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Unlined or Lined: Irrelevant?

#181
I prefer unlined. For me, I have this psychological issue with the lined fretless, being that my mind doesn't want me to place my finger directly on top of the line. I've played fretted basses for so long, and it's a no-no to put your finger directly on top of the fret. So when I play a lined fretless, I always end up behind the line, and I'm consistently flat. With the unlined, my intonation is actually better.
 
#182
alangrus said:
If you are a child, learning Bass, lines are fine.
If you are a grown-up, its horribly wrong.
No one in the orchestra has "lines" on their stringed instruments.

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The great Edgar Meyer has dots on his double bass. I think some people have criticized him for that but same guys are not as good as Edgar Meyer. So is Lauren Pierce from Discover Double Bass. You should hear her solo works.
 
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#184
I have both. One is unlined because that's the way it was built, and the other is lined...because that's the way it was built. The only time it made a difference was on a gig where I couldn't hear ANYTHING I was playing and used the lines to get it as close as I could. No one complained so I guess it worked.

I think comfort and familiarity are way more important than lines, so I always advocate getting a fretless version of your main bass when possible.
 
#186
Lagado said:
That's something that after playing lined and unlined fretless for over 33 years, I would never say. Even Willis has his moments and he knows it.
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So let me qualify a bit. The average ear struggles to resolve +/-10 cents. Thanks to years of formal ear training at a very young age, about 10 years before I picked up a bass, my ears start really protesting at +/-5 cents. Most of the time I hit within, and can hear errors at, +/-3 cents, so I will be correcting errors that most people can't even detect.
 
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#187
Lagado said:
I'm waiting for someone to come up with a reason why it would be an advantage to play an unlined fretless. What possible benefit would removing a visual aid to intonation provide?
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Removal of a distraction that causes confusion would be the benefit, at least for me. I spent the summer at my parents' place and only had access to a lined fretless. I normally played fretted or unlined fretless basses. My eyes are used to looking for either presence or absence of dots when shifting up and down the neck. Having side dots in the middle of the lines, as is the case on the lined fretless that I played in the summer, threw me way off. I'm not talking about intonation here, I'm talking about being half a semitone or a semitone off doing shifts that I'd normally have no problem with.

Of course, grains of salt and whatnot: if I spent enough time with lined fretless basses, I would probably have no issues. Or maybe I'm just too stupid to find better visual cues :roflmao:
 
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#188
JRA said:
but this time, in this thread: i think the 'liners' got defensive, more or less spontaneously, and we were off to the races! that's not exactly a surprise around this joint --- happens all the time!* :)
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Truth.

I've never disparaged anyone for playing a lined fretless. You do you.

I'm just baffled by those that feel it's impossible to have good intonation without lines.
 
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#190
So my preference is unlined, but ultimately it doesn't matter.
Grew up playing violin. When we were beginners the teacher put tape marks on what would be 1,2,3,5,7,9,12 notes. By the time we grew a little confidence, or when we got the next larger size instrument there was no longer a need and the teacher would remove the tape lines. I've played fretted and fretless (lined and unlined). So for me, the issue is whether you look at your spot on the fingerboard. If you watch your hand to visibly confirm you are on the desired fret you will probably prefer lined. If you tend to not watch your hand (i.e. reading sheet or performing a rehearsed number) you probably won't miss the lines at all within a very short time. Even unlined typically have clay dots on 3,5,7,9,12. etc. In my seriously useless opinion an unlined fingerboard is aesthetically pleasing. If you're still on the fence
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It's cheap, it's easily removable and won't smudge your bass.
 
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#193
When I started playing fretless, I started with a lined one because I was afraid the unlined would be too difficult for me to adapt. It's a Rob Allen Deep 4, and I loved the tone so much I probably would have bought it whether it was lined or not. I have since purchased an unlined 5-string with dot markers at the fret positions. It was pretty awkward to play at first, but it didn't take long to adapt. If you have good technique on a fretted bass, it translates very well to good intonation on a fretless, lined or not.

I prefer the look of the unlined, but play what you like the best. From an audience perspective, most people don't care what the bass player is playing, and wouldn't know the difference between fretted or fretless, whether it has lines or not. The only people that would really notice are the other bass players, and they would know just by the tone that you're playing a fretless.
 
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#194
Dr. Cheese said:



I was playing that Tony Franklin again. My teacher really discouraged unlined fretless, but I am confident that I could be competent on an unlined fretless if I bought one. Once I thought about some more, I really thought why am I worried about lined or unlined fingerboards? Fretless depends on a good ear and muscle memory whether a bass has lines or not. I just need to practice on the basses I own already. I do not want to fall into the trap I was in when I was young of worrying about a 24 fret bass instead of buckling down and learning the fretboard and theory. That Tony Franklin is sweet, but someone else can have it.
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#196
I personally prefer lines. No, it's not as aesthetically pleasing and doesn't make you look as cool. Yes, your intonation is in your ears and your fingers, yes you do need to use proper technique and have good muscle memory.

The thing is, on a 34" scale bass, every tiny mistake is audible, and I want every bit of help I can get. I've had unlined fingerboards, and I can play them just fine, but not as precisely or as fast as lined ones. I'm also sure I would get there eventually if I chose to exclusively play unlined.

Lined is simply less of a learning curve, and I don't personally see why you would make anything harder on yourself than it needs to be.
 
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#197
could use temporary position markers if you wanted, some of the fretboard decals I see are very nice.

I agree with most teachers that the visual aspect will reinforce the muscle memory and learning rate / competence , but at what % ?
At what point does the sheer practice time override the advantage of fret lines?
 
#199
I learned on fretless starting in 1988. I have always played without lines. They feel weird (unless sealed over), their positions are not “correct” for playing fretless, and they distract me. Plus I just don’t dig the way they look. The exception on that last point is one that I played which had the original frets left in...but filed down totally flush with the board. That looked kind of cool. Still didn’t want to buy the bass, though.
 

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