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Your fretless experience?

#101
Matthew_84 said:
I tried fretless once and absolutely loved it. I'll always have at least one fretless. Usually I'll own more fretlesses than fretted ones.
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^^^THIS^^^^
I've got 3 "real" basses, 2 are fretless. I'd say go for it, I much prefer playing fretless, if I play a fretted bass, it's usually because I got called to sit in for a song or two and used the bass that was handed to me.
 
#102
6stringvince said:
I drove an hour to a GC today to pick up a Squier VM fretless, I figured I'd try this before an expensive build, but I was hugely disappointed, the action was super high and it had tons of string buzzing and rattling going on. I've owned a couple of VM's, a P and a Jag (my current go to bass), both been great, but this was no comparison, either a bad one, or badly set up.
Back to the drawing board...
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Congrats on the decision to try one out. I personally had one of them and it was great, but the fret lines weren't level with the ebonol fingerboard, and I had to relevel the entire board, which cost about $40 with the sanding block from stewmac and the sandpaper.

If you have a spare fender/Squier bass lying around, you can swap the current neck with a Mighty Mite one. I believe they have a lined ine, but I can't vouch for that. I bought their unlined one and it was great, the only think I needed to was drill the holes for it to connect to the body and sand the nut slots down a bit more. The neck was like a $100 or something. I got mine on amazon.
 
#103
3 of 9 of my basses are Fretless . My wife got me my 3 rd for Christmas this year. I did pick it out , an ESP/LTD 214 unlined
My other 2 are lined jazz ,1 active,1 passive.

I tend to grab one of the jazz more than any other bass and am looking forward to playing the unlined as well . My very first bass was the passive lined and I too love the lack of speed bumps . Every bassist needs at least one.
 
#104
i recently found a beautiful custom david minnieweather 6 string fretless bass in a local music store. It has become my main bass and I love playing it. I have perfect pitch so intonation has not been an issue. I love the extended range the 6 string gives me, but more advanced chord voicings take practice. Going to fretless is a transition, but in the end, it is worth it.
 
#106
6stringvince said:
I drove an hour to a GC today to pick up a Squier VM fretless, I figured I'd try this before an expensive build, but I was hugely disappointed, the action was super high and it had tons of string buzzing and rattling going on. I've owned a couple of VM's, a P and a Jag (my current go to bass), both been great, but this was no comparison, either a bad one, or badly set up.
Back to the drawing board...
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Mine plays great. I did put a set of D'Addario Chromes ECB81 flat wound strings on it which have the hex core with higher tension so I had to check and adjust the relief on the neck.
 
#107
My experience with fretless? I used to play a home made on years ago. Long before they were cool, long before there was an internet. I don't remember much about it but it could not have been much of a bass. Just over a year ago I bought a MIM Fretless Jazz for $225 on the classifieds here. It is really a beater, one bad gash in the finish where some previous owner had dropped it and it must have lived near the salt air on the east coast somewhere for a good long while because a lot of the metal on it was corroded. Not badly corroded but it sure don't look purty. But you know, it plays nicely and it has the range of tone you would expect from a single coil Jazz. I rather like it as a bass.

So far, I have no use for a fretless as a performance instrument though. If it could cop an excellent double bass played pizz tone I would love it. Mwaah doesn't excite me though and anything else it does can be done with any Jazz, well enough for my tastes. On the other hand, playing a fretless does teach you to "fret' more accurately and listen closer to what you are doing. Those are good things when you play a fretted bass too. So my opinion is that everyone should have a fretless. Whether you perform on it or not it is an excellent practice bass. Some day, when my intonation gets good enough, I might perform on it for grins occasionally. But I don't have a compelling reason to play one because of its unique attributes. If I played with a string group and needed to match their intonation it would be the only way to go but of course you need to be able to match their intonation and sliding into notes isn't going to cut it with real string players.

Oddly enough, once you start to develop the muscle memory (or whatever it is) to play a fretless well you don't need to look at the fingerboard as much, something that carries over to your fretted playing too. So while mine is lined, I have not found that to be a crutch and I think the lined/unlined thing really does boil down to appearances once you have the skill to play one well. I have no problem seeing the lines, just less need to look at them than I ever had. I know there are a lot of Squier VM Jazz Fretless fans here but I have never found a good one in stores. Or rather they all had a LOT of neck relief which maybe the truss rod would take care of, or maybe not. That is why I started looking at used fretless basses and I managed to find a Fender MIM for a great price.

So, yeah, get a fretless. If it becomes your main performance instrument because you love what it does, how it sounds, etc, fine. But even if you never play it in public it will make you a better bass player.
 
#110
6stringvince said:
Probably the scenario with the one I tried today, but I didn't want to take a chance to find out otherwise.
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One thing I can recommend for sure when inspecting a lined fretless for purchase, is to run your finger along the fingerboard over every fretline top and bottom. You should not feel any hump or groove at any line. The entire fingerboad should be flat and smooth like glass.
 
#111
Originally Posted by 6stringvince
I drove an hour to a GC today to pick up a Squier VM fretless, I figured I'd try this before an expensive build, but I was hugely disappointed, the action was super high and it had tons of string buzzing and rattling going on. I've owned a couple of VM's, a P and a Jag (my current go to bass), both been great, but this was no comparison, either a bad one, or badly set up.
Back to the drawing board...
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Have you looked into SX? Very inexpensive for an entry level FL
and the QC seem to be ok from the little I've read. There's an SX club here.
 
#112
6stringvince said:
I drove an hour to a GC today to pick up a Squier VM fretless, I figured I'd try this before an expensive build, but I was hugely disappointed, the action was super high and it had tons of string buzzing and rattling going on. I've owned a couple of VM's, a P and a Jag (my current go to bass), both been great, but this was no comparison, either a bad one, or badly set up.
Back to the drawing board...
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Spend 50 bucks on a set up, tell them how you want it. If they tell you it needs work, leveling, twisted etc...exchange it at GC.
 
#113
I have a Schecter fretless that I absolutely love. The sound is quite different from my other basses but after working on getting the intonation right, I found I could get around the fingerboard much easier than with frets in the way.

One of these days I might find the courage to bring it to rehearsal with my band to see if it fits in with a song or two that we do.

My biggest problem is that I'm not that good of a bassist to jump back and forth. I need to stay with one bass and play that for a while, fretless or otherwise.
 
#114
I've had the fretless itch for a few weeks (which replaced a 5-string itch) and finally got around to scratching it this morning.

As the OP mentioned, I didn't want to sink much money into something that would end up in a closet once the novelty wore off, so I wanted to buy an inexpensive one to start.

After checking out a few at several of the GC/SA stores near me - only 1 had a Squier VM Fretless, and I wasn't crazy about that particular instument - I ended up buying a used Dean Edge 4FL. Nothing fancy, but it sounds good, I like the neck, and it was cheap!

I also tried a MM Stingray Fretless (unlined), and if this fretless "thing" doesn't fade away, that's one I'll consider down the road when I want to upgrade.
 
#115
6stringvince said:
I drove an hour to a GC today to pick up a Squier VM fretless, I figured I'd try this before an expensive build, but I was hugely disappointed, the action was super high and it had tons of string buzzing and rattling going on. I've owned a couple of VM's, a P and a Jag (my current go to bass), both been great, but this was no comparison, either a bad one, or badly set up.
Back to the drawing board...
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A poorly set up bass, and a fretless at that, at a Guitar Center? Heavens to Betsy!

To be honest I'm surprised they even had a fretless. With all due respect to GC employees and fans, I've never played a well set-up instrument at a GC.

Hopefully that doesn't put you off the VMs for good, but there are alternatives.
 
#116
I just played through the first set of an upcoming gig and decided to practice it on the fretless ... a couple of funkier songs doesn't work real well, but I was surprised at how possible it was to play most of the other songs ... I think I'll be brave and play the gig mostly fretless this time, not just the few slow songs I used to play previously.

My New Year's resolution will be to put in some serious woodshedding on the fretless, it would be so cool to be able to play it well.
 
#117
I feel the same. Played maybe half of the songs at church on Sunday with mine and was very happy with what it added. What I wasn't so happy with was my intonation, sounded a lot in places like the "crooked slide whistle" analogy I read somewhere. It's going to take more practice than I originally thought on the intonation and tasteful discreet use of glissando, but well worth it I think.
 
#119
6stringvince said:
Current used local Craigslist inventory I'm considering:

Music Man Sterling (US) unlined with side markers ($600)
1990 Fender Jazz (Japan) unlined with side markers ($450)
2010 Fender Jazz (MIM) lined with EMG JVX pups ($375)
Thanks again for any help/opinions
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All seem like good choices. They're also all likely built well, though their condition will vary based on the previous owner(s). It may just come down to your preference. Here's my opinions.

I'm not sure if the MM Sterling has one pickup or two, if it only has one, I'd strongly recommend a fretless with two pickups (a bridge and a neck). The bridge will be the best to accentuate the fretless mwah, but the neck is good to get a closer to DB sound, or take away the mwah if you want a closer to fretted sound, which may be good depending on the song.

If the EMG JVX pickups are passive and if there is a preamp in the MIM jazz, you may want to install a preamp bypass switch (if it doesn't already have one). That will give you the most versatile options.

You should probably just go and check them out in person. If you're checking out the lined one, remember my previous advice to run your finger along the fingerboard to check that the fretlines are perfectly level with the fingerboard. If you feel any humps or grooves at the lines, you may want to pass. Unless you don't mind relevelling the board, which will only cost like $40 with a radiused sanding block from stewmac and sandpaper.

Also, when you're checking out any fretless period, you should be inspecting the condition of the board. If the strings have left any deep grooves in the board, then it may require some relevelling as well. All fretless basses will have some light scratches on the board caused by the strings, these are fine. I'm talking about deep grooves here, like ones that if you ran your finger over them you can feel that the board is not level in that location.
 
#120
6stringvince said:
Current used local Craigslist inventory I'm considering:

Music Man Sterling (US) unlined with side markers ($600)
1990 Fender Jazz (Japan) unlined with side markers ($450)
2010 Fender Jazz (MIM) lined with EMG JVX pups ($375)
Thanks again for any help/opinions
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Since they're local, I would try to get your hands on them first and make your decision based on your best experience between the three.

Good luck.
 

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