FRETLESS PLAYERS

[henry norton]

Just curious but what type of board do you prefer; lined, marked (with harmonic positions where the fret would be), or good old plain unmarked?

And why, of course!

[Bilbo]

Unmarked - so I can maintain my intonation with my ears and not my eyes. So I can play in the dark.....

[bh2]

Heh... I use lined but I can intonate okay without looking... when I do look I start drifting off in an 'in-tune' sort of way.

[Lew-Bass]

My one and only ever fretless is currently my main bass, and it's unlined. I reckon I'd prefer a lined one though

[wateroftyne]

Unlined, with dots on the side.

If I'm out of tune, I'd rather not know.

[deaver]

I tried an unlined for a while, which I should of stuck with for the reasons Bilbo gives above. Eventually I decided to sell and build a lined fretless instead. Why, because I'm a lazy wuss.

[velvetkevorkian]

I would like an unlined fretless, but cost and the opportunity to have a matching fretted/fretless set mitigated against it, for now at least. So I have a cheap lined defret job.

Edited November 7, 2009 by velvetkevorkian

[EssentialTension]

Unlined but side dots.

[Tengu]

Mine is lined but purely because it was the only one available in my price range at the time.

I can't really see the lines during gigs so I could probably get away without them. I'd like to try an unlined one once I have more experience with the fretless (I've only been playing it for about a year).

[BigRedX]

Lined or unlined it makes no difference. The lines are a suggestion only not an absolute.

[martthebass]

Think I'm better on lined and prefer it that way but currently have unlined with side dots because the deal was good.

[henry norton]

I used to have an unmarked, but found I got to know the little details and nuances of the ebony and started using those to reference my intonation if the light was OK. I also had one or two (neurotic singer songwriter type) people moan during sessions about the 'mwaw' sound seeming out of tune. I now have dots on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th positions. I've still got that cool looking and mind opening expanse of plain wood but also a reference for basic positions.

[Bloodaxe]

Lined... sort of.

Mine's a Defret & I thought it would be a good idea to put mahogany fretlines into a dark rosewood board - it was, until I started playing it. At the first sign of finger-grease & that, all my lovely inlaid strips vanished.

With hindsight, I wouldn't have bothered, as I don't look at the face of the fingerboard anyway - just the edge. I've now "enhanced" the fretlines on the edge & generally know where I am. Haven't tried it under typical stage lighting (i.e. not much) yet.

Pete.

[franzbassist]

Plain board, side dots.

[Kiwi]

Doesn't matter to me. I've learned to play on both because I wouldn't want to limit my ability to use the right tools for the job. Nothing wrong with lined boards at all either.

[purpleblob]

I've had unlined and now a lined and I think bilbo is spot on that it's best that your ear maintains your intonation, therefore not having lines forces you to listen more to what you're playing.

However, personally I just feel more comfortable having lines. For me they're like having an air bag in a car, I don't neccesarily use it, but it's damn good to have it in case I need to

[Darkstrike]

I can use either, but prefer lines.

They come in handy when I can't hear myself, as I can get relatively in tune anyway(I have my lined ones well intonated to the lines), and for chords, they're a godsend.

[witterth]

Unlined looks cooler, but I'd be sunk without the side dots.

[Beedster]

[quote name='Darkstrike' post='648443' date='Nov 7 2009, 11:45 PM']I can use either, but prefer lines. They come in handy when I can't hear myself[/quote]


[quote name='witterth' post='648447' date='Nov 7 2009, 11:53 PM']Unlined looks cooler, but I'd be sunk without the side dots.[/quote]

+1 to both of the above.

[Happy Jack]

I'll never be a fretless-only player, so I need to be able to switch between fretted and fretless really easily.

My Ibanez fretless (a 2366 P-bass from 1972) has "fret-edges", i.e. partial frets about a millimetre long set into the side of the fretboard, exactly where the frets would end on a fretted bass, plus the usual side dots you'd expect.

When I'm playing, and glance down at the (side of the) neck, it looks like a fretted bass. To the audience, it's an uninterrupted expanse of (stained) rosewood.

[url="http://tinypic.com/a/z8zs/3"]http://tinypic.com/a/z8zs/3[/url]

Brilliantly simply, and simply brilliant. I'd recommend that to any fretted player looking to start playing fretless.

The only thing I'd change (magic wand at the ready) is that I'd prefer a maple board. Rosewood doesn't have quite the sound I'm after.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='witterth' post='648447' date='Nov 7 2009, 11:53 PM']Unlined looks cooler, but I'd be sunk without the side dots.[/quote]

Likewise

[Cairobill]

Lined boards exclusively.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Cairobill

[7string]

I had my Conklin GT7 de-fretted when I got a new fretted bass.

I did look into getting a new fingerboard, but couldn't afford it! I have lines and Jon Shuker did a great job of making them as faint as possible.

[Duarte]

Unmarked. It looks badass. ANd I'm a fan of pau ferro boards...that wood is beautiful.

I'm yet to try a fretless ebony board but it looks 'schweet'

[Spoombung]

Lined. Why make fretless bass playing anymore difficult than it already is?