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Why play a fretless bass?

#101
I've always liked the sound of an upright and I love that horn-like, singing tone an electric fretless gives up. I like sliding around on the fretboard. And I like new challenges (an unlined board will be my next one). I'm still a relative noob on fretless but can do well enough to get thru a classic rock set list.

When I was still a hack lead guitarist I'd hear people like Jaco, Pino P, and people like that and really liked the tone and style. I saw a video of a teenage Steve Bailey playing upright behind Emily Remler and looked him up on YT.

But after switching to bass I really got on the fretless kick when I saw Damian Coccio on YouTube. I love what he does.
 
#103
For certain styles, a fretless bass sometimes fits better sonically, e.g., folk, blues, Americana, most types of jazz, anything with lots of synthesizer in it, etc. On the other hand, certain styles, e.g., electric funk or anything requiring a lot of slap, sound better on a fretted bass a lot of the time. Different tools for different needs. Some people really like the sound of a fretless bass played with a plectrum.

On the other hand, I find that in a rock band I most often reach for a fretted bass.
 
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#105
Back in the 90’s, I was into Car Audio, doing installs, custom enclosures, etc. So, mostly listening to Rap, down-tuned Metal, etc. one time, a buddy of mine and me took a trip to a high-end audio store (car and home a/v), one of their demo CD’s had some sort of fusion jazz track that was just a duet of a harmonica and a fretless electric bass. I was playing guitar and bass at the time so i knew that sound, but never heard it used in such a hypnotic, almost Samba like pattern.
Knew I had to eventually have one after that. Only took a little over 10 years, but I still get a trance like experience playing it at times, to the point where I close my eyes and forget that I’m sitting on a stool in the basement.
 
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#106
I was mainly a DB guy who doubled on electric. I didn't see the point of a fretless BG back then - I mean, you can't use a bow on it, right? But now I'm mainly playing bass guitar, and I have totally revamped my technique from what I used to do, and DB is so different it isn't really satisfying my fretless itch anymore. So I'm pretty much determined that my next instrument will be a fretless bass guitar, even though I went nearly 30 years of playing without thinking about them at all.
 
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#112
Jackcrow said:
Why do you play a fretless bass?

What’s your favorite part about it? I’m interested to hear peoples opinions.

Personally I enjoy it (most of the time). I like the additional challenge and the change in tone on a fretless. But I’ve also bought several fretless basses (Fender Tony Franklin, Warwick, Squiers, etc) and then when I want to buy something else they are the first to go. I think the last one I sold I said I wasn’t going to buy another fretless. But I did anyway. I think it’s a good idea to have at least one around.
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Don’t get me wrong, I love
my fretted. It has the funk, the thump, the crunch and great harmonics.

However, when I play fretless, I can make it sing! It is an entirely different animal! I think you all know what I mean! :thumbsup:. (At least I hope so)
 
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#114
To sound like a fretless bass.

To feel like a fretless bass.

To look like a fretless bass.

Not sure that there’s a whole lot more else to say about it. They have certain characteristics, and you either like them, or you don’t.

It’s not an additional challenge, IMO. Fretless is the norm for bass, in my mind. Fretted is the “other,” very recently introduced in the grand scheme of things. IME, playing fretted is “harder,” in the technical sense. It requires its own sorts of attention and techniques, not a lot of which has to do with “normal,” traditional bass playing. The reward is that you get the sound and feel the only a fretted bass guitar has.

I started out on fretless bass guitar, and pretty much played nothing but that or uprite for 20 years. I went to frets in 2008, and haven’t looked back once. I prefer the way fretted bass guitars sound, feel, and look. I wish I had played them all along. But that’s not what was around when I was a kid.
 
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#115
Jackcrow said:
Why do you play a fretless bass?

What’s your favorite part about it? I’m interested to hear peoples opinions.
Click to expand...

It's all I've ever known. Frets are an occasional distraction. I owned a fretted jazz in 1987, a fretted precision in 1990 and I've had a fretted Ray34 since 2015, otherwise I've been fret-free since 1984...
Fretless Group.jpg
 
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#117
I prefer the feel and sound. Not to mention it requires more attention to what you're doing. I think a lot of people get caught up in the stereotypical "oh this is a fretless so I have to play Jaco Mwahaaa all the time". Personally I play more stuff in lines with Pantera or 80s Metallica and most people don't realize I'm playing a fretless. Oh, and this guy was a huge influence to me purchasing my first fretless.

 
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#118
I play mostly upright these days, so fretless seems the obvious choice. That said, I do tend to noodle on the (fretted) PBass.
Did a recording project with a rock band using a fretless 5 string as there was a problem with the Stingray 5 I brought to do the session and the fretless happened to also be in the car. Worked out great, although I would never have gone with it by choice. Made it more interesting.
 
#120
burgerdj said:
That is the lowest action and highest pickup height I’ve seen! Assume you have a very light touch!
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I have had the opportunity to play the fretless basses of two of my favorite fretless players, Gary Willis and Percy Jones. I was amazed at the difference between their string heights. I could barely play Gary's as the strings were basically laying right on the fingerboard so I was just making a bunch of noise, yet he gets a wonderful tone from it. In Percy's case, I could barely play his bass as the strings were about 1/2" off the fingerboard making it almost impossible for me to play, yet he gets a wonderful tone from it.
 
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