Lined Fretless question

[jzucker]

Now would be a good time to merge this with the "You shouldn't look at your fingerboard anyway" thread.

Jaco looked at his fingerboard constantly. When I look on youtube at Garrison, Jaco, Grey, and Willis, they're all looking at their fingerboards.

 

[RunngDog]

Below it is a photo of two unfretted Jazz basses side by side, with unlined maple fingerboards. They are identified as a "remarkably rare set of 1970 Jazz Basses."

My mistake - I assumed you were talking about stock models of Fender basses, not custom items.

 

[m.oreilly]

Well, it's a MIM Standard, and I'm not sure I want to put that much into it. I don't know of anyone around here who could do the work, either (I have, in the past, had similar work done on g**tars but the luthier no longer lives in the area).

yeah, i know. i was going to say "just get a warmoth neck", but the resale on a complete, inexpensive fender vs an altered (albeit better) inexpensive fender w/o the "genuine" sticker... i hope the dye works, and you are satisfied with it

 

[doctorjazz]

Jaco looked at his fingerboard constantly. When I look on youtube at Garrison, Jaco, Grey, and Willis, they're all looking at their fingerboards.

Looking is fine when you're soloing or making up your line on the fly, but you still need to look away to keep in communication with the other musicians. If you're reading music or a lead sheet, though, you really need to be able to spend as much time as possible looking away from your board. When I played with my high school big band, I had to look at my music, the director, the soloists, other rhythm section players, and occasionally I had to turn around and shoot the drummer an angry look. That didn't leave me a lot of time to be looking at my bass.

 

[lpdeluxe]

RunningDog, there's no indication that the basses pictured are custom made. The book focuses on production Fender basses. Certainly the ads reproduced don't say anything about them being other than a standard variation, available to any customer.

In the 1970s the Custom Shop was non-existent; it didn't emerge until after the move from Fullerton to Corona in 1985. My friend's fretless P was just like any other factory made Fender, but without frets.

 

[jzucker]

Looking is fine when you're soloing or making up your line on the fly, but you still need to look away to keep in communication with the other musicians.

Depends on the situation. Many jazz musicians spend 90% of their time with their eyes shut. Wynton's and Miles' bands come to mind...However, in both cases, they're not looking at the fingerboard so we're in agreement there.

 

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

umm....brown sharpie?

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

^^ And that's why I can't stand lined boards. The offset side dots throw me off and actually make me dependent on the lines, because my muscle memory isn't 100% spot on yet and I need a quick visual reference. The dots are no good, so I'm stuck staring down my board like I'm playing poker with it. If they made lined boards with the dots in the proper position, then MAYBE I'd go for one... but then unlined boards look better anyway.

I've had to custom-order two of my lined fretlesses to have dots below the lines because of this. I'm going to have a tech drill out and fill the "improperly placed" dots on my current fretless and put new ones in the "right" spot when I get some extra cash.

 

[mwhite89]

Hi,
I just got these today. The first picture is just after the defreting, filling and sanding process. The second picture is after one application of the dye. The finished product will include epoxy, exposed fret lines on the bass side and mother of perl dot markers from the 12th to 24th fret on the top edge of the fretboard. The bass is a 95 Yahmaha TRB-5P. The fretboard is Ebony. The goal is to have the shiny "Grand Piano" look on top with the bas edge lines as guides without any visible lines on top.

Grace and Peace
Maurice

 

[jzucker]

Hi,
I just got these today. The first picture is just after the defreting, filling and sanding process. The second picture is after one application of the dye. The finished product will include epoxy, exposed fret lines on the bass side and mother of perl dot markers from the 12th to 24th fret on the top edge of the fretboard. The bass is a 95 Yahmaha TRB-5P. The fretboard is Ebony. The goal is to have the shiny "Grand Piano" look on top with the bas edge lines as guides without any visible lines on top.

Grace and Peace
Maurice

Very very cool!

 

[mwhite89]

I got the idea from a bass I saw on this forum. I think it is the best of both worlds. The beauty of a lineless board plus the help of the edge lines on the bass side, and the dots on the treble side from the 12th to the 24th fret. I will post more pictures when finished.
Grace and Peace
Maurice

 

[lpdeluxe]

Fender ought to make a natural ash/tort pg/maple fb bass with a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup, TI flats, and a list price of $300 (with a tweed hard case) like your Yamaha.

Is that too much to ask?

 

[KeithPas]

...but in our own, perverted way, we're having fun.

Seriously, I'll check out Stew-Mac. I deal with them all the time (where else can you find roller string retainers to replace those ugly Fender parts -- ooops, here come the Fender retainer police...).

Best of luck finishing this project. Let us know how it turns out. Whatever you do, don't look down once this bass is finished, particularly at the fingerboard. I've heard that a pox will fall on your house if you do.

 

[mwhite89]

I do not think it would be too much to ask, but I think Fender would.

 

[Bone]

After playing between the frets for 30 years I can't play a lined fretless bass. I use the side markers and they have to be in the fret position. I've been playing upright for 25 years(no lines but side markers) and fretless electric for about 7. Putting my finger on the line goes against the grain for me. Plus I do a lot of singing so a quick glance at the Dot and everything else is feel and sound. I can see where he would want his lines removed or covered up. FWIW the only lined fretless bass I could play was my 2002 MIA Jazz with the side marker dot right on top of the line and that is if I didn't look at the board. The side marker between the fret positions make a fretless unplayable for me, I'll never get it right on the fly. So lines or no lines, it's all pesonal and I reall don't care if it looks cool or not.
Freebo rocked his unlined fretless P.

 

[bucephylus]

I believe that at least some of this marking preference depends on a player's left hand technique. I personally tend to stop the string tight against the appropriate fret. So, playing on lines is more or less second nature.

However, I am also aware a lot of players stop the string directly in between frets. I can certainly understand how that could lead to confusion on a lined fretless.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Jaco looked at his fingerboard constantly. When I look on youtube at Garrison, Jaco, Grey, and Willis, they're all looking at their fingerboards.

But they're not "supposed" to... I read it here on TB recently.

 

[lpdeluxe]

It''s a damn shame Jaco never joined Talkbass: he would have learned so much.

I got an email today that my natural ash P has shipped...save them pennies, lp, you're gonna hafta buy an unlined fretless neck.

And a set of tuners, and a string retainer; I already have the nut for the new neck, and the required tort pickguard, and the TI flats, and the SD QP is also on order....

As Ambrose Bierce said, in The Devil's Dictionary (I paraphrase, not having the book in front of me): "Future (n.): that time following the present when we shall all be happy and fulfilled."

I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

 

[RunngDog]

RunningDog, there's no indication that the basses pictured are custom made. The book focuses on production Fender basses. Certainly the ads reproduced don't say anything about them being other than a standard variation, available to any customer.

The pictures of the fretless Jazz basses are not an ad, and you can be sure that Fender did not make a production fretless Jazz any time during the 70's. IIRC, the first stock fretless Jazz was made by Fender Japan in the late 80's, and the first MIA fretless jazz came out in the 90's.

 

[lpdeluxe]

I don't know what you are basing your information on, so I'll assume until otherwise proven that they are production models.

The photo of the Jazz basses shows typical 1970 features, including binding on the neck and "thumb" rests on the treble side of the strings. One is Lake Placid Blue, the other is CAR, with matching pegheads. They each have bridge covers but lack the pickup covers; the holes for the pickup cover screws are visible.

If you have some sort of proof or documentation, offer it up. We'll all be smarter for it.

Meanwhile, here's the actual entry in The Devil's Dictionary:

"FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured."