Playing Fretless has made me appreciate frets.

[Dr. Cheese]

I have played a lot of Fretless for the past five years. My intonation has gotten good for a player with my skill level. I can actually read without looking at my hands and stay reasonably in tune. I can say I really appreciate frets more than I did before I played so much fretless. I really appreciate the tonal quality of fretted notes in a way I did not before playing so much fretless. I will always play both fretted and fretless, but to paraphrase the great Anthony Jackson. I really appreciate what a fretted bass can do.

 

[nonohmic]

I love both.

I way prefer to play the fretless, but I'm not talented enough to read with a fretless. I still rely on fretted for that.

My new bass coming will have banjo frets, hoping that's going to be a good compromise on feel and precision.

 

[JRA]

I can say I really appreciate frets more than I did before I played so much fretless.

i can believe that, and i can see how playing one 'informs' the playing of the other. where we differ is motivation: you have enough of it to work at both instruments.... i think that's admirable!

 

[KohanMike]

When I first started playing bass (uke) in mid 2014, they were fretted. A few months later, the fifth one, I had a custom fretless made, but being so used to multiple bass ukes that were fretted, I found it too awkward to switch back and forth, so I let it go. For the last ten years I've been very content playing 4 string fretted.

 

[direktor]

I really appreciate what a fretted bass can do.

Precisely

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I love both.

I way prefer to play the fretless, but I'm not talented enough to read with a fretless. I still rely on fretted for that.

My new bass coming will have banjo frets, hoping that's going to be a good compromise on feel and precision.

Trust me, what I am reading is quite basic.

 

[lordradish]

I have played a lot of Fretless for the past five years. My intonation has gotten good for a player with my skill level. I can actually read without looking at my hands and stay reasonably in tune. I can say I really appreciate frets more than I did before I played so much fretless. I really appreciate the tonal quality of fretted notes in a way I did not before playing so much fretless. I will always play both fretted and fretless, but to paraphrase the great Anthony Jackson. I really appreciate what a fretted bass can do.

I love both but I am finding over the last few years, I love fretless way more. My intonation's not bad, and I can generally play without continuously looking at the neck. Just got a beautiful fretless Stingray 5HH that I can't put down.

 

[Thom Fioriglio]

I agree with you Dr. Cheese. And for me it works the other way as well. After playing my fretless for while, and then picking up my Fender Am Pro II P bass, I appreciate the punch and roundness of tone of the fretted bass.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I have played a lot of Fretless for the past five years. My intonation has gotten good for a player with my skill level. I can actually read without looking at my hands and stay reasonably in tune. I can say I really appreciate frets more than I did before I played so much fretless. I really appreciate the tonal quality of fretted notes in a way I did not before playing so much fretless. I will always play both fretted and fretless, but to paraphrase the great Anthony Jackson. I really appreciate what a fretted bass can do.

I love both.

I way prefer to play the fretless, but I'm not talented enough to read with a fretless. I still rely on fretted for that.

My new bass coming will have banjo frets, hoping that's going to be a good compromise on feel and precision.

I love both but I am finding over the last few years, I love fretless way more. My intonation's not bad, and I can generally play without continuously looking at the neck. Just got a beautiful fretless Stingray 5HH that I can't put down.

I'm also enjoying what a Fretless can bring to the table. I purposely bought a Fretless model of my Fretless basses. Muscle memory really helped me to progress .

I'm even considering a Fretless short scale to match my fretted model.

It's great having both versions.

My Old Smoothie has very small frets and makes a great compromise between the 2.

 

[bigjames]

I have played a lot of Fretless for the past five years. My intonation has gotten good for a player with my skill level. I can actually read without looking at my hands and stay reasonably in tune. I can say I really appreciate frets more than I did before I played so much fretless. I really appreciate the tonal quality of fretted notes in a way I did not before playing so much fretless. I will always play both fretted and fretless, but to paraphrase the great Anthony Jackson. I really appreciate what a fretted bass can do.

Totally agree with you and one thing I find interesting is how much fretless vs frets determines how I play a tune. I will play the same song very differently depending on whether I am playing fretless or not and I find that to be a lot of fun, especially if you are playing the same tunes often (e.g. playing weekly at church or gigging with a band).

 

[conttador]

I noticed that playing Fretless really helped my ear and that made playing on a fretted bass more manageable specially when playing with other musicians. There are two way benefits!

 

[Stewie]

I started playing fretless in 1976 because I was 16 and a rosewood fretless neck looked so cool. I keep trying to play with frets, but I find myself staring at the neck. The pitch doesn't change much til you step over a speed bump.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Yeah, Doc Cheese, good insight.
I love the fretless for a couple-few reasons - the tone, the fact that it makes me concentrate more, listen more, and play more lyrically and thoughtfully.
Im like some of the peeps above: the line I play on a fretless is probably gonna be a little different than one I play on fretted.
It's fun playing the same material on fr/fl just to hear what happens.

 

[ravlin]

I was feeling trapped with a 'basic' 4 string and bounced around a few alternatives; different tuning, 5 strings, new techniques, etc. The thing that scratched the itch was playing fretless, so I've at least gotten to competence where I can get through our 3.5 hour set-list playing fretless. It's not the best tool for every song and I'm by no means free from looking at the neck more than I should, but it's passable. I now have 2 primary basses, one each fretted and fretless.
I'm wondering how ya'll approach voicing considerations when switching between the two? Same bass sans frets, wildly different basses. Strings/pickup considerations. Especially live, how does everyone here work the problem of having 2 different instruments?
Edit: I should have also mentioned that I quite agree with OP about the appreciation I gained for that 'basic' bass from the above experience.

 

[conttador]

I was feeling trapped with a 'basic' 4 string and bounced around a few alternatives; different tuning, 5 strings, new techniques, etc. The thing that scratched the itch was playing fretless, so I've at least gotten to competence where I can get through our 3.5 hour set-list playing fretless. It's not the best tool for every song and I'm by no means free from looking at the neck more than I should, but it's passable. I now have 2 primary basses, one each fretted and fretless.
I'm wondering how ya'll approach voicing considerations when switching between the two? Same bass sans frets, wildly different basses. Strings/pickup considerations. Especially live, how does everyone here work the problem of having 2 different instruments?

2 channel amp is your friend! I have a channel for the fretteds and another for the Fretless. I use an EA Doubler as my main gigging amp.

I usually tweak my sound on the bass and the controls on the amp are flat so even if I use a single channel amp it's just unplug, plug & play.

 

[Brother Goose]

I spent several years playing fretless exclusively but have been off the wagon for quite some time - this thread is inspiring to put her on the stand in my living room for some evening attention (my family obliges me practicing quietly whilst Wife/daughter watch their PBS kids cartoons)

 

[Thumpin6string]

I can't read with a fretless or fretted, so, you have one up on me. Self taught and never learned to read music but learned theory. My fretless has lines, which helps with my intonation. As much as I love my fretted bass, there is just something about a fretless with a little chorus and reverb that sounds so melodic. So, for me, I love both.

 

[MegaSwing]

As a friend of mine once advised me, in a general way not restricted to any single discipline: Accept EVERY mechanical advantage.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Those of you who have seen my fretless videos know I tend not to go for mwah very much. I keep things subtle. I love Jaco, but I think players like Fernaundo Saunders and Sting really influence how I play fretless. After getting my MetroExpress, I realized that the tone that was most in my head a Bernard Edwards sort of tone like he had on "My Forbidden Lover," in others words, a punchy fretted tone with lots of mids and some treble. Oh well, as much as I love Jazz Basses, another Stingray would be handy for a beefier version of that tone.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Those of you who have seen my fretless videos know I tend not to go for mwah very much. I keep things subtle. I love Jaco, but I think players like Fernaundo Saunders and Sting really influence how I play fretless. After getting my MetroExpress, I realized that the tone that was most in my head a Bernard Edwards sort of tone like he had on "My Forbidden Lover," in others words, a punchy fretted tone with lots of mids and some treble. Oh well, as much as I love Jazz Basses, another Stingray would be handy for a beefier version of that tone.