When is a fretless not a fretless?

[Happy Jack]

If you otherwise dig the bass, have lines put on or have it fretted. Otherwise the dot's look kinda goofy imo. You'll still have to work on your intonation but it will be an easier transition with fretlines.

Good God NO! Why would I ruin a perfectly good fretless?

 

[Happy Jack]

That's either a prototype or a new fingerboard. Ovation used phenolic fingerboards on the Magnum series and yours is definitely ebony.

OK, that was completely out of left field for me!

I've just been to check my fretted Magnum III and the fretboard, which I had assumed was ebony, could very well be phenolic instead. That hadn't occurred to me.

So we have an alternate theory that fits the facts. A previous owner wanted to defret the bass but didn't fancy ripping out the frets and filling, so he had the entire board replaced. Since the side dots were already in place, he had the fingerboard dots placed in the same, original positions to match.

Hmmmmm. Works for me.

 

[blacktocomm]

OK, that was completely out of left field for me!

I've just been to check my fretted Magnum III and the fretboard, which I had assumed was ebony, could very well be phenolic instead. That hadn't occurred to me.

So we have an alternate theory that fits the facts. A previous owner wanted to defret the bass but didn't fancy ripping out the frets and filling, so he had the entire board replaced. Since the side dots were already in place, he had the fingerboard dots placed in the same, original positions to match.

Hmmmmm. Works for me.

My Magnum l definitely has an ebony board. As does every other Magnum Ive ever seen. I dont wanna say bdgotoh is wrong, but I wouldnt bet on him being right.

 

[Happy Jack]

I hear you, blacktocomm, but I also note that the alternate theory could still stand.

 

[JIO]

And no, I have no idea why each photo now appears twice!

It's easy enough to remove the duplicate posts.

 

[Pilgrim]

I don't have an answer, but I also don't think it's a problem. You can easily learn how to compensate for the positions of the markers and play accordingly.

 

[Haroldo]

It's a gorgeous, albeit heavy, beasty. It's not hard to adapt to the marker/dot positions, as a number of commenters have mentioned (e.g., @Pilgrim way out in AE land and just above, too). The instrument is well worth making your peace with.

 

[MD]

So we have an alternate theory that fits the facts. A previous owner wanted to defret the bass but didn't fancy ripping out the frets and filling, so he had the entire board replaced. Since the side dots were already in place, he had the fingerboard dots placed in the same, original positions to match. Hmmmmm. Works for me.

IMVHO, this makes no sense.
A person doesn't want to pull the frets and fill the slots; fine, he/she doesn't want lines. So they decide on a FB replacement, a much more aggressive and expensive procedure. Then, spend more $$ on intentionally adding FB dots that are in the wrong place?

 

[Happy Jack]

I see what you mean MD, but to me the whole situation makes no sense.

As I mentioned previously this isn't really "a problem", just my monkey curiosity getting the better of me.

 

[spade2you]

I used to have a Peavey Cirrus unlined fretless 5 that had the side dots in the wrong position and a 12th "fret" inlay. Sounded great.

I find that one problem with fretless basses is that it's all an afterthought. As far as I know, mine was perhaps the only unlined fretless they released. I also had to grind down the saddles to get low enough action. The action was very good on the fretted variants.

 

[bassbenj]

A fretless is not a fretless if it has frets. Hence the expression - fretless.

On a more serious note, I find that side dots are (almost) always misleading. I'm sure that the ones on mine are spot on in theory. In practice they would rarely guide you to the correct position on the fingerboard, simply because you look at most notes at an angle, so closer to the nut what you see is flat and higher up what you see is sharp. This is of course more noticeable for the higher strings and what's more it varies depending on your playing position.

This is true for side dots and you have to train yourself to deal with it. When I got my First Fretless (Carvin AC50) I ordered with with lines because I had heard all the stories about "training wheels" and figured it would help me learn. Later I found out that lines were not especially a necessary thing to learn as you soon outgrow them, but the importance was different than I thought. What happens is that because of the angle thing mentioned by donofret, there is this tendency to not play the dots precisely and worse you tend to angle the notes across the neck leading to intonation problems on the higher strings. The lines helped me to train myself to play exactly at right angles across the neck lines or not. So today I sort of wish I'd ordered it without lines just for looks, but in truth the lines did help me train out of the angle problem.

 

[Dbassmon]

There is always the lined vs unlined question that pops up on TB all the time.

In the case of this Ovation, you have a neck that was created and intended to be fretted. I say that because the markers are where they would be for a fretted neck.

If you ignore them and learn to play the neck not caring where the dots are, you will make those in the unlined camp very happy.

You could mark the side of the neck with your dots, or have fret slots cut and filled to make it a lined fretless, or use your ears and learn to play it as is.

These are the choices.

That is an unusual looking bass. If sounds good and plays well, it's cool. Bridge looks cool, active preamp, bridge pickup... Love to hear some clips.

 

[GretschWretch]

If the factory dots are distracting, find a felt-tip pen whose color closely matches that of the fingerboard and black out the dots. Then get some white 1/4 inch file folder dot labels and install them on the side of the neck where to dots *should* be.

As to the weight, attaching the strap to the place where the top screw is on the short cutaway side of the bass and running the strap beneath and behind the neck sometimes can help with this. Of course it also will require a narrow strap such as the one folkies used, with the wider moveable shoulder pad.

 

[Nogoodboyo]

My Ovation Magnum 1 is a factory fretless; only one I've ever seen. Unlined ebony board with inlaid fret markers on the top side edge with dot markers in between those.

Ovation were pioneering synthetic materials such as carbon fibre at the time, but I think only Kramer were routinely using ebanol (phenolic resin) fingerboards.
Fabulous basses!
​

s

 

[Happy Jack]

That is just lovely. Can you please post a photo of the side of the fingerboard. I've had unlined fretless basses with 'fret edges' before (an Ibanez 2369 springs to mind) and I've always thought it the best of both worlds.

 

[Nogoodboyo]

That is just lovely. Can you please post a photo of the side of the fingerboard. I've had unlined fretless basses with 'fret edges' before (an Ibanez 2369 springs to mind) and I've always thought it the best of both worlds.

Absolutely agreed - I've had every fretless format going and that's my favourite.
Here's a pic of the "dusty end" - further towards the nut I've had to go over the fret and dot markers with a bit of Tippex as the dots are small and the lacquer has yellowed, eyes are getting older, and she's a gigging bass.
Ebony board pretty much unmarked despite 20 years of using rounds with me, and who knows what before that. Currently using La Bella 750T White (ie clear) tapewounds - they feel lovely, but not totally convinced about the sound yet......

NB: I'm "Shaggy" on Basschat, followed your link on the Magnum 2 sale thread there. I actually registered on TB over 10 years ago, but think I only posted about once and have since forgotten password!
Greg

 

[Skokiaan]

Rickenbacker does the same thing, the dots on the fingerboard are exactly where they would be on a fretted bass...making them useless On the other hand, Ric places the side dots in the right locations

Fingerboard inlays are always useless. They are there only for looks, not function.

 

[MD]

View attachment 3123767

My defrets looked like this. I had to mask the factory dots and redo with a black sharpie. I hate dots that are in the wrong position.

 

[allcanbforgiven]

Bill Foley converted this Schecter for me be for I decided to learn how to replace fretboards with fingerboard. Since i have and play several different fretless basses, actually i exclusively play fretless basses, I like all the side dots to be right where the frets would be, that's where fretless side dots are suppose to go. Anyways, I moved the side dots on this Schector see pics, I also found it handy to have a dot at the low F. Bill

 

[allcanbforgiven]

IMVHO, this makes no sense.
A person doesn't want to pull the frets and fill the slots; fine, he/she doesn't want lines. So they decide on a FB replacement, a much more aggressive and expensive procedure. Then, spend more $$ on intentionally adding FB dots that are in the wrong place?

There are fretless necks on ebay that have dots on the face of the fingerboard, doesnt make sense to me. As I never look at the face while playing, usually i just glance down fora chord change and land right on the dot, then Im good to look around or look at my chord chart. I buy my fretless fingerboards from LMI and I have there wood shop pre radius them for me too saves a ton of my time sanding with a radius block. I have replaced over a dozen fingerboards, several on little 6 string guitars too. Always move the side dots . But IMVHO the fingerboards are so beautiful just smooth and shiny. Its actually less work for me to replace a fingerboard then to fill the empty slots where the frets were removed and always custom fit a polished bone nut. bill