Fretless five strings

[Dom in Dorset]

Low B or high C? What's the norm? The most pupular? What do you prefer? Why?

[Doddy]

I like the low B..but then again I generally prefer a low B to a high C on fretted too.I think the main reason is
just because the low B is more practical in the majority of situations. The high C is great if you are playing more
solo and chordal stuff.

[BigRedX]

Depends on what sound you want, but personally I've found on a fretless getting a decent "mwah" out of a string skinnier than your average G is hard work.

[Dom in Dorset]

Now you mention it, that C string is going to ssssssooooooooo skinny, I think it's low B unless anyone has a damn good reason why not.

Edited September 1, 2011 by Dom in Somerset

[Fat Rich]

Low B for me too, but I'm more of a groove player.

[noelk27]

High C. Because a low B on fretless sounds like sh*t.

[fretlessguy]

That depends on what you need. If you like chording and soloing, then High C is what you need. I prefer Low B on my 5 string fretless due to the fact that, as a bass player, I feel notes above the staff are for someone else to play. Besides, I like those low Ds and low Cs.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='noelk27' post='1359397' date='Sep 2 2011, 12:54 AM']High C. Because a low B on fretless sounds like sh*t.[/quote]
Totally depends on the build quality of the bass. It sounds awesome on my Sei and my Overwater fretless basses.

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1359437' date='Sep 2 2011, 07:28 AM']Totally depends on the build quality of the bass. It sounds awesome on my Sei and my Overwater fretless basses.[/quote]

Also sounds pretty decent on my cheapo cort curbow.

[paul_5]

Yup, low B here too.

[franzbassist]

[quote name='Doddy' post='1359046' date='Sep 1 2011, 05:48 PM']I like the low B..but then again I generally prefer a low B to a high C on fretted too.I think the main reason is
just because the low B is more practical in the majority of situations. The high C is great if you are playing more
solo and chordal stuff.[/quote]

+1 to this. Holds true for fretted 5s as well IMHO.

[BottomEndian]

[quote name='Dom in Somerset' post='1359043' date='Sep 1 2011, 05:45 PM']Low B or high C? What's the norm? The most pupular? What do you prefer? Why?[/quote]
One of each.

[fiatcoupe432]

Yeah depends on what you are gonna play!
i do prefer a low b anyway and sound amazing on my gwb35

[Sonic_Groove]

[quote name='BottomEndian' post='1359561' date='Sep 2 2011, 09:57 AM']One of each. [/quote]

+ 1

Just get a six string...

[Chris2112]

[quote name='noelk27' post='1359397' date='Sep 1 2011, 11:54 PM']High C. Because a low B on fretless sounds like sh*t.[/quote]

You must have had some sh*t basses then because the low B on my fretless Alembic sounded amazing.

[Bottle]

OK, so how about a five string fretless with some alternative tunings?

One idea might be a fiver strung D-G-C-F-Bb? Keeping it in fourths, but with the low range of the bottom D up to almost the highest C on a sixer.

Alternatively, and this is a bit out of left-field, but how about tuning in fifths i.e. C-G-D-A-E? That way, you could have a more conventional five-string fretless (which may be considerably cheaper) but still have pretty much the same range a six-banger.

HTH,
Ian

[Dom in Dorset]

I did have a fretted 5 years ago and did experiment with ADGCF but never persued it.