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Unlined fretless?

#21
Wish I still had my unlined Fender Jazz :( In my experiance an unlined is the way to go. It will take the visual aspect (Peter-Gazing) out of your playing technique and improve your ability to play by feel and ear. I never considered myself much more than a hack on the bass until I picked up the unlined fretless.

My fretless was the last of my arsenal to go when I sold my equipment to fund my wedding. 7 years later when I started purchasing/playing again, I found myself playing like I never stopped. My ear was much keener than what I remembered it being. I attribute that entirely to the years I spent playing the fretless.

Just my two pennies.
 
#22
i hadnt ever really played a fretless until i got my first one, and it is unlined. i thought id never be able to play it, but it was actually a whole lot easier than i thought. mine has side position markers, and honestly, thats all i ever look at on my fretted basses, so once i got used to where i needed to put my fingers in order to hit the right pitch, i was off and running.
 
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#23
I have thought off and on about getting a fretless. That will be down the road a few years though, probably. Anyways always figured I would get a lined one but after reading some of these post I may end up getting an unlined one!!

So when you fret with your left hand on a fretless, where are you doing it at compared to a fretted bass? Is it in the same location or are you moving your fingers to where the frets would have been?
 
#24
bassguitarthund said:
I have thought off and on about getting a fretless. That will be down the road a few years though, probably. Anyways always figured I would get a lined one but after reading some of these post I may end up getting an unlined one!!

So when you fret with your left hand on a fretless, where are you doing it at compared to a fretted bass? Is it in the same location or are you moving your fingers to where the frets would have been?
Click to expand...

On my bass, my finger needs to be even with the fret markers or directly in between the markers. The markers mark the same positions as a fretted bass, ie, 3rd, 5th, 7th,etc
 
#25
bassguitarthund said:
I have thought off and on about getting a fretless. That will be down the road a few years though, probably. Anyways always figured I would get a lined one but after reading some of these post I may end up getting an unlined one!!

So when you fret with your left hand on a fretless, where are you doing it at compared to a fretted bass? Is it in the same location or are you moving your fingers to where the frets would have been?
Click to expand...

Where the frets would have been assuming they were located true. There is some compromise in fret location. Side markers on a fretless are located where the fret would be; they are located between frets on a fretted model.
 
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#26
bassguitarthund said:
I have thought off and on about getting a fretless. That will be down the road a few years though, probably. Anyways always figured I would get a lined one but after reading some of these post I may end up getting an unlined one!!

So when you fret with your left hand on a fretless, where are you doing it at compared to a fretted bass? Is it in the same location or are you moving your fingers to where the frets would have been?
Click to expand...

I feel that depends a lot on the setup and how it is done. When I set up my fretless I would do it pretty much the same as my usual bass's. Sort-of

Dial the bass in perfect pitch on open strings, check for harmonic pitch directly over the 12th "fret" markers, if not in perfect pitch adjust the bridge accordingly, and then engage the string directly on the 12th "fret" marker and check pitch. The whole idea is to have perfect pitch at open, harmonic and octave positions.

Then to answer your question with how I would set it up is in the middle of the "frets"
 
#27
I've been playing a long time and started playing fretless just a year ago. I found that lines were really not that helpful and mostly a distraction - they just got in the way. After a couple weeks I ended up selling the lined fretless and getting an unlined p-bass which I much prefer. If you are going to put in the time to learn fretless you'll probably outgrow the lines sooner than later - that was my experience at least. Unlined with side markers is the way to go IMO. Good luck!
 
#28
STRINGSLINGER said:
Wish I still had my unlined Fender Jazz :( In my experiance an unlined is the way to go. It will take the visual aspect (Peter-Gazing) out of your playing technique and improve your ability to play by feel and ear. I never considered myself much more than a hack on the bass until I picked up the unlined fretless.

My fretless was the last of my arsenal to go when I sold my equipment to fund my wedding. 7 years later when I started purchasing/playing again, I found myself playing like I never stopped. My ear was much keener than what I remembered it being. I attribute that entirely to the years I spent playing the fretless.

Just my two pennies.
Click to expand...

Ill back this up, and say that once I started getting the hang of the fretless, I noticed an improvement in my overall technique.
 
#29
My first electric bass I got was a Fender 1974 Precision fret less with a maple neck(no lines). Awesome instrument with a really sweet tone. Played only that for about 6 years and eventually got a MM Fretted Stingray. I switch back and forth between
Fretless/fretted basses depending on the type of music I'm playing. With the Fretless, I can play it in a way you would swear it was fretted. Go for it
 
#30
bass4u said:
My first electric bass I got was a Fender 1974 Precision fret less with a maple neck(no lines). Awesome instrument with a really sweet tone. Played only that for about 6 years and eventually got a MM Fretted Stingray. I switch back and forth between
Fretless/fretted basses depending on the type of music I'm playing. With the Fretless, I can play it in a way you would swear it was fretted. Go for it
Click to expand...

Nice, my fretless is a '78 fender p with a maple board
 
#31
Thanks for all the replies lads, some great advice given as always.

This issue has settled itself. I went to visit the guy who was selling the corvette this evening, 99% sure i was going to buy the bass. I tried it out and it sounded great even though it needs new strings and some adjustment to suit my likings. The fact that it didn't have fret markers didn't really throw me off hugely and I found I was able to replicate alot of things I would be able to play on a fretted bass.

Anyway, given that such a beautiful bass was on offer for such a great price, I just couldn't say no so I arrived home the proud owner of a warwick fretless. For better or for worse, it seems my adventures into the world of fretless bass will be of the unlined school.

Some pics of the new arrival, sorry about the quality, they were taken with an ipod.

IMG_0074.jpg



And a family picture . . .

IMG_0075.jpg
 
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#33
Congrats! It fits in really well with the rest of the family.

I too started playing fretless unlined, mostly because I loved the look of a solid, uninterrupted plank of wood as a fingerboard so much that I had to have one.
I think there's something special about an unlined fretless that inspired me to rise to the challenge even more, so I'm glad I took that route.
Good luck and keep rockin' :bassist:
 
#34
malicant said:
Thanks for all the replies lads, some great advice given as always.

This issue has settled itself. I went to visit the guy who was selling the corvette this evening, 99% sure i was going to buy the bass. I tried it out and it sounded great even though it needs new strings and some adjustment to suit my likings. The fact that it didn't have fret markers didn't really throw me off hugely and I found I was able to replicate alot of things I would be able to play on a fretted bass.

Anyway, given that such a beautiful bass was on offer for such a great price, I just couldn't say no so I arrived home the proud owner of a warwick fretless. For better or for worse, it seems my adventures into the world of fretless bass will be of the unlined school.

Some pics of the new arrival, sorry about the quality, they were taken with an ipod.

And a family picture . . .
Click to expand...

Way to go! That's an awful nice bass, looks like you did good!
 
#39
malicant said:
I'm sure this has come up before but it's a new issue for me.

Over the last few weeks, I've decided to get a fretless bass to add to my collection. I don't think I'll ever become a full time fretless man but I thin the sound of a fretless is amazing and I really think it would be cool to own one. By chance, there is a second hand warwick corv standard fretless for sale in my area at a great price so naturally, I'm thinking of making an offer.

The only thing that has me thinking is that the said bass in an unlined fretless and I was probably going to buy a lined bass. I don't espouse the belief that lined fretless basses are like training basses because after all, Jaco himself used a lined fretless. However, I'm wondering if a lined fretless would be better for someone with limited knowledge of the fretless bass.

On one hand, I'm tempted just to buy the warwick and learn to play it because it looks amazing and I think the unlined look is a little cooler.
Click to expand...

Since you're just getting into fretless, why buy an expensive one, at first? Lines, or not, you'll be able to look away or close your eyes if you want to ignore them. You'll have to do that at some point, anyway.

BTW- it's not that Jaco played a lined bass, he removed his own frets and filled the slots because that was the bass he was playing at the time. If the lines/slots are in the usual fret positions, you'll be pressing on, ahead of or behind them at different times, depending on what's needed. How far away from the lines will depend on the instrument's setup.

In any case, make sure the intonation is correct on whatever you buy- I bought a used Ibanez SD400L and it seemed OK at the store but when I got it home, I found that I was searching all over for just about every note and it was really hard to do anything that approached 'good'. I checked the intonation and it was all over the map, so I did my usual method of getting the harmonics right at the 7th, 19th and 24th fret positions (by making sure they line up, across the neck and the 24th were where they're supposed to be) and the difference was like night & day. No hunting for notes, no problem. I hate, hate, hate bad intonation and pitch errors and this was not negotiable for me. If I couldn't get the intonation right, I wouldn't have kept the bass. Yes, fretless playing includes sliding into, or out of, some notes. However, it doesn't mean that we should be sliding into or out of every note. We should be able to play ON the note, just like a fretted instrument, if necessary.
 

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