Unlined for First Fretless?

[MarkF786]

Brief background: mid-50s guy who's been playing instruments for 35-40 years, mostly guitar and keyboarded instruments. The past couple years I've become attracted to bass, and it gets most attention. I'm pretty good with skill - had a Guitar Craft background, so I focus on technique a lot. But I'm not a "natural" with perfect pitch.

I want to buy a fretless, and my mind immediately thinks "lined". But sadly, some basses I like aren't lined.

Would I be crazy to consider a first fretless bass as unlined?

 

[Stylee Mousse]

You would not be crazy.

Buy what you like!

I was given an unlined Fretless years ago and, being in the middle of a guitar playing phase, had it sit for a while. When I got back into bass I found it a fun and challenging instrument with LOTS of potential for nuance.

I have always been a “on top of the fret” guy so it was already wired in.
Also not perfect pitch but Fretless makes me better.

Ask yourself - how much time do you spend looking at your guitar fretboard? For me it’s almost not at all.

 

[roccobass]

No. You’re not crazy. I say go for it. It might take a little practice to make sure you’re intonated and steady on, but it’s worth it. I started on an unlined. I now have 3 unlined basses. By the way, most come with side dots too so that’s a bit of help in that area.

 

[pingvuiini]

I started out on an old fretless Jazz bass and I drew lines with a pencil. It certainly helped out and when I was proficient enough I could erase or sand the pencil lines off. More important to me are the side dots: on all my fretless basses I have the side dots located at the the fret line (not in between) and I include the first fret. If I had to defret a bass and fill in the existing lines then the side dots would be in between the frets and would drive me bonkers.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Brief background: mid-50s guy who's been playing instruments for 35-40 years, mostly guitar and keyboarded instruments. The past couple years I've become attracted to bass, and it gets most attention. I'm pretty good with skill - had a Guitar Craft background, so I focus on technique a lot. But I'm not a "natural" with perfect pitch.

I want to buy a fretless, and my mind immediately thinks "lined". But sadly, some basses I like aren't lined.

Would I be crazy to consider a first fretless bass as unlined?

You could split the difference with the sweet Godin in the TB classifieds.
I prefer lined, but no, starting with unlined is not crazy.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Do it!

 

[buldog5151bass]

Depends on how much time you expect to put into it. Yes if it is something you will play regularly. If not, better to get a lined. No downside to it.

 

[ardgedee]

If you can, try both.

There's a lot of back-and-forth here about whether you should be watching your fingers, but in reality if your posture is good you can't really see the fretboard anyway, so marks on the side of the neck might be all you need.

 

[MrAB4003]

Brief background: mid-50s guy who's been playing instruments for 35-40 years, mostly guitar and keyboarded instruments. The past couple years I've become attracted to bass, and it gets most attention. I'm pretty good with skill - had a Guitar Craft background, so I focus on technique a lot. But I'm not a "natural" with perfect pitch.

I want to buy a fretless, and my mind immediately thinks "lined". But sadly, some basses I like aren't lined.

Would I be crazy to consider a first fretless bass as unlined?

It's totally up to you. I was born with absolute pitch and I recently chose a lined fretless for my first. I'm glad I did.

Tony Franklin (AKA The Fretless Monster) prefers unlined fretless basses because most intervals are not perfectly subdivided. He shows this on a YouTube video on his channel. The fret lines represent perfect subdivisions, which don't exist naturally in chords and harmonies. I agree with him in terms of music theory, but I still prefer lines on my fretless as references. So when making chords, I don't mind placing my fingers between the lines.

 

[onda'bass]

I did and turned out well.

 

[mikeswals]

You already know what pitch is, no problem for you to start on a blank fretless. Look at kids that have started on upright without having picked up an instrument before.

 

[sean_on_bass]

you'll adapt to either after enough time on the instrument. i'd say to prioritize the bass you want regardless of lines or no lines.

 

[JRA]

Would I be crazy to consider a first fretless bass as unlined?

hardly! i think you'd be crazy not to consider it!

 

[MarkF786]

You guys are awful enablers.

I'm jonesing for a Rob Allen MB-2, but I'm kinda picky.

The Ibanez Gary Willis GWB205 is tempting.

But I would like a Stingray. The 'design your own' thing does offer a lined bass, but none of the normal runs seem to be lined - thus my question.

 

[Watchootognbout]

For your consideration:It's much harder to play in tune above the nineteenth "fret" without lines.
But that's no problem if you have no intent on playing up in the "Ionosphere"

 

[Thom Fioriglio]

Hmm, I am going to go against the tide here and say get a lined fretless first. My personal preference is an unlined fretless. I have a Tony Franklin Fender P Fretless and love it. I've owned lined boards. They are good for getting your bearings and starting out. And if you like, then move to an unlined board. As others have suggested, if you can, try one of each first.

However, since you are an experienced musician, you should do fine on an unlined board.

 

[roccobass]

For your consideration:It's much harder to play in tune above the nineteenth "fret" without lines.
But that's no problem if you have no intent on playing up in the "Ionosphere"

LOL on the Ionosphere! I've noticed it can get dicey up there too unlined, but I live dangerously anyhow!
The key is to keep moving when you're up there. A nice well placed slide is a good one.
Work on your vibrato especially when climbing Everest. Hey, vocalists do it all the time so why can't we?

 

[MCS4]

My first fretless was unlined, and I used it live for a couple songs per gig in an original hard rock band with no real issues. For playing typical bass lines in the lower register I don't think it makes that much of a difference, and I think if you are going to commit a lot of time to learning fretless you can play anything on unlined (obviously, people have been playing unlined fretless string instruments to play incredible technical material for many years).

That being said, I do personally prefer lined these days, and that is because of a combination of the fact that (1) I like to play upper register stuff, relatively complex rock/metal/prog parts, and sometimes chords, and (2) I play fretted 95% of the time, so I simply don't devote enough time to fretless to develop sufficient muscle memory and familiarity to play that type of stuff fluently and cleanly without the lines as a reference.

 

[InhumanResource]

Brief background: mid-50s guy who's been playing instruments for 35-40 years, mostly guitar and keyboarded instruments. The past couple years I've become attracted to bass, and it gets most attention. I'm pretty good with skill - had a Guitar Craft background, so I focus on technique a lot. But I'm not a "natural" with perfect pitch.

I want to buy a fretless, and my mind immediately thinks "lined". But sadly, some basses I like aren't lined.

Would I be crazy to consider a first fretless bass as unlined?

Unlined is the way to go!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Absolutely. Lines are a HUGE leg up in accurate intonation. After years of practice, you may develop the muscle memory to not need the lines, but if this won't be your primary bass, it's the difference between getting more or less in tune immediately and months or years of "approximation" , in other words slightly out of tune, all the time. Some people argue you can't see the lines, which is poppycock, if you can see the frets on your bass while playing, you can see the lines.They are no more a "crutch" than frets, which nobody seems to mind. Watch vieos of Jaco and Mark Egan among many others) playing fretless, both lined players,and they look at the board ALL THE TIME, and so they play in tune.