Lined Fretless Basses

[Zenitram]

So are frets [i]only[/i] there to make the (electric) bass sound a particular way, and weren't actually designed to help with precise intonation at all?

That can't be right, surely, can it?

[ambient]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392334234' post='2367652']
This is the neck of my fretless bass. It works for me.



[/quote]

Nice !

That's a good idea, just having little lines, and probably all you can see anyway if the board was completely lined.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1392335217' post='2367664']
So are frets [i]only[/i] there to make the (electric) bass sound a particular way, and weren't actually designed to help with precise intonation at all?

That can't be right, surely, can it?
[/quote]
No, that can't be right and that's also probably why nobody said it was right.

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1392335217' post='2367664']
So are frets [i]only[/i] there to make the (electric) bass sound a particular way, and weren't actually designed to help with precise intonation at all?

That can't be right, surely, can it?
[/quote]

My understanding was they were added to eliminate player related intonation issues you get with double bass, hence the name "Precision" bass. I might be wrong though.

[Zenitram]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1392398137' post='2368267']
No, that can't be right and that's also probably why nobody said it was right.
[/quote]

That's true; nobody said it. What I'm trying to get at is perhaps best expressed by what I suppose to be the answer to "What's the point of frets?", which would be something like "To make it easier to get each note right", rather than "To give that unique fretted sound".

Or something. I don't know.

[gsgbass]

That was the major reason Clarence Leo Fender designed the Precision for. To be precise on the note.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1392405112' post='2368432']
That's true; nobody said it. What I'm trying to get at is perhaps best expressed by what I suppose to be the answer to "What's the point of frets?", which would be something like "To make it easier to get each note right", rather than "To give that unique fretted sound".

Or something. I don't know.
[/quote]
I wholeheartedly agree that the most important function of frets is intonation. However, as you said yourself, 'close to the fret is clearly good practice and good sense'. That's all.

[Zenitram]