What is your experience on fretless basses?

[ClusterFlux]

My question is do fretless basses feel easier for some of you?

Nope

Fretless requires a lot more left hand precision. You might want to check your intonation, make sure it's right.

Do anyone of you own any Fretless 5-6 stringed basses? Do any of you have recommendations?

Y'know, I'd say almost anything from a major manufacturer will be pretty good. Ibanez is probably your best bet, if you don't want to spend a huge amount on something fancy.

I'm sure ESP, Schecter etc are good as well. I'd assume any new (or new-to-me) instrument needs a setup, so I wouldn't let that deter me from selecting an instrument.

 

[Ghook]

Like it enough that I want to off a fretted and purchase a SRF700. I bought a Rogue to try out if I would like it. They are really fun, addictive and require some play time if they are line-less. Some days I'm spot on , others not so much. There is really no wiggle room although you can bend them into a note without someone noticing. I really like using the Fretless when doing melodic bass lines, although they are fine for any style. I kind of liken them to a kicker/suicide HD vs. an electric start toe tapper

 

[interp]

I’ve owned five fretless basses, three lined and two unlined. Played one exclusively for about five years (maybe 600 gigs), playing mostly top 40, rock and pop. Never had a problem and managed to fool most people into thinking I was playing a fretted bass.

 

[Uncorked]

At one point had 5, all five strings. Fretless is great if you are looking for a more expressive tone that really reflects how you play. Time to transition is shorter than I thought it would be including transitioning to unlined. Fretless is just more expressive all around. Does require some comitment however to enjoy playing it.

 

[paulears]

Never play the fretted 6 string - or the one 4 string I still have, but while I play double bass a fair bit, I think my unlined 5 string fretless is the hardest to play. As a result, I don't play it very much at all - so picked it up and wrote a quick song. Rubbish really, but kind of summed the day up. Some of it is even in tune!
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[Charlzm]

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 (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)

I have a 5 string Kiesel Icon fretless. It started life as fretted but I had it converted. The lower strings are a little underwhelming but above the 5th to 7th fret, it really sings.

 

[Green Knight]

My experience is that I can't get used to an unlined fretless but love me a lined one. I had an unlined Birdsong and practised as much as time would allow, but my intonation never got where it needed to be. The drummer scowled at me at least once every song. I ended up selling it with a keen sense of failure. Funny, a lined Yamaha fretless is what I learned on and played throughout my late teens and early twenties, but it didn't help at all when I tried to transition. Now granted, I'm not exactly bursting with natural talent, but I didn't think the difference would be that big. Also, learning on a fretless messed up my fretted vibrato because I always try to pull it off classical style rather than side to side.

 

[John Stephen]

I had a Warwick Corvette fretless for awhile, but didn't like the sound. I had heard, or read, that fretless would give me more of an "upright" sound, but I found the opposite. The fretless had more of an electronic "mwah" sound to it. I liked the sound of my fretted basses more (and my double bass). Also, the Warwick fretless weighed several tons. I haven't tried one since.

 

[EMoneySC2]

I've spent more of my life playing fretless than fretted string instruments, I was a violinist for a very long time, but I prefer my fretted basses to the fretless basses I've tried. I prefer the sound of fretted, for one. I also am unwilling to put in the time it would take to really be good at fretless. I don't know if I could ever gig a fretless - at least where I'm at now I'd have to be standing still looking at the fretboard. As a metal bassist, the sound doesn't fit very well.

They're definitely cool, though. I'd like to have a cheap one that's set up well to mess with.

 

[MuttThud]

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 (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)

Lined fretless fiver (Sire P7) here. I LOVE the sound of it (and the Sire EQ setup helps... bridge pickup solo + big midrange boost = really honks and burps) but it takes quite a lot of work to get my head into 'it ain’t got no frets' mode. Accurate finger placement really matters (obviously) which means concentration is required. It takes work, and time. In a way, it’s best to think of fretless as a different instrument to fretted (kinda) and put the hours in accordingly. Practicing with a tuner always on and right in front of you helps (I use a Korg PitchBlack Pro rackmount) - I use my ears to pitch, and my eyes on the tuner to check I’m not deluding myself.

 

[Rayjay]

Personally I also come from a double bass background so fretless was an easy transition. I also ate a steady diet of the playing of Rick Danko, Sting, Jaco, Jack Bruce, Bakithi Kumalo, Gary Willis, and many others. I would say if it feels easy, it might be a factor of physics (setup, individual instruments, etc) and the FUN factor- I find it’s easy to get carried away and overplay. Not to mention it feels fresh to you and that brings out inspiration.

I will add that I use primarily fretted electric basses because fretless doesn’t work for everything.

I currently own and love my bubinga Warwick Corvette MIG 4, but for years I’ve considered taking the plunge on an Ibanez Gary Willis. The necks are spectacular! I’ve got a few fretted 5s and consider the low B necessary at times.

 

[Bob_Ross]

I like playing fretless, but most jobs don't call for it.

Anyone else remember those ~3-4 years in the late 70s/early 80s when a crap-ton of jobs did call for it?

It was just before the period when a crap-ton of jobs called for slapping, which preceded the period when a crap-ton of jobs called for a 5-string. (One could argue that we’re still in that period.)

 

[JRA]

My question is do fretless basses feel easier for some of you?

for me, they are easier to play than fretted instruments. i have played fretless instruments only for decades, so i'm used to them. i don't practice or play fretted instruments so they're not as 'automatic' for me as a fretless instrument.

Do anyone of you own any Fretless 5-6 stringed basses?

i do not: all of my instruments are 4 bangers. i've played the 5 string and 6 string instruments of my friends (just for fun) but they were fretted instruments so i wasn't 'thrilled' with the feel of any of them. i have occasionally thought about getting a 5 or a 6 myself (fretless)...but they've only been thoughts! 4 strings have always been enough for me (so far!).

Do any of you have recommendations?

play more instruments: it sounds to me like you're still making decisions about what you want to play.

good luck with all of your choices!

 

[spaz21387]

I had one. I sold it because its so hard to play on dark stages.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

I have owned a handful of Fretless basses over the last 22 years. Some were defretted, some were built as Fretless.
The best Fretless basses I have owned were a Stingray 4 and my current Jazz V parts bass. The other 5 or so either didn’t sound good or feel good (three of which were 6 string...I can’t play 6-string. They just don’t agree with me).

 

[GreyBeard]

My experience with fretless bass:

I've own 2 in my life time. The 1st was a CBS precision that I played for 20 years until I started singing a lot of lead, then I switched to a 4 string Ibanez Musician. In a real dumb move I sold the fretless to buy a Crate BT350 head that ended up less than what I expected. About 10 yrs ago I bought and still have a MM SR5 fretless. I gig with the fretless from time to time but my main ax is a fretted MM SR5.

 

[Skip Chucker]

I love my unlined fretless Roscoe LG-3005. It's been my main bass for 20 years.

 

[Steven Ayres]

When you ask whether fretless is easier, I guess it depends on your ideas about "easy."

On stage you have to be able to hear better (all the instruments, not just bass) to maintain good intonation. So it's far less easy if I can't hear, but when I can, intonation is fairly transparent.

In higher-volume situations the nuances of the sound get buried in the mix, so fretted bass is usually a simpler choice there.

I don't like hearing the strings clack on the frets, and the sound of the string on wood rather than metal is much more complex, melodic and expressive, so for me it's a lot easier to get a satisfying, nuanced sound with fretless.

So on electric jobs where the tone matters and I don't have to play fast or loud, fretless is my choice, four- or five-string (low B), depending.

(I should note for those who don't know that I usually play upright, four- or five-string (high C), depending.)

 

[paulears]

I had one. I sold it because its so hard to play on dark stages.

Ha! I still have the very first fretless I played at 17, and the gig was one of these very dark gigs, and I had that problem, and where the side dots were, I massacred the bass by filing markers I could feel with my thumb. Memory says it worked perfectly but with 40 years hindsight, I think it just bolstered my confidence that the note I was about to play was correct.

 

[bassdude51]

Takes me triple the concentration to play a fretless and that is one with lines! Love the sound though!