Why are lined Fretless even a thing?

[4stringfarley]

I need to hear myself. Frets or not. I wouldn't even bother with a session that didn't let me hear myself. That's just silly.

I've played tons of gigs where on stage volume just didn't work right for what ever reason.

 

[Killing Floor]

Short enough that I can glance down every so often and see the score but not long enough to upset anyone, the best of both worlds.

View attachment 3858492

Hah, that's awesome. That top is absolutely beautiful. Sound as good as it looks?

 

[MMiller28]

I’m having a lined fretless built by a very well-known luthier. When we were talking about lined vs. unlined he half-joked that most people who get unlined do it for their ego. I mean, it can’t hurt and I think it especially helps if fretless isn’t your main instrument.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I think that fretless basses have long, straight featureless necks/fingerboards without much point of reference. The violin family has a few points of reference, like the stop of the neck and body contours that help key in position memory. Those instruments also are tuned in fifths, so there is a little less need to shift up and down the neck (to some degree, and depending on the music being played). I can't comment on upright basses since I don't play them, but even they have a stop of the neck that can be used for reference. I used to chase the cool factor of having an unlined fingerboard, but like others posting here, I also found that intonation only improves when there is a lined fingerboard to complement the ear.

Everything but upright are tuned in fifths. Cello, viola and violin. My experience playing upright is lines aren’t as important as they are on bass guitar because of the scale length differences. Full size uprights are such a long scale you have a more liberty to be a little off. Where on Fretless bass guitar being a shorter scale if you’re a little off it’s pretty obvious to the listener

 

[bassrique]

A bass guitar has more in common with a guitar than a bass. An upright is against the body and one can feel one's way around. A bass guitar is a plank of wood jutting away from the body.

Most players -even fretted players- look at their fretting hand. Check out random pics of bassists.

 

[J.D.B.]

My take is that most fretboards are prepped for frets in production(slotted). To make them fretless the manufacturer simply fills the lines in and sands. This way, they don't wind up with too many of one type of board in their inventories. I've had both lined and clean. I prefer the lines, myself.

 

[Fat Freddy]

I don't get why the OP gives a toss either way.....

Has someone tried to force a lined fretless on him with threats of violence?.....

 

[Watchootognbout]

All of my previously owned fretless basses had lines.
They were not bought from a store as fretlesses.
They were professionally defretted basses.

My current fretless was defretted by me back in 2010.
Inlayed with styrene plastic inlays.

Seven years later I had the fingerboard replaced with an unlined fingerboard.

I love it!
It's a challenge.
But sometimes I wish that the area above the twelfth had lines.
Intonation up there gets real dicey!!

 

[Thumpin6string]

Because some of us aren't as good or talented enough to play by feel. I have a hard enough time playing my fretted without looking at the fret board, so I like having the lines on my fretless.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

You (OP) should be super proud that you're better than all the other poor saps who need lines to play fretless. That's what I got from this thread, anyway.

 

[maxschrek]

I personally prefer unlined but I can completely understand how lines could be helpful. Really, for me, I think it's purely looks. Silly, innit?

 

[RickyRocknRoll]

i'm enjoying my popcorn a lot. I might go with carrots later.

 

[misterCRUSH]

i have both an unlined, with dots; and a lined fretless. i like the look of the unlined more but really like having the reference point of the lines as well. so i guess i'm kind of split on the issue.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

This is a sincere question and I felt it was related to technique hence why I posted here. Apologies if this isn't the correct forum.

So the only possible reason I can see for putting "fret" lines on a fretless is for people who literally stare or look at their fretboard while playing(?)
Do that many people do this while playing?

I'm told I play with my bass fairly high. My strap from button hole to button hole is 42".
I can only see the side of my neck while playing and If I try I can see a semi angled view of the frets from 12 up.
My point being I can't even really see my frets or theoretical lines if I were to play that sort of fretless. Is this abnormal?

I will say that I find playing fretless based on position dot markers (which my wife a Celist says is a bit of cheating lol) effortless. Lines would only distract me.
I find it espeically odd that relatively mainstream Bass personalities such as Scott Devine espouse the virtues of fret lines.

Anyhoo...rant over.

With a bag over my head, I admit I’m a (sigh) habitual neck watcher.

 

[Nick von Nick]

Right now I play a lined fretless because it is the best sounding bass I have, and the neck was the only one I could afford when I switched out the fretted neck from my J-Bass. It sounds amazing, irrespective of the lines. I wanted to find a partially lined neck (with the lines on the side or dots at every point, but after lots of looking, I couldn't find anything - nothing on Warmoth or elsewhere). While I do like the look of an unlined or partially lined fretless the best, I am okay for now. That said, if anyone knows where I can get a custom neck, I'd love to hear it!
~NvN

 

[Watchootognbout]

With a bag over my head, I admit I’m a (sigh) habitual neck watcher.

I still look.
Even with no lines.

 

[Papageno]

I have only fretless basses: double bass, electric BG, acoustic BG, U-bass. They are all unlined, except the U-bass.
Visual references are useful, but lines on the front of the fingerboard are not as they are not in my field of view if I play in normal position (I would have tilt my bass, or bend myself forward to see them). Dots on the upper side of the fingerboard are useful (to me) if they are located where the fret would be, not on the middle between 2 non-existing frets ! My 2 BG have dots located on the position of the frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, which is perfect for me. My lined fretless U-bass has dots on the wrong place (in the middle between "frets"), so I put some tipp-ex dots (they are easy to place and remove) on the position of frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15 and I now no longer see the wrongly placed original dots.
On the DB, I placed tipp-ex dots at the harmonic positions ("frets" 7, 12, 19), and I don't need anything more; I mostly need the octave dot if I need to start there (or nearby) "cold". I anyhow most frequently close my eyes when playing the DB.
A DB is much easier to play in tune without visual reference than a fretless BG, but the reason is not that the longer scale would be more tolerant to inaccurate finger position; the reason is that there physical references (the neck joint) that can be used to guide the hand. If the shorter scale would be what makes are fretless BG harder than a DB to play in tune without visual reference, then a vilin would be even harder than a BG. On the violin, one cannot really see the fingerboard (classical violonists spend most of their time looking at their score), but the hand is guided by the physical reference of the neck joint.
What makes the BG more difficult to play with visual reference is the absence of physical reference on the neck. Yet one can practice making long shifts with closed eyes. I personally use the few side dots to orient myself on the fingerboard, not really to determine precisely the in-tune position; it does not really matter whether the dot is at the exact position or not; the correct position for the finger is at the location where the note is in-tune, as judged by the ear, and this location is not the same for the thick E string as for the G string. That is why it is not necessery to have a dot for each "fret" position. Actually, I find that having too many references rather confuses me than helps me.

 

[Cutter8]

I do find lines helpful as a visual reference, but on some fretless basses, I also actually prefer the look of a lined board over a plain board.

 

[DavC]

having recently fiddled around with a lined fretless neck ...

i'd say , the lines help to train you to a slightly different hand/finger position ..

if ... the intonation is setup ' on the line ' ..!

i'm deaf in 1 ear , while singing i thought having the reference of ' the lines ' might help out if i can't hear everything as well as i'd like ..

but ... trying to see , find those lines requires the perfect angle , lighting , etc ... !!

sorry , played with frets since around 1973-ish ... hearing loss ( virus ) 1975 ... i'll need to stick with frets ..

to me , lines = training aid

 

[FunkHead]

I'm not. I'd wager I've played more, and bigger shows than you though, and have more experience to qualify my opinion.

Sounds good man. Like I said: I couldn't play a session or a gig without being able to hear myself. Obviously you're a lot better than me if you can do it.
Congratulations.....