What complications did you not expect when going fretless?

[Slevage]

But that still ****s them up (at least it did in my case). Now what? When does their inability become your responsibility? And I'm not trying to be snarky here. If it messes with them and thus their musical delivery, I won't do it. But it makes me wonder.

Have them study some Pink Floyd stuff,
Piano stuff....
Blues players bending strings....

 

[jblock]

Way back when I first started playing fretless I thought lines would help. They didn't. Unlined is the best way to go. It forces you to use your ears more and you can quickly get adept at rolling your finger slightly left or right if your intonation is ever off.

 

[tb-player]

I quickly learned that not every note needs a slide or a heavy vibrato (it gets old quick!). Play it straight, like a fretted instrument. Use the ‘effects’ sparingly and tastefully.

 

[GretschWretch]

I don't like lines. At best they are a distraction and at worst can be a source of confusion. Give me a bare 'board with side dots any day.

Of course, sometimes to get the bass you have to accept the lines. Peavey Foundation, Daion Savage.

 

[Andy Daventry]

Lack of treble! I swapped out a fretted neck for a fretless neck and all my treble disappeared! Same bass, pickups, strings -- but a totally different tone.
Sadly I had to sell it but I'm sure I'll get another fretless someday.

Yes. I wasn't expecting to have to EQ the thing differently. But I learned. I found myself going for a "full range flat response" more than with fretted basses, and giving more of a boost at 800hz. I also found myself consciously moving my right hand further towards the bridge than I did with my fretted bass.

And I wasn't expecting for the bass just to sound quite so...naturally good. And responsive. Expressive.

 

[micguy]

Playing fretless bass didn't bring any real surprises for me. The first instrument I ever played was violin, a fretless instrument where it's much more obvious when you're out of tune, and that demands you be ridiculously precise about finger positions. After that, fretless bass was a comparative cake walk in the park.

 

[skyline_01]

The biggest thing for me was just realizing how damn accurate you have to be on the fingerboard, and that the notes between the side dots (I play unlined) are NOT actually dead center. Luckily I have a really good sense of pitch (swear I'm not bragging) so that was/is extremely helpful.

For me there's no real substitute for just sitting down with a tuner and playing chromatically up the board, finding where each one is in tune. Relying on your ears is key, of course, but having a visual means is crucial too IMO.

 

[Eddie LeBlanc]

Finding the right strings....... and very dependent on which bass too.

So far using, Rotosound 88s on a few, LaBella Gold Tapes, Labella Purple Haze....
Just hard to pair strings with basses, and not spend a fortune.

 

[Wisebass]

I did not expect that my ears grow that big!

greetings

Wise(b)ass

 

[ONYX]

The only "complication" I've encountered is that other people stopped asking me if they could "sit in" with the band. They take one look at that un-lined fretless and do a 180.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Imagine the chaos with all of the violins,violas,cellos and double basses in an orchestra doing that.

That brought this to mind. I always loved the section starting at 14:45 in this wonderful recording:

 

[DavC]

mine was shocking ...

swapped necks with a friend back in the 80's ... sounded like fun to try fretless ... but ;

having gone deaf in my left ear in the mid 70's ( viral infection ) ... and doing a lot of singing while playing bass ..

i always paid close attention to where my vocal monitor was , but my bass amp was placed just somewhere behind me since bass freqs go everywhere .. but for the life of me ( without any prior practice ) i could Not keep my voice and bass both in tune while singing and playing ..!! i guess my bass was my pitch reference for singing , since the rest of the band was on my Bad side ( on my left = deaf ear ) ... it was a long frustrating night ...

swapped necks back the next day ..!

 

[arbiterusa]

The only "complication" I've encountered is that other people stopped asking me if they could "sit in" with the band. They take one look at that un-lined fretless and do a 180.

That's the best.

The one rando who was willing to "go there" panicked and ran when I informed him that the bass was also tuned BEAD (which, that night, it was).

My buddy knows if he wants to sit in he'd better bring his own, which he does.

 

[Inky13]

The only real complication is that it's much more important to be able to hear yourself clearly at a gig than with a fretted bass. It can be disastrous if you can't.

You got it. At a recent gig, I was standing right over the sub.
Could not hear at all. It was an adventure.

 

[lz4005]

You got it. At a recent gig, I was standing right over the sub.
Could not hear at all. It was an adventure.

I've had that many times. You can always tell you're playing a note, but usually not which one...and that's on fretted bass.

 

[Lunatique]

I just got my first fretless very recently (without ever having played one before).

I think the greatest surprise for me, was how just after playing fretless for a very short amount of time, picking up a fretted bass again immediately feels...clunky. The frets just felt intrusive and the neck so inelegant in comparison to the smooth like butter feel of a fretless neck. I totally didn't know that was going to happen. Other than that, I think the main complication is how you can't really get a great slap sound, but that's to be expected since there are no frets for the strings to hit against.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I think the greatest surprise for me, was how just after playing fretless for a very short amount of time, picking up a fretted bass again immediately feels...clunky. The frets just felt intrusive and the neck so inelegant in comparison to the smooth like butter feel of a fretless neck. I totally didn't know that was going to happen.

If I play only fretless for a significant amount of time, I too, feel that way when playing any of my fretted basses.

 

[FeltTipPen]

Don’t know if someone’s already mentioned it in this thread, but I found that I have to practice more often to keep my intonation accurate.

It’s a good complication as I have had more time for practice lately!

 

[watgbass]

I’m really curious into diving into that realm even though I’m just a novice and wanted some advice from those who play fretless?

Just a recommendation... Practice playing your fretted bass with your fretting fingers landing right on top of the frets rather than between them to get an idea of how accurate you will have to be. Don't dig in too much, just feel for it.

Peace.

 

[tri2bob]

I have played fretless for quite some time. For awhile my intonation got worse the higher up the neck I played. Finally I realized the intonation on the bass was not set correctly. Once I set the intonation correctly my intonation problems were greatly reduced..they never completely go away for anyone.. I've heard some great musicians talk about struggling at times on a gig with intonation.... It's a matter of degree mostly. I've struggled for good intonation on a few gigs and no one else noticed and the videos sounded great..