Fretless fingerboard wear / string choice?

[Wolfram]

I treated myself to a fretless bass for my birthday this week. It arrived today - and lovely though it is, the strings look like they might've been on for all the 22 years since the instrument was built 😮

 

This bass definitely needs a string change, but I'm wondering what type to get? It's currently wearing roundwounds, but I've heard and read much about these wearing out or gouging fretless fingerboards - I wonder how true this is and to what extent? I've not used anything other than roundwounds before (D'Addario EXL, Dingwall and Newtone), but wondering if I should try flatwounds or something else to look after the fretless board? FWIW the bass has an unlined ebony board and it looks fresh and unmarked - though it could obviously have had maintenance over the years.

 

I'm definitely after more of an 'electric' fretless sound with plenty of bloom and sustain than 'acoustic double bass' sound if that matters. This is my first fretless bass and, aside from a couple of fun hours at the Bass Gallery a few weeks ago I've never played one before - but very much looking forward to trying to!

 

Grateful for any insights / recommendations!

 

Cheers,

David

 

[MJJS]

I personally don’t like the grating of fingers over round stings on fretless and find D’Adario chrome flats to be the smoothest metal strings. However, Labella nylons are like glass.

Edited December 1, 2023 by MJJS

[paul_5]

Ebony is pretty hard wearing, so you should be able to keep rounds on there and not have to worry too much about it. Personally I favour Rotosound Nexus on my fretless, but they are more round wound than flats. I've tried LaBella tapes on there too, but they were just so floppy. LaBella Low Tension Flats are great strings for a fretless too.

[jd56hawk]

Plenty of good choices available but why settle for good when you can buy great?

Edited December 1, 2023 by jd56hawk

[TheGreek]

Definitely tapewounds. 

I use them on nearly everything. 

[snorkie635]

I have two fretless basses. One has roundwounds for that 'electric' fretless sound you mention. The other has tape-wound Labella strings for a fatter, more DB sound. I'd suggest you try using a chorus if using roundwounds (chorus AND octaver can sound great.)

your ebony board will show signs of wear, but find yourself a good local luthier -Martin at the Bass Gallery - and they'll be able to advise what needs done, and when. Good luck in your adventure(s).

[Aidan63]

Any survey of the 'great' fretless players will generally show they mostly favour round wounds, there was a really good discussion about it during an online seminar/forum a few years ago presented from Berkley College; it's probably still viewable somehow, but I am sorry I don't have the link, iirc Steve Bailey who is/was? main man at Berkley for Bass would be point of contact, and there was a thread about it here on General at the time; it was a lockdown thing that hasn't afaik carried on much since though that was the intention but I may have dropped out of the loop and it is still going on unbeknownst to me

 

That being said I have half rounds on mine at the moment 🙃

[tauzero]

All my fretless basses have roundwounds on. Don't be afraid to use them if you want to.

[alyctes]

You might find flats or tapes too slippery to start with - half-rounds might be easier to start with.

[TheGreek]

I find tapewounds a bit softer and smoother than round wound strings.

The first time I used round wound strings again after using tapewounds I found them sharp and harsh on the fingertips. It took a while to get used to them again. 

[Beedster]

I have rounds on one fretless and flats on the other and generally much prefer the tone and playability of the flats

[itu]

Try nickel strings on fretless. SS is harsher in sound.

 

If you worry about the fretboard, try halfrounds (or sell the bass). It was built for playing.

[GuyR]

If you are used to using roundwounds and they are your regular choice, it seems the most logical choice to start with them.
I haven’t seen any significant damage to the rosewood boards on my fretless basses and they all have rounds. A bit of wear wouldn’t worry me in any case, basses are for making music. Fingerboards can be flattened, or even replaced in the unlikely event you wore one out in your lifetime.

[Linus27]

I have LaBella Low Tension flats on one fretless, Rotosound flats on another fretless, LaBella Deep Talkin Flats on another fretless and LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound on two other fretless basses. I think my favourite is the Low Tension Flats to play and tonally the Rotosound's are my favourite.

[OliverBlackman]

I’ve tried flats/ tapewound but prefer the round wound sound. I use nickel over steel because they tend to be a little smoother so my theory is it will wear the fingerboard less.

[Burns-bass]

Often the deep damage to Fretless boards isn’t caused by playing, but by the strings being pushed against the board while basses are in transit or are dropped, fall off stands, etc.

 

Any wear to an ebony board can easily be repaired.

[Paulhauser]

Elixir coated nickel strings work really well with my fretless Thumb and they are easy on the fingerboard,too.

I only ever used roundwounds on fretless basses and if you are careful not to bend sideways but use a cello / double bass-like vibrato then markings will be almost non-existent. 

 

Also as others mentioned above any markings can easily be repaired. Use the strings you like the sound and feel of and don't worry about wear.

[Schnozzalee]

Always flatwounds for me - At the moment, I have the stock Carvins on mine. Having tried those from Thomastik Infeld and D'Addario before, I've now settled on Rotosound.

[Wolfram]

Thanks everyone for all your advice - plenty for me to think about here. Headline seems to be, there's no 'best' choice so I will experiment with some of the recommendations and see what I like the sound and feel of, starting in familiar territory with a fresh set of nickel roundwounds. And thanks for the reassurance over using the roundwounds - absolutely, like all my instruments, this is for playing but I didn't want to inadvertently ruin it with poor string choice coupled with 'emergent' technique...

 

 

 

 

[Linus27]

On 02/12/2023 at 00:11, Linus27 said:

I have LaBella Low Tension flats on one fretless, Rotosound flats on another fretless, LaBella Deep Talkin Flats on another fretless and LaBella Black Nylon Tapewound on two other fretless basses. I think my favourite is the Low Tension Flats to play and tonally the Rotosound's are my favourite.

 

Just to quote my own post, I have now fitted a set of Rotosound rounds to my fretless Jazz and they sound really nice and definitely sing and give a very different expression over the flats that are on my two fretless Precision's. However, due to being tougher under the finger than the flats, you can't do as much vibrato or certainly not as easily. Not a huge issue so they will be staying on but its noticeable as I do a lot of vibrato in my playing.

[NickA]

Side to side or up and down vibrato? Worth learning up and down on a fretless ( if you're not already .... which you likely are!)

 

My main fretless is 37 years old.  It's always had rounds on.  It got scored enough to buzz a few years ago so I had the board planed flat; it's quite thin now ( may have been done once before I got it in 1998).... but it will see me out!  Treated well and no side to side vibe, an ebony board can last 50 years of rounds.  Then you get a new board!

 

I put eb cobalt flats on my other fretless ...  the other flats i tried sounded dull and thuddy.  They're ok. Feel nice, still a bit of tone in them.

[Schnozzalee]

The board on my fretless has extra thick rosewood - I think that's in case you're a rounds player.

[Linus27]

1 hour ago, NickA said:

Side to side or up and down vibrato? Worth learning up and down on a fretless ( if you're not already .... which you likely are!)

 

My main fretless is 37 years old.  It's always had rounds on.  It got scored enough to buzz a few years ago so I had the board planed flat; it's quite thin now ( may have been done once before I got it in 1998).... but it will see me out!  Treated well and no side to side vibe, an ebony board can last 50 years of rounds.  Then you get a new board!

 

I put eb cobalt flats on my other fretless ...  the other flats i tried sounded dull and thuddy.  They're ok. Feel nice, still a bit of tone in them.

 

I do both but I'm more side to side like a violin/cello as it's more natural for me. Snap on the fretless, mine is 37 years old and has an ebony board and only has a few mark's on it. Every now and then I use 000 grade steel wool and orange beeswax wood polish and conditioner and it comes up like glass.

[Stub Mandrel]

My fretless is nearly 50 years old. It has a poly finished maple fingerboard. It has been gigged on and off over the years, usually just a few songs. So not heavy use. It has a couple of minor marks.  Probably from falls rather thsn wear.

[NickA]

Vibe ... By "up and down" I meant like a double base IE up and down the string. E basses being on their side I guess my terminology was wrong! 😂

 

Having learned cello first and then fretless bass I use the same up and down the string on all my instruments ( cello double bass fretless and yes even my 2 fretted basses ..).  May be wrong but saves fingerboard wear.