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Lined fretless: Make me feel better please!

#161
khutch said:
If, however, you want to try to play an unlined fretless and you fear that the lack of positional references will prevent you from doing what all the little Suzuki children do, could you not put something on the back of the neck here and there to give yourself the positional references you need?
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Unlined boards for the most part will have side dots for position references. I can't say all because the Takamine B10 has none. Just a whole lot of empty.
 
#162
Imaginary Pony said:
I practice playing in the dark. it's often dark on a stage, and you can't see the dots ore lines or frets anyway.
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At some point I'll figure out a method for making my white neck dots glow.
Jack Bruce had LED 'landing lights' (his term) and no one ever gave him any cr&p about it.
Tritium cells would be best, but I expect I'll just do something with phosphorescent paint.
Based on my experiments with watch dials, a quick hit with a UV flashlight will charge them up for a good long time.
 
#163
ArtechnikA said:
At some point I'll figure out a method for making my white neck dots glow.
Jack Bruce had LED 'landing lights' (his term) and no one ever gave him any cr&p about it.
Tritium cells would be best, but I expect I'll just do something with phosphorescent paint.
Based on my experiments with watch dials, a quick hit with a UV flashlight will charge them up for a good long time.
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Replace them with 'Luminlay' material. A few pages back there's a pic of my STR's neck and that has the Luminlay side dots and fret line markers.
 
#168
There are no absolutes with this - it totally depends on the player. My first fretless was lined (actually a defretted SR800). I have since played unlined. I find that a lined fretless causes me more intonation harm than good as the visual cues will tend to overtake aural (that's how we're wired), and due to a number of factors, the lines are approximations and you have to know where the note is. You can learn that - as evidenced by the number of people who play lined basses well. But you also can learn where the approximations are without the lines. Side dots and years of playing are enough for me. I have less visual clutter and it allows my ear and muscle memory to dominate. At least that's my theory. So I have trained myself to intonate unlined, and lined is more difficult. I could retrain myself for lined but I don't want to. And there are guys who can go back and forth between the two. Just like 4 vs 5 vs 6 or 34" scale vs 35" scale. It is up to the individual and their experiences and preferences.

Upright is a different beast as there are physical characteristics that help you know your position. But they still are approximations and you need other things (like practice) to get closer.
 
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#169
spade2you said:
You kinda need to cut this out. Notice that even your fellow lined players aren't backing you up.
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I play UNLINED and have been doing so for 30 years so therefore ,have no "fellow lined players". It's you and a few others who need to stop making my comments out to be something they are not. You should again read and comprehend a post BEFORE you comment. My original post was that it was important to play with good technique and your ear for intonation whether you have Lines or Not. Then you decided to try and discredit what I had to say about string instruments and people who happen to play well in tune without them. This is a forum for opinions ,if someone doesn't agree with you...that's a shame, no need for the wise ass comments that followed.

"The idea that lines will save you if you can't hear your bass is an exaggeration. Playing fretless without ears just doesn't work."
 
#171
I am going with the "lined" look. I'm having my Rickenbacker 4004 Cii defretted,rather than putting an all new unlined fingerboard on it. ( Huge difference in price) . I think one aspect no one's mentioned so far is that other musicians may benefit from being able to see what key you're playing in.....:woot:
For the record,this will be my 3rd lined fretless. The only time i played an unlined one,i did have issues. ( it was a 34" scale 2 octave neck,and i kept getting my fingers in slightly not quite correct positions....)
I am a bit new to singing while playing bass,so i find the lines help me slightly when my concentration shifts away from the bass to vocals.....
 
#175
Someone say unlined?

ImageUploadedByTalkBass1418266142.370041.jpg
 
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#177
Freddels said:
I have both so it doesn't matter to me. I like the blank look of an unlined board but it' just aesthetics.
A few years ago, I played with a guitarist and I used a lined fretless. After playing for about 2 hours, he said "sometimes I could swear you're playing a fretless." I took that as a compliment. :)
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I had a similar experience playing a lined fretless. :)
 
#178
woodyng said:
I am going with the "lined" look. I'm having my Rickenbacker 4004 Cii defretted,rather than putting an all new unlined fingerboard on it. ( Huge difference in price) . I think one aspect no one's mentioned so far is that other musicians may benefit from being able to see what key you're playing in.....:woot:
For the record,this will be my 3rd lined fretless. The only time i played an unlined one,i did have issues. ( it was a 34" scale 2 octave neck,and i kept getting my fingers in slightly not quite correct positions....)
I am a bit new to singing while playing bass,so i find the lines help me slightly when my concentration shifts away from the bass to vocals.....
Click to expand...

I had that experience, too - playing unlined and not quite getting why the guitarist couldn't follow what I was showing him. :) D'oh!
 

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