It's Working!

[Old Fart]

My first fretless was an old Peavey. My second was a Squier. Neither were very good quality. Both where lined. The lines made me look at my fingers. I was intoning with my eyes, which is WRONG. It was suggested to me that I get an unlined fretless that is a quality instrument, so I did. Here she is, a Tony franklin. This thing is SO sweet, for tone and quality. There is a reason this bass gets such great reviews. Best-sounding PJ I have ever heard, by far.

In any case, I am forcing myself to learn fretless and it is starting to happen. My ears and my fingers are starting to work together without my brain involved. I need to keep working on it, but I can now see that this will work. I think this will end with me effortlessly playing notes right on pitch. And this is also solving any and all tendency to look at my fingers. I don't look at my fingers much anyway, but lately I have given up on it altogether, as part of my learning fretless. This is fun.

 

[bholder]

I've been at fretless some 20 years and change now, and intonation still doesn't come effortlessly, but I'll agree, it is great fun and I improve with practice. Great looking bass there too! Congrats!

 

[BassChuck]

I'm on the same journey and agree, the choice to have a lined fingerboard is to choose to look at my hand.
I always make my goal not to play the notes perfectly in tune (at first) but to hear and make the adjustment as fast as I can.
Many of the YouTube videos will talk about practicing the scales and working to hear the intervals in tune. While that's a good drill and a skill that is necessary, the real skill to hone is the ability to match pitch. One of the best pieces of advice I got from the videos was to create a track of the music I need to work on, and play with it. Always practice matching pitch. So I have a bunch of mp3's I made of major scales, chords, etudes, and everything I feel I must get better at playing.
Good luck. Fretless makes me feel like a real musician.

 

[WrapRough]

Swimming with the dolphins

 

[MonetBass]

Welcome to the smooooth side. Glad it's working for you. And nice bass!

 

[Groove Doctor]

Congrats. Gorgeous bass. A Quality bass makes such a difference with Fretless.



30 years Fretless for me. My Best tips

1. - put the music on and turn out the light. The very best way to break the habit of staring at the neck.

2. - learn to be consistent with where you position your left thumb. (A great shaped neck makes this a thousand times easier).
You can reach seven “frets” without moving the thumb.
- one finger per fret,
- one fret back towards the nut and
- two frets up the neck towards the bridge.

eg. If thumb is behind the middle finger on A (5th fret of E string), you can use your index reach down to 3rd fret for low G, or C on the A string, etc. without moving your thumb, [basically using the fixed thumb contact position as a pivot point, but keeping the thumb joint loose and moving your whole hand towards the nut.]

Also, if you want to play the 6th or 9th notes of the scale (F# or high B) you can use fixed thumb contact position as a pivot point, but keep thumb joint loose and move the hand towards the nut to get extra reach.
eg. Move pinky from 7th to 9th fret. It sounds great sliding between 5th & 6th notes of the scale (E at 7th fret and F# at 9th fret of the A string) using your pinky.
Or between the A octave and B octave (9th note of the scale, aka 2nd) note of the scale). (A at 7th fret & B at 9th fret of the D string) using your pinky.

Or you can just use this fixed thumb contact position/moving hand technique to slide up or down into any note at any time. Very simple way to be expressive, not need to look at the neck, and have really good intonation.

3. Learn vibrato.
I’m best at it with my ring finger, middle/pinky equal next best, and pretty average with my index finger. YMMV.
I find using finger pads or flat fingers (not arched) give the best mwah tones.

4. string height makes a huge difference for tone & how much mwah you can get.
A bit of buzzing acoustically is fine. Amplified they become sweet overtones and help you hear the Fretless tone in a band mix. You just have to keep tweaking until you find the sweet spot for EQ settings/action/mwah, (then it’s set & forget).

Keep on bassin’ bro!!