Fallen Out Of Love With Fretless

[ezbass]

Ever since I first picked up the low end beast, I've been besotted with fretless. This probably stems from my love of Pino, Karn, and others from that era's sound, that first made me partially jump ship from the skinny stringed thing and dabble in the low end. Even when I made the complete transition to bass, it wasn't long before I had a fretless and I've always preferred it and, according to others, I'm quite good at it (checks door width against head dimensions to ensure some clearance ). However, when I moved into temporary accommodation late in 2020, I was limited as to what I could take with me and it was a no brainer as to which bass I would take, one of my fretless basses, obvious really; the others went into storage. However, after a while living in said accommodation, I acquired a short scale bass (something I had been planning to do before the move, but things got in the way). Once this arrived, I played it a lot (as you do with a new toy), even giving myself a touch of tendonitis (since remedied) such was the level of my practising (finger exercises to a drum machine FFS! When did I last do those?). I finally moved into permanent accommodation and was at last reunited with my other basses (a fretted and another fretless) and then acquired another fretted, short scale. The thing is, my love for fretless seems to have died. I'll pick one of them up, noodle for a few moments, then put it back on the stand - the sound doesn't move me anymore, I even find it a little irritating and I'm playing those great sounding '80s tunes on fretted bass, making the sound work (a little chorus goes a long way) and enjoying it far more. I look at my fretless basses and just see £ signs. Is the love affair over after nearly 40 years, or are we just 'on a break'? Has anyone else gone through something similar and come out the other side, love renewed or was that it, you walked away and never looked back?

[TheLowDown]

Well a fretless shouldn't have to be the one bass that does everything. Perhaps that's how you're looking at it? I see the fretless as filling a niche, in the same way that a 6 string or short scale fills a niche application. I see them as tools for the job rather than one bass being perfect for everything.

 

If you try to think of it in that way, it may reignite your affection for it because you're not expecting as much from it. 

[Boodang]

I went through a similar thing a few years ago. Since I first started playing back in 1978 it's been fretless, it was 25 years before I bought a fretted bass. Even then it was just a novelty that I'd play only occasionally. And to add to the fretless thing I started playing EUB and that became my main instrument for about 5 years. Then, I picked up a 5 string fretted strung high C and really enjoyed the chordal capabilities. This became my main bass for a  number of years and the fretless basses very much took a back seat. At this point I thought 5 string fretted high C was the future for me, but then I came across a s/h Squier vm jazz fretless in a shop and on a whim bought it. Then I had some custom pickups made for it and before I knew it fretless is back baby! The EUB is being played more and I recently got a custom fretless made to seal the deal. The 5 string still gets played but I'm back in love with fretless and I think my playing has improved with the fretted side adventure.

[Barking Spiders]

I developed a hankering for a fretless solely because of certain tracks off No Parlez, various Japan tunes and several off Limping for a Generation by The Blow Monkeys. On the way I've had Dean, Vintage and Cort with several years in between with my interest in playing them occasionally waxing but mostly waning. All really nice basses, don't get me wrong, but outside of those tunes I've not heard any fretless bass playing that floats my boat. Some might be thinking, 'but what about Gary Willis?'. Sure he's a quality fretless player but I don't care for jazz fusion. In fact I can't abide it. It's been three years since I sold the last fretless, a Cort B4FL, and I've had no urges to get another.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Barking Spiders

[Beedster]

Happened to me with fretted bass about three years ago, and with fretless about one year ago, and now I have zero bass guitars and two double basses. The cycle of life. I can't see me going back

[Sambrook]

I would suggest putting the fretlesses away for a period, don't play them at all. Enjoy your short scale fretted to the full. After a 'suitable' length of time, break them out again...

The fretless sound is so rich and unique, I think you'd miss it if you had no access to it. 

 

[lownote]

What goes around comes around, so wait. OTOH if you sell now you'll have all the fun of chasing down a replacement when the GAS comes back. I'm intrugued at the number of people charmed or irritated by the sound.  I can't bear mwah so have my fretless set up for a tone just like a fretted bass. One less thing to annoy me in a world of things that annoy me. I am also a strong believer in playing in between the notes (an extension of the Wooten-Willis strategy)which is only really possible on a fretless.   

[ead]

Yeah I can empathise with the OP.  I had a period of playing a lot of fretted bass in cover bands where the opportunity to play fretless (my first love) was pretty limited.

 

Last year I took the conscious decision to unload a few fretted basses and play more fretless.

[ezbass]

18 minutes ago, ead said:

Yeah I can empathise with the OP.  I had a period of playing a lot of fretted bass in cover bands where the opportunity to play fretless (my first love) was pretty limited.

 

Last year I took the conscious decision to unload a few fretted basses and play more fretless.

Although not currently in any bands, I was lucky in one of my previous bands in that I could play a whole gig on fretless if I wanted to. We did a garden, live stream during 2020 and I did just that. Loved it. What a difference a couple of years and no bands makes. However, at odds with this thread, my fretless GAS is still very much intact, one the new ACG Mules has my bank account twitching madly 😂.

[police squad]

I did the fretless thing many years ago. Primarily for looks, unlined rosewood board looked great. Played it for a few years in my rock band. Then bought another, an ESP 400. I was still experimenting bank then, got rid of them both.

Fast forward to when I started my Police tribute, 15 years ago now. Found a Fenden japan PB70s fretless, maple board and natural. Lovely bass, did a lot of gigs with it. Added the Ibanez MC940, gigged that a bit too. Then built another maple board P bass which sounded sooo good, I started using it in the rock band I was playing in too.

I've given up the Police thing now and have 3 different fretless basses that are completely unplayed. 

But I'm keeping them (just in case)

[Lfalex v1.1]

I had a 1990 Stingray5 Fretless. Wonderfully made,  lovely thing.

But it never gelled properly for me- retrospectively,  I think my choice of strings were poor.

I moved it on at zero loss after a decade and stuck my neck out, buying a second- hand NS5 CR EUB with the funds. 

That's the sound I was looking for. And I can still use chorus (!)

 

It just sits there on its tripod, ready to go whenever I feel like it.

 

(Much smaller footprint than a DB, easier to store and transport,  plus no mic'ing, volume or feedback issues)

 

I always have at least one fretted hanging on the wall,  also ready to go, and rotate them to ensure they all get played occasionally. 

 

Edit- I might get back into fretless eventually,  but it'd need to be a special instrument indeed!

Edited May 6, 2022 by Lfalex v1.1

[dmccombe7]

I go thru spells with fretless. I'm now down to just my Overwater Custom 6er fretless but rarely play it. Was a 50th birthday present from my wife and has sentimental value so will never sell that one. 

Over the years i've had various fretless basses Fender, WAL, Jaydee, Yamaha and Overwater but they are all just passing fazes for me.

I always end up going back to my 4 string fretted Jazz style basses currently Sandberg MarloweDK.

Dave

Edited May 6, 2022 by dmccombe7

[nilorius]

I have a different story. 22 years i started to play bass with my first Musima white 4 string fretted precission. After 1 year i started to listen a lot of Jaco and all turned upside down. I realised that fretless is an absolutelly different instrument than fretted bass. I bought a Fender MIM jazz bass and defretted it. My sound vision turned upside down and i quickly saw these exelent things what could i do with fretless. I bought Fender Jaco artist. Then i heard Gary Willis playing on his GWB1005 and got my sound perfectly. That's it. I momentaly bought it and will say that for me it is the best fretless bass currently on earth. So it's about 20 years i have played only fretless basses.

[dmccombe7]

3 minutes ago, nilorius said:

I have a different story. 22 years i started to play bass with my first Musima white 4 string fretted precission. After 1 year i started to listen a lot of Jaco and all turned upside down. I realised that fretless is an absolutelly different instrument than fretted bass. I bought a Fender MIM jazz bass and defretted it. My sound vision turned upside down and i quickly saw these exelent things what could i do with fretless. I bought Fender Jaco artist. Then i heard Gary Willis playing on his GWB1005 and got my sound perfectly. That's it. I momentaly bought it and will say that for me it is the best fretless bass currently on earth. So it's about 20 years i have played only fretless basses.

Problem i've had over the years is i played in mostly rock bands and altho there are some fretless players in rock they are few and far between and i just couldn't get that attack you get with a fretted. The WAL with its hi-end boost switch did come pretty close to be fair.

I used my fretless P bass in a covers band doing Kansas, Saga, Gary Moore, Thin Lizzy, Magnum and a few other great bands and i dont think anyone realised i was playing a fretless other than a few seasoned bassists i knew. It was unlined altho my WAL was lined.

Dave

[Bilbo]

I have played primarily 4-string fretless since 1986 - most fretted playing has not been on gigs. I recently joined a Prog band and needed a 5-string for the low B so I got a Marleaux Consat 5 off warwickhunt on here. Since that arrived, I haven't played the fretless. Simple fact is, after 35 years of being slightly out of tune, I am enjoying the accuracy of pitch! I have a double bass gig tonight so I can quietly revisit dodgy intonation for a couple of hours but it is certainly  'easier' to play fretted is so far as you don't have to fret about the intonation (see what I did there?). 

[xgsjx]

I've wanted a fretless for yonks.  I doubt it'd be a main instrument, but every time I have a play on one, I just love it.  Just now I have 2 fretted.  A 4 with flats & a 5 with rounds.  I thought I'd prefer the 5, but I can play faster & more accurately on the 4 & I loooooove the feel & sound of flatwound strings.

 

My fretless endeavours just now are satiated by my Roli Rise, though that's not been played since last summer!  I need to get that up & running.

[ezbass]

Update: my ennui with fretless has continued, even to the point where I’m not keen when I hear it on the radio. Who am I and what has the body snatcher does with the original Ezbass? However, my GAS for a double bass or EUB has grown in direct proportion to my flagging fretless desire. Checked out some NS EUBs and dismissed them for sounding too fretless like. However, the Harley Benton, scroll topped EUB sounds more like a DB to me. Currently out of stock, but I will keep checking Thomann for when they come in (proper, affordable double basses are like rocking horse poop in my area).

Edited August 24, 2022 by ezbass

[Crawford13]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

Update: my ennui with fretless has continued, even to the point where I’m not keen when I hear it on the radio. Who am I and what has the body snatcher does with the original Ezbass? However, my GAS for a double bass or EUB has grown in direct proportion to my flagging fretless desire. Checked out some NS EUBs and dismissed them for sounding too fretless like. However, the Harley Benton, scroll topped EUB sounds more like a DB to me. Currently out of stock, but I will keep checking Thomann for when they come in (proper, affordable double basses are like rocking horse poop in my area).

I would say don't worry about it. It's ok for tastes and preferences to change.

 

I saw one of those HB EUB's on Facebook marketplace last night. Let me check if it is still there.

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, ezbass said:

Update: my ennui with fretless has continued, even to the point where I’m not keen when I hear it on the radio. Who am I and what has the body snatcher does with the original Ezbass? However, my GAS for a double bass or EUB has grown in direct proportion to my flagging fretless desire. Checked out some NS EUBs and dismissed them for sounding too fretless like. However, the Harley Benton, scroll topped EUB sounds more like a DB to me. Currently out of stock, but I will keep checking Thomann for when they come in (proper, affordable double basses are like rocking horse poop in my area).

 

Also keep an eye out for Palatino and Stagg EUBs, as they're the same thing.

[msb]

I used a maple unlined 72 Pbass as my primary bass for some years , but I started using other fretted basses and I eventually sold it. I regret that now.

I still play upright , and keep an Ashbory around for those times I want to hear iffy intonation. That little Ashbory is really a beach to intonate in the upper register.

[Passinwind]

On 05/05/2022 at 08:42, ezbass said:

 Has anyone else gone through something similar and come out the other side, love renewed or was that it, you walked away and never looked back?

Yes, when I bought my first fretted one in over 35 years. The infatuation lasted about six months but I barely ever play the fretted one now. I started out on fretless though, and I rarely play or listen to rock music, for whatever that's worth.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Passinwind

[dclaassen]

For me, different gigs call for different tools. I use the 5’s, both fretted and fretless for jazz and other note-heavy music, but am currently liking the simplicity of a 4 string fretted Jazz for the rock band. 

,

[NikNik]

Fretless....it's still bass, mate.

[StickyDBRmf]

I don't know. I think, once you play fretless for a while, your ear starts to "hear" the slight sharpness/flatness you can subscribe to a note, and that pleasantness stays. So it's ingrained - you gotta play it - once in a while. Plus, you can't "bend" a harmonic or glissando on a fretted.

However, that doesn't mean playing out-of-tune to compensate for the guitarist.  

[nilorius]

When i tried out fretless, i discovered a new bass that is my instrument. I play fretted only when music absolutely needs it.