Poll: Fretless - lined or unlined, regrets?

[Watchootognbout]

So would you change the fingerboard on a lined fretless to one of the same material, but unlined?
Essentially changing the look but not the sound?

Yes!Exactly!It involves steaming and gradually peeling the fingerboard off.
Now I'm not about to do this any time soon,but it's nice to know it can be done.There's a video
somewhere.
Let me track it down.

 

[MD]

Yes!Exactly!It involves steaming and gradually peeling the fingerboard off.
Now I'm not about to do this any time soon,but it's nice to know it can be done.There's a video
somewhere.
Let me track it down.

Wouldn't it easier or less costly to just swap in a new neck w/ blank plank (if possible of course)? That way you'd have the side dot placement correct.

 

[Watchootognbout]

Wouldn't it easier or less costly to just swap in a new neck w/ blank plank (if possible of course)? That way you'd have the side dot placement correct.

Finding a unlined six string neck for a Tune TWB63 fretless is next to impossible.Here's that vid.

 

[Goldmember]

I have a lined J-Bass fretless. I didn't want to look too cool, ya dig?

 

[kesslari]

Yes!Exactly!It involves steaming and gradually peeling the fingerboard off.
Now I'm not about to do this any time soon,but it's nice to know it can be done.There's a video
somewhere.
Let me track it down.

Wow. For me, if it sounds great, why change for the look?
Good that we're all different.

 

[MD]

Finding a unlined six string neck for a Tune TWB63 fretless View attachment 673190 is next to impossible.

Gotcha. Guess it's not really an off the rack piece is it!

 

[kkaarrll]

View attachment 671280

Got my first unlined just under a month ago and I am loving it! Set it up with a pack of D'addario tapewounds and it's now my fave bass.
I've found it a lot easier to get on with than I imagined. Thanks to the side dots, no jedi mind-tricks required!

what is this?

 

[bucephylus]

I could care less what some other player chooses. As far as the appearance thing goes, while I am aware that is an important consideration to some players, to me, I will listen to the playing and then decide on whether the bass is happening or not. A bunch of pictures on TalkBass don't get it.

 

[IronLung1986]

Even though unlined can help develop your ear, it's going to take a lot of work to go from "I can tell if this note I played is in tune or not" to "I know this note is going to be in tune before I even play it". Knowing the note was out of tune after the fact is not good enough in most situations, especially studio work. So if you show up with an unlined fretless you better have that muscle memory down cold or you're going to look like a goof. For most of us, who are going to be splitting time between fretted and fretless, lines are the way to go. Take all the help you can get. It doesn't matter that unlined looks cooler; playing the part correctly makes you cool enough.

 

[jim777]

As long as it's fretless, it's all good Lines are for coloring outside of, not for describing an awesome instrument of beauty

 

[miles'tone]

what is this?

It's a Harley Benton HB550fl.

 

[40Hz]

Makes no difference to me at all since it has no effect on the sound. My current fretless is unlined. I've owned both lined and unlined in the past. IMO the insistence on an unlined neck is mostly an 'ego' thing.

 

[jaeman111]

I prefer unlined, and just added this to my collection after a number of years without a fretless.

 

[Ghook]

i have both. unlined is really cool but requires attentiveness and more ear to play. I have one jazz neck that is 'micro-lined' and it is the coolest of 'em all. it has lines that are only about 3/8" long. it looks lined from the top edge, and unlined from the front. I wish all mine were like this. It is an beauty too; ovankol with coated pau ferro board.

No doubt the best unlined neck face yet...really elegant, no wonder it's your favorite

 

[Ghook]

Tradition, visuals and an outlier's vibe has always resonated with me. Kicker HD's, Black Powder Colts, Unlined , preferably ebony , Fretless bass guitars. These are a few of my favorite things

 

[B-Mac]

Did you make the right choice with fretless fingerboard markings? Did you go unlined and wish you had lines? Vise versa?

Or did you get it right?

Rezz'd thread...I'll play

Unlined all the way.

The biggest thing that helped me get started was having identical fretted and fretless basses where I could get a better idea of where my fingers should be on the fretless.

Only problem is some fretless have side dots where the frets are and other have the side dots in between where the frets would be.

I own an 4 string ABG fretless, a 4 string solid body fretless, a 5 solid body string fretless (E-A-D-G-C)

I just prefer the unlined look as well.

 

[JRA]

unlined from the beginning. right up through this thread in 2015 to the present day.

lines throw me off. just like frets.

 

[amper]

No regrets.

2000 Ernie Ball/Music Man StingRay piezo "玉子 (Tamako)"

2002 Warwick Custom Shop Corvette Proline short scale "熊子 (Kumako)"

I've never owned a lined fretless, and I can't imagine why I'd want one. Frets and fretlines are always inherently a compromise, when it comes to intonation. With frets, you're locked in, but with a lined fretless, you have a visual cue that actually intereferes with you learning where the note is in tune in each song, because your brain wants to trust that line, no matter what.

Most electric fretless instruments have side dots, and that is all the cue you really need (or even want).

 

[foal30]

I have a lined J-Bass fretless. I didn't want to look too cool, ya dig?

My fretless Jazz is a defret so yeah it's defintly lined
I'd like a '70s factory fretless Precision
And/or a MusicMan or Tobias Growler

 

[J_Bass]

I have dark lines. You can see them up close, otherwise it looks unlined.