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What is your experience on fretless basses?

#85
ElectricBass72 said:
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.
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hmm should one be concerned with using roundwound on fretless basses? Ive only ever seen jaco used roundwounds on videos and from reading about but never seeing anyone do that
 
#86
paulears said:
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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Loved the song! definitely keeping that
 
#87
John Bess said:
I have a 70 pbass with an unlined fretless neck. This particular neck is very thin and fast. So to me, it's easier to play than my fretted basses. I wouldn't recommend it for metal as fretless basses are much warmer sounding and don't cut through heavy guitars and loud drums very well.
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Yea I play in a metal band and was actually wanting to experiment, thats why I was asking a bit about it. Maybe Ill look for a decent fretless 4 string used somewhere, give it some love, and try it for a while
 
#88
MYLOWFREQ said:
Being fast on a fretless won't be an issue, being accurate might. Intonation is tricker on a fretless.

Also, playing extreme metal or any music that requires playing a lot of notes would be much harder because of a) what I mentioned above, b) fretless basses have slower attacks. That being said, it can be done successfully. Listen to the "Death" album "Individual Thought Patterns", one of my favorite albums.
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To be honest that was why i started this thread lol, Steve is an amazing fretless player along with Dominic Forest, and I figured if I wanted to start learing, then I better start soon. hard to try though as there is only one music store (guitar center) where i live and for the next 140 miles with the same cheap basses no one wants to buy because we know they are just not good, and it is a pain sometimes. But Im a younger player and I would actually look forward to spending hours to getting better at a fretless and experiment
 
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#89
Sergius Durante said:
hmm should one be concerned with using roundwound on fretless basses? Ive only ever seen jaco used roundwounds on videos and from reading about but never seeing anyone do that
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You should not be concerned.
Lots of people do it, and the issues with fingerboard wear are, while real, greatly exaggerated.
Most players go many, many years before any fingerboard resurfacing is required.
Rounds tend to produce more mwah, which may not fit as well in a metal context.
There are some very bright flats that can retain highs while retaining controllable mwah.
I used rounds for several years; I switched to flats because they're a little more appropriate for the music I'm playing.
 
#90
ArtechnikA said:
You should not be concerned.
Lots of people do it, and the issues with fingerboard wear are, while real, greatly exaggerated.
Most players go many, many years before any fingerboard resurfacing is required.
Rounds tend to produce more mwah, which may not fit as well in a metal context.
There are some very bright flats that can retain highs while retaining controllable mwah.
I used rounds for several years; I switched to flats because they're a little more appropriate for the music I'm playing.
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Ahh, to be honest if I get one I might just get roundwounds just for more mwah lol cant get enough of it and that time I played a fretless has stuck with me forever.

Also, does anyone else find it funny that the uniqueness of a fretless is the funny term "mwah"? I love hearing that
 
#91
Sergius Durante said:
Ahh, to be honest if I get one I might just get roundwounds just for more mwah lol cant get enough of it and that time I played a fretless has stuck with me forever.

Also, does anyone else find it funny that the uniqueness of a fretless is the funny term "mwah"? I love hearing that
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Don’t need rounds for mwah. I have an old jazz bass special fretless with flats that kills with mwah. Also have an Alembic fretless that’s only distraction is ones own ability to play beautifully, in tune and musical. Also, too much mwah in the wrong places can actually sound cliche and irritating.

Have fun learning fretless and the life long challenge of intonation.
 
#95
I've never played a fretless until earlier this year, when I found a cheap defretted (Harley Benton) J in the want ads. My original thought was to simply part it out, but as soon as I started playing it, I fell in love. Besides the great tone, my fingers seemed to know [basically] where to go, and I love the vibrato. Zooping up and down the fingerboard has never been more fun. Sure, my intonation is off, but not so far off that anyone noticed (I think) when I took it to the jams. Plus, I now have access to notes like B# and E# (Cb and Fb, if you prefer).

I'm not going to swing over to fretless full time, but I now know I can (kinda) play one, and that it's fun.
 
#96
I love mine, especially for ballads and cover songs that originally featured a stand up bass. I’m an avid P-bass guy, so I built my own with a Precision body and a lined Warmoth ebony and maple neck. It opens up new avenues for exploration and gives you new sounds to play with.
 
#97
Fretted and fretless bass is actually a different instrument. To play fretless is a little bit difficult, but you gain much more tone and sound variation possibilities. When i first took and played fretless i understood it's my heart instrument and that i could be able to learn it all my life. I favourite fretless is Ibanez gwb1005.
 
#99
I started playing fretless in 77, when I pulled the frets from my 66 P-bass. It was the only bass I owned so, I was committed right from the start. ... I found my playing slowed to be more exact in the lines I played. ... About a year later I picked up a 68 J-bass and bounced in between those two basses for years. ... Playing fretless eventually led me to the upright. ... At the moment I have two uprights and a fretless J-bass and my original 66-fretless P-bass, that doesn't get the attention she deserves.
 
#100
I gig with fretted basses - Stingray and Sire V7. I got a Yamaha TRB fretless fiver which I use in a jazz combo but they don't gig. I've thought often about taking the fretless out to gig with. What's stopping me, what if the stage sound is no good and I can't hear to intonate? Probably won't happen but would be a bummer if it did. I suppose IEMs would be one solution but I don't want to go that way. Probly need to just do it. As for how difficult the switch is, I found it easy. I think if your ear is good it helps a lot. Mine's ok thankfully. TRB is awesome
 

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