Low B on a fretless...what´s the point?

No, I won't...

That's for you to decide.

I have a 5-string fretless Jazz. Truthfully, i seldom use the low B string. But since I'm used to having 5 strings in my hands, it is helpful to have. And it does get used from time to time. So it makes sense for ME.

This is such an individual decision based on YOUR playing style, what YOU'll be playing style-wise, and what YOU are comfortable with.

I actually bought a MIM fretless Jazz first because it was a great price. But I found it unsettling because of the missing B string that I was used to being there. Since I don't play enough fretless to have really good intonation (and being a piano tuner doesn't help...), I didn't need anything distracting me from concentrating on the intonation. So I sold the 4-string fretless and got my current 5-string fretless MIM Jazz.

But that works for me. If a 4-string will do it for you, go for it. Certainly cheaper on strings....

Good luck with however you proceed...

 

It's good for creating the mental image of large animals moving slowly. See Victor Wooten on the early Flecktones albums. He does a great hippo.

 

I don't get it, why would a low B on a fretless be useless...? I'm on the B string on my fretless nearly half the time with my rock band. It just sounds huge and heavy, and there's always space in the mix down there.

Maybe if we know more about what you play and how you play, it might help?

 

Does it have more of a point on a fretted bass?

 

Why do you think it's pointless on a fretless but not on a fretted bass? That makes no sense.

 

Not necessarily ... a fretless bass doesn't have to be all about that cliché jazz bass mwah sound or be solo oriented, it can be just about as versatile as a fretted bass. Change the EQ, your playing, string height, etc and you can get a sound that is pretty much the same as a fretted bass. My fretless jazz can get that mwah sound if you play it in passive mode and favour the bridge pickup, but switch to active mode and change the pickup balance and it sounds completely different.

 

You call yourself a 5 string player.
So you should know of the benefits a 5th string brings.
If it is for 5 additional lower notes only and you do not use the B string for anything else, then just go ahead and take a 4 banger.

 

Maybe your approach to a five string fretless bass isn't the same as everyone else's approach.

 

5 string fretless has the same advantage as on a fretted bass...a nearly two octave stretch in any position. It's also a great idea if you play fretted 5s exclusively.

BTW fretless can be perfectly in tune if you play it right. It's fretted bass that has tuning compromises, as all fretted instruments do.

 

I don't necessarily agree with either of those statements, but I'm now understanding your original question.

 

Um...so instead of "that mwhoa tone" you want an instrument that sounds like an electric sitar?

 

Even if you see fretless as more for solo stuff, how often do you do a solo through an entire song? For the other 90% of the song, you're in a more traditional supportive role where those low notes can be very useful.