I made up my mind: I prefer lined fretless.

[Walk The Dogs]

Lined for me and, yes, I majored in double bass at Berklee so I know about positions. Nevertheless, a lined fretless is nice to have when you're recording and your entrance is a football above the 12th fret. It's mortifying to see the pianist wince when you hit that note flat or sharp.

 

[chilee]

I still like the unlined long-scale basses. I have an extra-long scale fretless and is very difficult to play in tune. Depending on how you are playing (standing vs. sitting), pitches will seem to shift.

I recall playing an unlined Gibson EB3 fretless in a store once. It didn't even have side dots! (Jack Bruce might have been okay with it).

 

[bigtone23]

Same. I have a good ear, but I like having the guide lines. I'm not good enough to just wing it.

 

[tri2bob]

I am so glad I bought the Glarry instead going in the deep end with a Tony Franklin. I can play unlined fretless and I can stay in tune, but frankly, I don’t need the challenge of an unlined fingerboard. Lined or not, it is very easy to go out of tune playing fretless. The lines make it much easier for me to self correct. Your mileage may vary, but I have no shame in my game:we get no bonus points for difficulty of execution, so I am happy to have the help of lines.

I can relate to your post. I currently play a 1990's Tobias unlined fretless and it's my favorite bass of all time. I'm an old guy...71. I've had lined and unlined and played some upright. After a couple of years working with the unlined fretless I don't find it any harder to play than a lined, but it took some time. I do agree lined or unlined really doesn't matter...what matters is how it feels in your hands and most importantly do you get what you are looking for as far as sound goes. After all the sound is where it's at.

 

[amper]

Actually, lined or unlined does matter. The reason is because fret positions are a compromise in equal tempered music, and the fret positions aren't necessarily "in tune" equally in every key, but the lines serve as an automatic visual cue that can be difficult to resist.

So, in reality, a lined fretless can end up making you play less in tune than an unlined fretless, but at least you won't be any more out of tune than you would be playing a fretted bass.

Unlined for me, always, because I originally come out of the classical music tradition. For hundreds of years, orchestral players have played without lines, in a position that makes it much harder to visually judge intonation.

(edit) I'm ok with partial lines, like hash marks at the edge of the fingerboard. Looks kinda cool on some instruments. I don't own any like that, though.

 

[PhillipHolbrook]

I am so glad I bought the Glarry instead going in the deep end with a Tony Franklin. I can play unlined fretless and I can stay in tune, but frankly, I don’t need the challenge of an unlined fingerboard. Lined or not, it is very easy to go out of tune playing fretless. The lines make it much easier for me to self correct. Your mileage may vary, but I have no shame in my game:we get no bonus points for difficulty of execution, so I am happy to have the help of lines.

I love your Pedulla!

 

[amper]

I never understood an unlined fretless having fret dots at the actual fret positions, it's not standard

In my experience, only lazy manufacturers who refuse to set up jigs specifically for fretless put the dots in between positions, where they would be on a fretted bass. On fretless instruments, the standard is to place the dots at the finger positions; almost every fretless bass I have seen in my 25 years of playing has been this way.

 

[Dreamsinger]

I learned on unlined decades ago and came to prefer them. After all, who spends much time staring at their fingerboard? After watching and listening to Zander Zon I can see where lines would be helpful.

 

[Lothian]

I am so glad I bought the Glarry instead going in the deep end with a Tony Franklin. I can play unlined fretless and I can stay in tune, but frankly, I don’t need the challenge of an unlined fingerboard. Lined or not, it is very easy to go out of tune playing fretless. The lines make it much easier for me to self correct. Your mileage may vary, but I have no shame in my game:we get no bonus points for difficulty of execution, so I am happy to have the help of lines.

I totally understand! I only play fretless, and half of my basses are lined and the other half is unlined. When I have a gig that requires me to be at the top of my game, I take a lined fretless Spector with me (if not for anything else than mental comfort ). How does the Glarry stack up to the TF, though? That Fender's one beast of a fretless bass!

 

[DeepintheWoods]

I am so glad I bought the Glarry instead going in the deep end with a Tony Franklin. I can play unlined fretless and I can stay in tune, but frankly, I don’t need the challenge of an unlined fingerboard. Lined or not, it is very easy to go out of tune playing fretless. The lines make it much easier for me to self correct. Your mileage may vary, but I have no shame in my game:we get no bonus points for difficulty of execution, so I am happy to have the help of lines.

I totally agree. I have owned several Rob Allen fretless basses over the years, and the ones that were lined allowed me to play with ease. Perhaps had I come from playing upright bass, I would feel differently, but being a fretted electric bass player, the lined board gave me the confidence to handle the fretless.

 

[Lothian]

When I got my first unlined ESP fretless neck in the late 80's, it was unfinished.

The first thing I did was go to Radio Shack and bought some of those dry transfer rub-off letter packs that were used to label electronic equipment. They had little 1/8" long lines in those packs you could rub onto anything you wanted.

I used a fretted neck as a template, and rubbed off lines on the side of the neck where frets would be. I then rubbed off dots between the frets, where they would normally go on a fretted bass.

So, from the side, it is lined, and looks like a regular bass. I never understood an unlined fretless having fret dots at the actual fret positions, it's not standard and it threw me off. Seemed stupid and non-intuitive.

I then sent the neck off to Pat Wilkins to clearcoat the entire thing. It came back perfect, but the fretboard was so flawless I never wanted to scratch it with strings. It looked like fine furniture.

To me, that's how an unlined fretless should be, and I'm surprised no one makes them like that. Lines only on the side of the neck indicating where frets would be, and dots in the normal places on the side of the neck. The fretboard itself can remain blank.

If someone else makes them like this, I am unaware of it.

FBass has been doing quite a few of those...

 

[PhillipHolbrook]

I’ve got one of each and like them both. I find it easier to play in tune and not get lost above the 12th non-fret with the lines.View attachment 3945574
View attachment 3945583

That Godin is beautiful!

 

[Afc70]

Gary Willis & many others top pro’s, play lined fretless..( And they look at their fretboard while they play. Perfectly normal & acceptable) I love my lined Roscoe fretless, it is a joy to play !

 

[rickstrong]

I am so glad I bought the Glarry instead going in the deep end with a Tony Franklin. I can play unlined fretless and I can stay in tune, but frankly, I don’t need the challenge of an unlined fingerboard. Lined or not, it is very easy to go out of tune playing fretless. The lines make it much easier for me to self correct. Your mileage may vary, but I have no shame in my game:we get no bonus points for difficulty of execution, so I am happy to have the help of lines.

I agree. I started on cello and play string bass, so unlined is certainly not a scary proposition. However, there's a big difference between traditional string instruments and the electric bass: cellos, basses, etc. have several physical landmarks that we use as reference to maintain intonation (heel of the neck, the top of the bass body, etc.) The electric bass neck is essentially a featureless stick from the nut to the end of the fingerboard. It's very helpful to have the lines as a safety in case you want to check yourself.

Interesting alternative: one of my teachers at Berklee (Frank Gallagher) back in the Pleistocene was a string bassist who learned electric to do commercials: he had a rhinestone installed on the back of the neck to let his thumb know when his first finger could accurately play a fifth above the open strings.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

I don't keep a fretless around anymore, but have played both types. My last was lined (Status Graphite neck '96 Schecter Jazz Bass), but my first (a 70's RW board Fender P Bass in '85) was not.

The thing I would keep around is a half fretted and half fretless that Status Graphite makes, or use to make...

1-7 with frets and the rest up to 20-24 is lined fretless. I have never actually seen one in the wild, but it makes a good deal of sense to me. Higher register and solos on fretless, to me, sound very nice. But the money is below 7th fret and a fretted Bass is most often called for. Playing in tune is always called for!

I seem to recall that it was an $800 option on the Basses.

Hybrid machine for all seasons...

 

[Chalotrejo]

Joe Zon (www.zonguitars.com) built my dream bass some 20 years ago, a beautiful fretless Sonus Custom. Having an upright past, I thought it was a good idea to make it unlined, for aesthetic reasons. It took about a year for me to finally get used to the scale and intonation, and all that time I scratched my head wondering if it would have been better to have it lined. Now I don't even look at the fretboard when playing it. You get used to it.

 

[DrRock321]

I've got both lined and unlined fretless basses. Honestly, I see no reason in playing an unlined unless you wanna feel like a badass lol At the end of the day no one's impressed and your intonations probably gonna be off 90% of the time. I get how an unlined kind of forces you to play by ear instead of with your eyes but everybody learns differently; you could also just close your eyes if you wanna play by ear lol . Fret lines are dope, I back them 100%

 

[Michael ONeill]

I’ve got one of each and like them both. I find it easier to play in tune and not get lost above the 12th non-fret with the lines.View attachment 3945574
View attachment 3945583

That Godin is a really interesting looking instrument! I have a few of their guitars but not a Bass.

 

[TJL]

I much prefer unlined. Lined gets me confused as to where the side dots are placed versus where the lines are. I rely way more on the side dots for positioning, and if they are half way between the fret positions, it can really mess you up. I also prefer to stay with a 34" scale because I am used to it, and can feel the position at this point.

 

[maceric]

'Blank planks' all the way for me...
View attachment 3945542

Woooww
you have an eko bx7 fretless ... even if it is no longer original. many pieces replaced. one of the most beautiful form factors of the 80s