Fretless dalliance has ruined everything

[MarkW]

So, having never owned (or even played) a fretless in my life, I bought one a few weeks ago out of curiosity. It's nothing fancy, just a basic Cort 4-string, but it has been nothing less than a revelation. I have played it exclusively for the last couple of months, and it's the most intuitive bass-playing experience I've ever had. The notes just seem to fall under my fingers, and the feel of flats is gorgeous! Now I know that hitting the right notes is just the beginning, and I still have a hell of a long way to go when it comes to tone control, but here's the thing: I picked up my beloved old MM Sterling this evening, and HATED it. The strings felt unpleasant - so coarse and rough - and the frets felt clunky and really obtrusive. Will I ever be able to go back I wonder, or am I going to end up having to put my collection of fretted basses up for sale? I'm kind of curious what flats would sound like on a fretted bass. Crap, probably. Is it worth trying? :-(

[BassBus]

Mwahahaha...the fretless god has you in his grasp. There is no escape. [size=4] [/size]

[size=4]Corts are actually really good basses for the money. I have been exclusively fretless for years now until a couple of weeks ago when I bought a Cort Action V fretted. Not giving up fretless of course but it's the first fretted bass I have really enjoyed playing for years. [/size]

[size=4]If you like flats on your fretless why not try a set of halfwounds on it. They really bring out a lot of tone in a fretless.[/size]

[Fionn]

I understand how you feel about fretless. I've seriously considered reverting to my beloved fretless as my only bass. There is nothing that is more joyful (and, as you say, intuitive) to play as a good passive fretless strung with flatwounds. O choin, if only life was so simple. I need a poky-sounding fretted bass, with all the ringing and clang of roundwounds for the music that I'm playing. I also love that bass, but for other reasons. There is a world of difference between the two.

Flatwounds sound great on fretted basses too. Put the flats from your fretless onto one of your fretted basses for a sound test, see how you get on and re-string if you like the vibe. It will never come close to the silky smoothness of your fretless though.

Keep your favourite fretted bass, sell the Cort and some other fretted gear, then treat yourself to an amazing fretless maybe?

... and you know that you want an amazing fretless



....

[Skol303]

I've taken a similar dalliance into fretless recently and am also loving it (the difference being I play with roundwound strings, so the tone is a lot different to flats - more 'mwah').

I find fretless very liberating and - corny as it sounds - it's made me look at playing in a totally different way. I find myself putting things together that I wouldn't think of doing on a fretted bass. The downside being that my intonation sucks So lots of practice required...

I personally don't intend to get rid of my fretted. I'm just pleasantly surprised at how different an instrument a fretless bass can be.

[BassBus]

Somebody once said to me "there's a lot more freedom in the sound of a fretless". Your not constrained by the frets. The note can move either way a little before it sounds out of tune. You can get that lovely vibrato as well. Somehow vibrato on a fretted never sounds quite as good. IMHO of course.

[HowieBass]

Out of interest does the MM Sterling have steel roundwounds on it? Nickel will feel nicer than steel - I've steel flats on my fretless Cort and also on my fretted Westone Spectrum LX and really notice the difference when I go back to another bass that I've not yet switched from steel roundwounds to nickel. Having a few basses does give you the luxury of having both rounds and flats on fretted instruments though and I enjoy the sounds I'm getting from all of them; they each have their own personalities

[sprocketflup]

I exclusively play flats now on all my basses, fretted or not. <saladfingers> "Its a treat for the fingerrrrrrsss" </saladfingers>

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1390689827' post='2348418']
... I'm kind of curious what flats would sound like on a fretted bass. Crap, probably. Is it worth trying? :-(
[/quote]
You might think flats will sound crap on a fretted bass and many might agree with you but I'm one of those who uses flats (of one make or another) on all basses. So if you don't try you'll never know.

Edited January 26, 2014 by EssentialTension

[alyctes]

Flats are a different thing, on fretted basses. You should definitely try that.
ut be aware, flats can make a person lazy... suddenly you wind up sliding everywhere

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='alyctes' timestamp='1390699556' post='2348491']
Flats are a different thing, on fretted basses. You should definitely try that.
[/quote]

This.

[Geek99]

[quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1390691406' post='2348435']


Keep your favourite fretted bass, sell the Cort and some other fretted gear, then treat yourself to an amazing fretless maybe?

... and you know that you want an amazing fretless

....
[/quote]
Isnt he saying that his fretless is a Cort and he loves it already ? I cant see why he would sell it, based on what he says.

[Bilbo]

Been a pretty much dedicated fretless specialist for 28 years this coming March. I much prefer it. I have to admit, though, I occasionally hear a fretted player and hanker, albeit momentarily, for that absolutely precise intonation.

[Guest FretNoMore]

I really like fretless even if I'm absolutely rubbish playing it, but I do still go back to the fretted bass for most songs. I've made a New Year's promise (yeah, that'll do it:)) to do most of my practicing on the fretless so I can play it more live eventually.

Edited January 26, 2014 by FretNoMore

[wombatboter]

Weird.. I have been playing fretless for a rather long period (around 25 years) and I only want roundwounds on them...I've tried flatwounds but they miss the "bite" you need to bring the string to life. it's not because it's fretless that it should sound boomy or completely dead. I don't want my basses to sound like an upright or an acoustic bass so I prefer roundwounds.. Without any problem I can go back to my fretted basses although if I had to choose I would pick a fretless as my ultimate bass instead of a fretted one...

Just recorded a clip with roundwounds on my fretless.. I don't feel limited by them at all.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6FRf3XlL8k[/media]

Edited January 26, 2014 by wombatboter

[chris_b]

[quote name='MarkW' timestamp='1390689827' post='2348418']
....Will I ever be able to go back I wonder, or am I going to end up having to put my collection of fretted basses up for sale? I'm kind of curious what flats would sound like on a fretted bass....
[/quote]

Lakland flats sound better on my fretted bass than the previous set of DR rounds did. Everything is about tone so, for me, flats will be on that bass from now on.

You don't need frets to play any style. I know a couple of fretless rock bass players who sound great.

You've moved on, so whether you sell some fretted basses and buy some more fretless basses is up to you. If you do that it won't be a bad thing, just another step in your development as a bass player.

[Telebass]

[quote name='sprocketflup' timestamp='1390692579' post='2348443']
I exclusively play flats now on all my basses, fretted or not. <saladfingers> "Its a treat for the fingerrrrrrsss" </saladfingers>
[/quote]
This. And it sounds better.

[ezbass]

Another fretless lover here too, my Ibanez GWB35 has had me in its thrall ever since I got it. I had a fretless already strung with flats (the GWB has rounds on; scratches be damned!) but the Willis has that certain something which has led to me try and find a fretted with that same magic; I might be there in this search but I might have to buy another Willis and have it fretted, although I suspect this might not work so well.

Flats on an MM? Absolutely! I did it with a 3 band 'Ray and I really preferred the tone; after all it was good enough for Bernard Edwards

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1390727711' post='2348568']
Weird.. I have been playing fretless for a rather long period (around 25 years) and I only want roundwounds on them...I've tried flatwounds but they miss the "bite" you need to bring the string to life.
[/quote]

If you use coated roundwounds like elixirs then you kind of get the best of both worlds - smooth feeling and bright sounding, infact coated strings seem to last longer on fretless presumably because there are no frets breakup the coating.

[ratman]

I played fretless exclusively for a few years. I wish I'd have known about flats & half wounds back then. I turned to flats a couple of years ago for my fretted and accoustic basses and loved them, although now I use half wounds on my P as they give me back some of the mid range that the flats took away, whilst retaining that lovely round flat sound. This has really helped for getting a good tone when recording, but also live, where the lack of mids using flats killed the effect of my overdrive pedals.

[wombatboter]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1390736720' post='2348739']
If you use coated roundwounds like elixirs then you kind of get the best of both worlds - smooth feeling and bright sounding, infact coated strings seem to last longer on fretless presumably because there are no frets breakup the coating.
[/quote]

Never had any problems with strings eating the fretboard away... I have epoxy on the fretboard of my Wal and it remains ok without scratching.
Just don't like the feel of flatwounds, it's like rubber under my fingers and I see no reason why I should switch to flatwounds. Like I said : there's a bite in a roundwound string which flatwounds lack and I want to hear that growl.

[MarkW]

Great replies folks, and reading them is a very welcome distraction from the decorating! I'm definitely going to start experimenting much more with different strings on all my basses - I'm really curious about flats on the Sterling and half wounds on the fretless. We shall see!

I started out on ss strings, but I moved over to using nickels exclusively a good while ago now. Interesting comment on the Lakland strings - I was using DR until fairly recently, but switched over to Fender and didn't notice a huge difference (other than the price!), which probably says something about my playing...

A couple of years ago I saw a gorgeous custom Warwick 5-string fretless in blue stain up for sale on E-bay, but I wasn't quite ready to take the plunge. Regretting it now!

[EssentialTension]

BTW Lakland strings are actually made by GHS

[blamelouis]

[quote name='wombatboter' timestamp='1390727711' post='2348568']
Weird.. I have been playing fretless for a rather long period (around 25 years) and I only want roundwounds on them...I've tried flatwounds but they miss the "bite" you need to bring the string to life. it's not because it's fretless that it should sound boomy or completely dead. I don't want my basses to sound like an upright or an acoustic bass so I prefer roundwounds.. Without any problem I can go back to my fretted basses although if I had to choose I would pick a fretless as my ultimate bass instead of a fretted one...

Just recorded a clip with roundwounds on my fretless.. I don't feel limited by them at all.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6FRf3XlL8k[/media]
[/quote]

Sounds great mate .
What bass are you using ?

[wombatboter]

Thanks.. it's a Wal Pro fretless... one pickup, volume-tone, that's all but found out that I don't need more even after trying out the MK-models.

[merello]

Brilliant wee clip.