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Poll: Fretless - lined or unlined, regrets?

Are you happy with your fretless choice?

  • Lined, should have chosen unlined.

    Votes: 14 4.2%

  • Unlined, should have chosen lined.

    Votes: 10 3.0%

  • Lined & lovin' it.

    Votes: 129 38.6%

  • Unlined & lovin' it.

    Votes: 181 54.2%
  • Total voters
    334
#43
I have several "bass heros" that play or played fretless. Gary Willis, Jaco, Percy Jones and Jimmy Johnson. Percy is the only one that usually played unlined. I play lined fretless because it makes it easier to keep my intonation together. If I played only electric bass, I might play an unlined fretless, however, most of my work is on upright and I own three fretless basses....two are 34" scale and one is a 35" scale.

I'll take the lines, please.
 
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#44
Doner Designs said:
How does one use their ear? In other words, let's say your finger lands 1-2 mm from the perfect spot based on feel/eyeballing - when playing do you immediately roll the finger to fine tune the pitch by ear or does the expression of using your ear mean something else??
Click to expand...

Yes. You basically almost always land right next, but not exactly on the right spot and roll towards it, at least for the notes that aren't too short. Look up Steve Bailey's tutorials on this. He explains this perfectly.
 
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#45
Lined but faintly...H.G.Thor epoxy fretless mod w/maple lines. Lined enough to see, but still looks unlined from the front row.
image.jpg
 
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#46
ProfFrink said:
Yes. You basically almost always land right next, but not exactly on the right spot and roll towards it, at least for the notes that aren't too short. Look up Steve Bailey's tutorials on this. He explains this perfectly.
Click to expand...

Yup. The downside of "using your ear" means the audience already heard you play the note wrong. The worst examples result in guys sliding into every note they play, which just sounds tacky on an electric fretless IMO. Getting your hands in the right place before you play is what's important, which means utilizing every tool you have available, which can include ears, eyes, side dots, lines, muscle memory, etc.

Unfortunately we don't get the physical reminder points you get with the shorter, more tactile neck of an upright. Unless you're playing a Wishbass. Then you can determine what register you're in by how many splinters you get :D
 
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#48
I don't have an issue with lines. Play what you want, just play it well and in tune.
My issue with lined basses is with the side dots, they're off by a quarter tone. The vast majority at least. I play 100% fretless, always have music in front of me, and when I glance down for a reference, I expect the position markers to be in the correct location. Unlined basses tend to have this.
 
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#51
DriesG said:
If you can hear the lines on my fretless with your eyes closed, I'll pay you some beers. If I can hear you play out of tune on your unlined, do I get the beers? Seriously: "using your ear" more when playing an unlined is IMHO nonsense.
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FWIW, there were several serious studies that were conducted back in the 50s on the accuracy of a player's intonation on a string instrument with a marked vs unmarked fingerboard. In every case the intonation got better with a marked neck - including the players who were extremely accurate on the unmarked variety.

The conclusion was there was no real musical advantage to going with an unmarked neck. And that the preference for one was guided purely by aesthetics, tradition, and a desire to maintain appearances. The researchers could find no compelling argument for using unmarked fingerboards, whereas the lined fingerboards conferred positive benefits.

So if you're someone who is more comfortable with lines, there's no need to apologize or make excuses.

For my part, I don't care whether a neck has markers or not. I go by how easily and reliably I can hit the notes I intend to hit and how good it sounds. There are some fretless basses that "just work" for me.There's a Warwick Corvette and a Godin I own where I can hit anything I want dead on each and every time. One has lines, the other doesn't. I've also tried many other fretless basses that I had to really work hard at playing accurately. Some had lined necks while others didn't. So i don't think it's purely the markings on the neck that determine the accuracy of your playing. How the instrument hangs, the angle of the neck at it's natural position, the type and gauge of strings, the taper and radius of the neck... and so on are all contributing factors to how well you get on with a fretless bass. Or any other bass for that matter. At least in my experience.

So my advice has always been, if you're considering getting a fretless model, to find one you can play. And once you do, just ignore the name on the headstock, the model, and what all your 'cool' friends are telling you you should be playing instead.

The fretless that will work for you is out there. All you need to do is keep auditioning them until you find it.
 
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#53
40Hz said:
How the instrument hangs, the angle of the neck at it's natural position, the type and gauge of strings, the taper and radius of the neck... and so on are all contributing factors to how well you get on with a fretless bass. Or any other bass for that matter.
Click to expand...

+1! Might I add intonation setting at the bridge does make a big difference, more specific in the solo register (above the 12th fret).
 
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#55
@RodneyMac - Oh man! You just had to post that picture didn't you? Now I'm stuck with a full blown case of GAS for one of these epoxy reworks. I have the perfect bass for it too...

Thank all that's holy he has a 4 year backlog. That may give me enough time to get over it. Or maybe not since he does offer an expedited semi jump the queue option...

Damn...damn...damn...damn...damn!!! :crying:
 
#57
My Jaco fretless J-Bass is lined and also has dots. Works for me and I enjoy playing it. The sound of the bass with the flats is good to my ear. As I've played with frets since forever and my work life limits the amount of time I have to play as it is, I just wanted to get into the fretless sound quickly and use the subtle lines for my guidance and benefit. No regrets and really don't care if anyone looks down on me for it.
 
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#60
Unlined here. a fellow bassist lent me a lined fretless for a month and I realized lined were distracting me. Maybe because my first contact with the bass world was with a upright.

I also played a Stingray 5 unlined fretless and was great. Was the first time I picked up a fretless. The drummer told me I had really good pitch. Well, I think I got really good trained ears.
 

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