

24 or less just fine.

 

[packhowitzer]

I care more about 35" scale than 24 frets. but with the 35" scale comes the 24 frets. so my fivers have 24 frets. que cera cera.

 

[red_rhino]

I prefer 24 frets, whether I'm playing a 4, 5, or 6 string. Can I make 20 frets work? Absolutely. But 24 frets gives me options. It's the "goldfish" theory; like a goldfish will grow to the size of it's bowl, my playing will expand to take advantage of the extra frets.

(And if that same theory held true for everything, I'd be wearing very large boxer shorts too. )

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I ask for my Fender P-Bass is a 24 fret bass and we have at least one song where I use all 24 frets.

Which has got me thinking:

1. How many if much songs require you to have 24 frets?
2. Should I just go with the 5 string?
3. if I do #2 wouldn't having a 4 string and a 5 string make things complicated.

I am more stuck on the importance on having 24 frets.

It depends on which string your using the 24th fret on. If its not the G, then you can hit that note on the next string down. No need for the extra frets. If it is the G, then you might consider getting a 5 with a high C.
Myself, I rarely play anything on the G string anyway. So, a standard 4 or 5 is perfect for me, regardless of fret numbers. For the soloists and progressives out there, a high 5/6 string with as many frets as possible is a must. It all depends on what your looking to do with your tool. Do you want a carry wrench set, a crescent, or a crescent with a pipe wrench on the back?

 

[Mushroo]

This may have been true 60 years ago, but it's just not the case in 2018...

There were 12 tones in the musical alphabet 60 years ago, and there are 12 tones in the musical alphabet today.

Playing a note in a higher or lower octave, outside the standard range of the instrument, is a cool effect but doesn't change the musical function of the bass line. There is a concept in music theory called "octave equivalence." An example would be, blues in Eb, some players would tune down a half-step and use the low open Eb, while other players would stay in standard tuning. Even though their Eb's are an octave apart, both types of players are perfectly well laying down the harmonic progression of 12 bar blues, and both are getting paid at the end of the night for a job well done.

For the record, I'm not a naysayer. I am a huge fan of alternate tunings, extended range instruments, multi-string basses, pitch-shifting effects, etc. But specifically in answer to the OP's "how important is it to have 24 frets?" question, my answer in this case is, "not very; while the extra frets extend your pitch range, they don't increase your musical vocabulary."

By using the concept of octave equivalency and transposing passages up or down as necessary, we can play any song in standard EADG tuning. Sure, if your favorite bass player has a 39-fret 7-string tuned to drop A#, it is cool to get your own bass just like your hero's (and if you are in a tribute band, owning one may be a job requirement). But if all you have is a standard P or J style bass, don't worry that you aren't "allowed" to play that song because your bass has the "wrong" number of strings or frets. I'd hate for any beginner who just bought their first bass (maybe a nice Squier Vintage Modified for example) get the impression they can't or shouldn't start learning their favorite songs because they don't own an extended-range instrument. Learn the notes and rhythm for now, and don't worry if you're not in the same octave as the recording; you're still learning and growing as a musician.

 

[StatesideRambler]

If it's important to you then it's what you should use. What songs call for more frets? In fifty three years of playing I can recall one time when I was about twenty two when I wanted a twenty-first fret.