Unlined or Lined: Irrelevant?

[Lagado]

Lined, I want to be able to say I play fretless bass fo sho

Sounds like music to my ears, when things are correctly intonated as such. On you go with that barren bare desert of a fretboard of yours, I'll take the lines. Especially after this.

 

[bassrique]

The comparison to an upright is flawed. The upright changes shape and then the body is there as a guide.

A bass guitar is a guitar. It's a long plank of wood sticking away from the body, thus lots harder to play in tune.

If you like to play up and down the neck, a lined bass is likely appropriate.

 

[Stewie]

It's comical that the same statements are being made over and over and over again. I guess many don't have the time to read 12 pages of this blither before they comment..

 

[Charlzm]

I have only had lined fretless for the last decade. Even with the lines, my intonation leaves something to be desired, so... it would only be worse without the "training wheels".

 

[zon6c-f]

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.

When ordering my Zon years ago, I chose lined fretless in order to have a visual reference in order to be more accurate. My 2c

 

[Nutmeg]

It's comical that the same statements are being made over and over and over again. I guess many don't have the time to read 12 pages of this blither before they comment..

I’ll be honest, made it to page 5 then skipped on over to page 11. Gotta save time for practice or else one’s liable to be stuck in Talkbass land for who knows how long.

 

[deernaes]

I really thought it was necessary for me to have lines on my neck.
But then, one miraculous day, I was playing my fretless (in tune) and realized that I
wasn't even paying attention to the fretboard.
It was an epiphany!

 

[Copperhead]

It's comical that the same statements are being made over and over and over again. I guess many don't have the time to read 12 pages of this blither before they comment..

All I know is all the fretless debate kicked off by Dr Cheese's fretless GAS attacks has moved me to dust off my fretless several days back and have been playing it with renewed interest. It's challenging and refreshing. It has lines and I'm glad to have them, but I also note increased attention to my technique and intonation.
I don't have any axe to grind lines or no lines, knock yourself out, I'm enjoying the slick feel and mwah of Roto flats. Play on.

 

[Stewie]

You scared me for a second, until I saw "flats". My Pbass still has some fairly deep grooves from my days with Rotosound rounds

 

[Copperhead]

You scared me for a second, until I saw "flats". My Pbass still has some fairly deep grooves from my days with Rotosound rounds

They are, more accurately, tapewounds. They are perfect for fretless, IMHO.

 

[PWRL]

I prefer unlined with side dots. Ebony if possible.

 

[JRA]

Unlined or Lined: Irrelevant?



It depends.

 

[dkelley]

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.

The positions of fret lines are not correct??

Either you're putting your finger in the middle of the line (instead of stopping the string exactly in the middle of the line as intended... because fingers are fat when pressed so have to be positioned according to the edge of finger when pressed), or the basses you've played had intonation and or nut slot cutting issues (which is very possible).

 

[rtav]

I've owned both kinds - a lined fretless Jazz bass and an unlined Carvin LB76f (6 string).

The difference is minimal.

 

[Matte Black]

Uneducated $0.02.
I like the looks of unlined but just like fret blocks/dots I feel like they don’t help me at all but they do help I’m a jam setting for those playing with me. I like all mine to be naked but sometimes when a guitar player doesn’t have marks I can goof a pattern up in a jam because of my laziness.

 

[rickster4003]

Lined or unlined, don't matter to me, I like'em both!

 

[SteveCS]

Unlined, more in tune with looking the part, than actually being in tune with the part. All fo' sho'.

Each to his own, I guess...

In fact, pitch perception is actually an aptitude that can be measured, but literally can not be taught or learned. It is to varying degrees in our genetic codes. The Johnson O’Connor Foundation has literally decades of measurement and data that do not disprove this.

The other two musical aptitude’s are tonal memory and rhythmic memory; both of which can also be measured. I measured 96th, 87th and 82nd percentiles respectively when I was tested. Brutally honest tests. I thought that was pretty good; but, they advised me to seek other occupations, since there are others out there with all three in the upper 90’s. Ah, nature....

Funny you should mention it. My great-grandparents on my father's side were professional musicians around the trun of the last century, my father has a very good ear even without any formal training and my daughter is outdoing all of us thus far, and had pretty good intonation from the get-go. I don't remember her having position dots on her 'cello for more than a couple of weeks.

 

[kirkdickinson]

I play both. I find that if I have anything that requires tapping, I am much more likely to tap in pitch with the lines than without.

 

[Les Fret]

[QUOTE="mmon77, post: 23710672, member: 121725]

Steve DiGiorgio plays some unlined, and so does Pino. Do they have poor intonation?
[/QUOTE]

Pino doesn't. Steve does not have the best intonation.

 

[40Hz]

When it comes to most things like that in music it’s only as big a deal or issue as your mind decides to make it. I’ve got lined and unlined fretless necks. And neither one makes any difference to me. I just play the thing in my hands and don’t get bogged down worrying about the trivial details.

If you want to play an unlined neck - or a lined neck - just do it.