Should I get fretless?

[Brownie3rd]

Hi, I'm new here and just like the topic says I'm thinking of getting a fretless.
Now I know asking strangers online if you should buy something is pretty much always answered with a yes, but I thought I'd explain myself and get some advice.
First off, I'm not a bass player, I'm a guitarist and while I do own a bass it has largely gathered dust in the years I've owned it.
The main reasons I'm considering getting it are because I've always thought it'd be cool to have one, it's cheap and it'd be a birthday present. By cheap it's $300 AUD, and the same shop is selling a Squier mini P bass for $320 so you can better adjust that price to your currency.
I'm worried that it'll end up being a novelty that largely gathers dust despite my intentions to actually learn how to play it so what do you think I should do?

 

[bholder]

get one, practice on it, get your intonation down, it will improve your fretted accuracy as well.

 

[Les Fret]

If your other fretted bass is gathering dust and you don’t play much bass why bother buying a fretless? Better practice on the other one first. Unless the fretless will give you new inspiration to practice. If you want to be any good on fretless you need to invest a lot of time in it.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Hi, I'm new here and just like the topic says I'm thinking of getting a fretless.
Now I know asking strangers online if you should buy something is pretty much always answered with a yes, but I thought I'd explain myself and get some advice.
First off, I'm not a bass player, I'm a guitarist and while I do own a bass it has largely gathered dust in the years I've owned it.
The main reasons I'm considering getting it are because I've always thought it'd be cool to have one, it's cheap and it'd be a birthday present. By cheap it's $300 AUD, and the same shop is selling a Squier mini P bass for $320 so you can better adjust that price to your currency.
I'm worried that it'll end up being a novelty that largely gathers dust despite my intentions to actually learn how to play it so what do you think I should do?

And what is the mystery fretless? Is it lined (easier) or unlined ( harder).
Edit: is it the SX VEJ62FB lined fretless jazz? If so, anything SX is good value for the price. And don't let anyone tell you different. And if you decide it's not something you can get into after trying it out, you haven't blown heaps of do re mi. I say go for it.

P.s. if you do go ahead and get a fretless, there is a club on TB that has you covered for questions etc https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-fretless-club-part-iv.910686/page-302

 

[Brownie3rd]

Yeah that's the bass I'm looking at and thanks for the link, I''ll check it out while I think things through.

 

[amper]

Hi, I'm new here and just like the topic says I'm thinking of getting a fretless.
Now I know asking strangers online if you should buy something is pretty much always answered with a yes, but I thought I'd explain myself and get some advice.
First off, I'm not a bass player, I'm a guitarist and while I do own a bass it has largely gathered dust in the years I've owned it.
The main reasons I'm considering getting it are because I've always thought it'd be cool to have one, it's cheap and it'd be a birthday present. By cheap it's $300 AUD, and the same shop is selling a Squier mini P bass for $320 so you can better adjust that price to your currency.
I'm worried that it'll end up being a novelty that largely gathers dust despite my intentions to actually learn how to play it so what do you think I should do?

Buy a fretless if you like the sound of a fretless.

 

[Stylee Mousse]

A friend of mine gave me a Fretless and I was playing guitar in bands at the time and never played it.

once I started doing my own solo recordings I found it a cool limitation on my bass playing. Kept me simple, for a while. Then I started writing faux Mick karn parts and now I play and record it a lot!

go noodle on the one at the store until they throw you out. Is it fun? That will help you make a decision, not the internets…

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Get it. You probably can sell it for about the same price if you buy it used.

That being said I got three fretless basses that never get played live..

 

[JRA]

...what do you think I should do?

i think everyone should own at least one fretless...even if you don't have an interest in music!

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

I got a fretless to cop upright tones. I am getting older and my hands stay sore longer with the chunky upright neck. My Fender Player fretless comes pretty close(to upright) with Dogal flats and foam at the bridge. Sometimes my hands still get sore with electric, but only when I play alot of jazz. For $500 more you can get a professional level fretless(Player series) with low action and better tone, that will invite you to play more and not collect dust. i am just starting to get into envelope(auto wah) with the fretless also. I play by ear only and taught myself both upright and electric. The key is wanting to practice, not making yourself. I dunno, I like Steely Dan and that made me want to practice and play like Chuck Rainey(Steely Dan) and Alex Malheiros of Azymuth.

Edit: I had a 2020's Squier vintage vibe 70's fretless and it was really nice, had a super straight neck and could get the action low. The pickups were dope too. About $500 new. Some years are better than others for these runs.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Ask a silly question …



​

 

[Discount Bassy]

You are equally close to having two unused instruments and getting into fretless bass. Get into playing your bass. That will put you halfway to playing fretless bass. Banking on the lack of frets to inspire you is more of a gamble than playing what you have and being closer to your stated goal.

Spend the money on bass lessons.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Hi, I'm new here and just like the topic says I'm thinking of getting a fretless.
Now I know asking strangers online if you should buy something is pretty much always answered with a yes, but I thought I'd explain myself and get some advice.
First off, I'm not a bass player, I'm a guitarist and while I do own a bass it has largely gathered dust in the years I've owned it.
The main reasons I'm considering getting it are because I've always thought it'd be cool to have one, it's cheap and it'd be a birthday present. By cheap it's $300 AUD, and the same shop is selling a Squier mini P bass for $320 so you can better adjust that price to your currency.
I'm worried that it'll end up being a novelty that largely gathers dust despite my intentions to actually learn how to play it so what do you think I should do?

No

 

[Nightsprinter]

Yeah here's the deal. I come from a guitar background and have both fretted and fretless. When I started on bass, I started with a 6 string fretless. Despite having a fretted P Bass and one of the trendy 37-34" multiscale fretted bass, all I ever want to play are my fretless basses. Fretted do zero for me in terms of inspiration and feeling. Everyone's different so go ahead and explore. Buy the fretless if you want. If nothing more, it's fun to noodle on.

 

[Wesley R]

Probably not the best idea. Kinda fun and all, yet that penny will lose its shine pretty quickly.

 

[bholder]

If your other fretted bass is gathering dust and you don’t play much bass why bother buying a fretless? Better practice on the other one first. Unless the fretless will give you new inspiration to practice. If you want to be any good on fretless you need to invest a lot of time in it.

He's got a point, too - if you're not practicing with what you already have, is a fretless really going to make you want to practice more?

Unless you're practicing a lot, more gear is (almost) never the answer. (This is a trap I fall into myself, all to often.)

 

[soulstew]

There is only one way to find out.

Fortunately, it is a fairly inexpensive question to answer, and if it turns out the answer was no, you can sell it and be out very little money.

Satisfy your curiosity the only way you truly can.

 

[smoothbrain]

Yeah. Get the fretless. Get two. At least.

 

[GretschWretch]

i think everyone should own at least one fretless...even if you don't have an interest in music!

Says the guy who believes Viking warriors had their fretlesses set atop their funeral pyres and burned along with the remains.

 

[GretschWretch]

As I have aged, my musical preferences have gone away from your usual pop/rock stuff and, to a certain extent, even blues, over into Americana, traditional American music, and even Great Folk Scare-era Greenwich coffee-house folk. For these, I much prefer a fretless. In fact now, even if I am just noodling, I prefer to do it on a fretless. But, unlike OP at present, I already have a "user-niche" for my fretless.

I would like to know the factory that SX pictured above came from. The only other basses I have seen that bottle-opener headstock on are Crescents and Irins, both distant cousins of Glarry.