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What is your experience on fretless basses?

Sergius Durante

Sergius Durante

May 21, 2019
219
136
#1
I’ve tried a few 5-6 string basses, never had much chance to vary as I only have a guitar center in my town and for the next 140 miles that has the same cheap Ibanez basses, but once there was a Carvin Lb70 4 string fretless that felt good despite the acorn sized truss rod nut looking kinda fragile and as a fretless it felt good and I must say my intonation was not that bad for a first time fretless user :D (I made sure as I have an ear for out of tune stuff)

My question is do fretless basses feel easier for some of you? Do anyone of you own any Fretless 5-6 stringed basses? Do any of you have recommendations?

I feel faster on it whilst keeping my intonation well, as well as things like tapping felt so much easier than on my fretted Geddy Lee bass (and I play in a three piece metal band so playing fast is required to keep the temp while my guitar player solos) The only six string I have been able to try was the ESP LTD B206 and B205, which felt good but could use a better setup and bridge (the ones on there have bad sustain and are kinda cheap, but some versions have Emg’s that may or may not he active along with active 3 band eq)
 
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#3
Easier, no...just different. I swap between fretted and fretless often. I don't play 6-string, but I do have two fretless 5-strings, a Rob Allen MB2 and a US Spector. I love them both. I have several other 4 string fretless basses, a 4001S Ric, an Alembic Orion, and Tony Franklin.

Don't forget that Guitar Center will ship things in from other stores. I've found some fantastic finds at Guitar Center that I've bought from other stores and had shipped to my local one. You're under no obligation to keep the instrument if you don't like it once you get it.
 
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#5
Titania said:
Easier, no...just different. I swap between fretted and fretless often. I don't play 6-string, but I do have two fretless 5-strings, a Rob Allen MB2 and a US Spector. I love them both. I have several other 4 string fretless basses, a 4001S Ric, an Alembic Orion, and Tony Franklin.

Don't forget that Guitar Center will ship things in from other stores. I've found some fantastic finds at Guitar Center that I've bought from other stores and had shipped to my local one. You're under no obligation to keep the instrument if you don't like it once you get it.
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Ill have to try that out, I suppose easier was not the right word as I had to get used to it and focus on the fret dots on the side really hard to keep myself intonated. But things like tapping, 2-3 finger, and two handed tapping felt easier for me
 
#8
spiritbass said:
I can play in tune on one, but am unwilling to put in the time to learn how to sound really good.
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Ahh, well I don’t own one but if I did I would try to get good sound out if it. Fretless basses with the different sound they output can make for some interesting bass lines or riffs from what I’ve heard.

So don’t fret (bad joke sorry), try a bit more and I bet you won’t regret it :)
 
#9
I've had 5... only have 1 now, the ESP.

Ibanez ATK 300 FL (4-string)
Fender Jazz Fretless (4-string, Mexican)
Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5-string Acoustic/Electric with tapewound strings... originally came with roundwounds
Carvin Icon5 Fretless 5-string
ESP LTD B2055M-FL 5-string

I gigged with the Ibanez ATK fretless in the late 90's with cover band. I used it for sets featuring songs with Drop D turning. Sounded great playing RATM, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Live and STP covers. It sounded like a fretted bass until I would slide up and down the strings... had a very aggressive, punchy attack.

Recorded several original tracks with Michael Kelly and Carvin fretless basses.
 
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#10
ElectricBass72 said:
I've had 5... only have 1 now, the ESP.

Ibanez ATK 300 FL (4-string)
Fender Jazz Fretless (4-string, Mexican)
Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5-string Acoustic/Electric with tapewound strings... originally came with roundwounds
Carvin Icon5 Fretless 5-string
ESP LTD B2055M-FL 5-string

I gigged with the Ibanez ATK fretless in the late 90's with cover band. I used it for sets featuring songs with Drop D turning. Sounded great playing RATM, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Live and STP covers. It sounded like a fretted bass until I would slide up and down the strings... had a very aggressive, punchy attack.

Recorded several original tracks with Michael Kelly and Carvin fretless basses.
Click to expand...
Ahh, do you have any recommendations? I’ve been settled on a thumb 5 for a while but fretless gets my eye and been wanting to experiment and just keep my old jbass around a little bit longer
 
#12
It really depends on what kind of overall tone you're looking for. If you want smooth, fat, mellow fretless... go Fender with passive pickups and flatwound strings. If you want a punchy, aggressive tone... go with fretless bass featuring active humbucker or 2 humbuckers and bright-as-hell roundwound strings.
 
#13
ElectricBass72 said:
I've had 5... only have 1 now, the ESP.

Ibanez ATK 300 FL (4-string)
Fender Jazz Fretless (4-string, Mexican)
Michael Kelly Dragonfly 5-string Acoustic/Electric with tapewound strings... originally came with roundwounds
Carvin Icon5 Fretless 5-string
ESP LTD B2055M-FL 5-string

I gigged with the Ibanez ATK fretless in the late 90's with cover band. I used it for sets featuring songs with Drop D turning. Sounded great playing RATM, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Live and STP covers. It sounded like a fretted bass until I would slide up and down the strings... had a very aggressive, punchy attack.

Recorded several original tracks with Michael Kelly and Carvin fretless basses.
Click to expand...

I have been half-heartedly looking at the 4 string LTD model, but I'm leaning toward cobbling together a Pbass.
 
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#14
My #1 bass is a fretless 6-string Roscoe.
I'd recommend one in a heartbeat.
Yes, I find fretless easier to play for most things.
Not tapping tho - I find that level of intonation challenging and IMO the fret 'ping' adds to the tapping sound. YMMV...
My fretless 6 gets 85% of my playtime. Electric Upright 5 another 10%, and a fretted 5 the remaining 5%.
 
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#15
I really enjoy playing fretless, but I also find that I need to play it regularly if I want to sound decent. It's fun though, and actually kind of addictive!

I actually had a horrible experience with my first fretless - I was in high school, it was a Fender Japan Jazz Bass back around '85 or so - it was an unlined fretboard, and the only dots were the regular dots on the side of the neck - where they would be on a fretted bass?!! It was awful, I was too lazy to put in the work to learn it, so I gave up on fretless for a few decades. Then I got my current one - a '71 Guild M-85 with unlined neck - but the dots are where the frets would be! All of a sudden I could play fretless! I do look at the neck a lot.

Best of luck to you! I bet you will have fun.
 
#18
I got my start on Upright. Purchased my first fretless bass just before I entered college. It was a Carvin LB75F. Great bass, and it was my main player for several years. Moved more to fretted and vintage-styled instruments and replaced it with an LTD Vintage-214 Fretless (a P/J Fender P-bass clone). Nice bass but it was displaced by the purchase of a 4 string Wendler which has fulfilled all my fretless dreams.

All of these were unlined.

Three points you raised.
1) 5-6 string fretless: When I was only playing fretless, having the B string was nice. Now that I play fretless and fretted, for the music I bring the fretless out for, 4 strings is more than enough and I don't miss the Low B at all. For your situation having the low B is probably a very good idea.

2) Carvin. The big truss rod nut is fine, it just sounds like it's missing the truss rod cover. Carvin's are very nice basses and I think their fretless basses are particularly nice. If they made a wider necked 4 string I might still own one.

3)Recommendations: I would recommend buying an affordable used fretless before going all-in. A used Carvin is great, but prices on those are going up. Most any other well-made bass would be a good place to start and as long as you don't overpay, you'll have no problem getting most of your money back if you decide to sell it later.

Good Luck.
 
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#20
I learned music on the electric bass. When I started on fretless I struggled. Then I did a few years learning double bass and THAT improved my playing on fretless and my focus on intonation.

When I play fretted bass I play 1 finger per fret but when I play double bass or fretless I use the "3 fingers" technique.
Line/unlined never was a factor.

That's what worked for me.

Currently my "main" fretless is a Warwick Rockbass Active Corvette 5. Inexpensive with great sound and playability.

I'm currently defretting an Ibanez for a friend. If you are handy, can be a good option too.
 
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