FRETLESS PLAYERS

[Shaggy]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='648454' date='Nov 7 2009, 11:59 PM']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.[/quote]

Got exactly the same on my Ovation Magnum 1. TBH it throws me a bit, as my preference is for 1/3/5/7/9/12 dot markers [b]on[/b] the "virtual" fret-lines, whereas with this system they're of course in the usual "between the fret" positions, but after a couple of minutes I'm fine.

[ped]

[quote name='Spoombung' post='648531' date='Nov 8 2009, 06:23 AM']Lined. Why make fretless bass playing anymore difficult than it already is?[/quote]

Just started watching 'The Thick Of It' so I love yer' avatar!!

I don't mind either way tbh... my bass is unlined but with lines and dots on the side, so it works for me.

ped

[hubrad]

Unlined - that's what I fell in love with. Learning to sing and pitch fretless at the same time was one of those feel things!
Dots at strategic places - 1,3,5,7,9,12 etc.
Lined boards are ok as well, I'm more used to a plain board is all. Plus if I watch my fingers too hard I always trip myself up.

[supabock]

[quote name='henry norton' post='648300' date='Nov 7 2009, 07:17 PM']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![/quote]

Lined, but try not to pay too much attention to them......... Rely on my ears most of the time now and that way, you can play, read etc without having to concentrate on positioning, which does come as a natural thing after a while of getting to know your fingerboard

[xilddx]

Polished ebony, unlined, side dots on the "fret".

Why? Because, as someone already said, it looks bad ass It also fits with the spirit of the acoustic bass and I feel more "spiritual" (if that's the right word) when I play unlined ebony.

[Count Bassy]

Lined. Going from fretted to unlined just seemed to be too much of a step.
I actually don't look at the lines that much when I'm playing across the strings, but find them invaluable when jumping up or down the neck to land in about the right place. Then I let the ears take over again.

[thisnameistaken]

I prefer unlined boards, I think lines ruin the look of a fretless.

[Pentode]

Unlined with side dots.

I get a bit freaked by lined boards

Mind you, I do play a bit of fretted too without problems - S'wierd innit!?

[moonbass]

As a lined fretless player I can just about get away with playing an EUB neck with side dots. BUT I would love to know how you unlined fretless players manage to hit note's in tune on an electric bass neck when making big jumps. For instance if you needed to hit aBb on a D string... in the dark... in a quiet bit of the song... how do you do it?! Is there some arcane secret that you're not passing on to us mere mortals? (And no, I won't accept 'practice' as an answer!)
A.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='moonbass' post='649755' date='Nov 9 2009, 03:36 PM']As a lined fretless player I can just about get away with playing an EUB neck with side dots. BUT I would love to know how you unlined fretless players manage to hit note's in tune on an electric bass neck when making big jumps. For instance if you needed to hit aBb on a D string... in the dark... in a quiet bit of the song... how do you do it?! Is there some arcane secret that you're not passing on to us mere mortals? (And no, I won't accept 'practice' as an answer!)
A.[/quote]
Well, someone better at this than me will be along in a minute but....

1 I'd avoid the big jump and play the Bb on the G string

2 In the dark, lines or dots won't help anyway

3 Muscle memory

4 Slide and listen

5 Vibrato and listen

6 By which time you're on the next note anyway.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='silddx' post='648926' date='Nov 8 2009, 05:33 PM']I feel more "spiritual" (if that's the right word) when I play unlined ebony.[/quote]
Yes, Nigel, when playing unlined ebony I often turn to prayer.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='EssentialTension' post='649809' date='Nov 9 2009, 04:43 PM']Yes, Nigel, when playing unlined ebony I often turn to prayer. [/quote]

[simon1964]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='648334' date='Nov 7 2009, 08:05 PM']Lined or unlined it makes no difference. The lines are a suggestion only not an absolute.[/quote]

+1. I actually find unlined easier to play as lined boards can be misleading. I find myself relying on the lines and playing out of tune (mind you, my intonation's out with an unlined board as well...)

Edited November 9, 2009 by simon1964

[solo4652]

[quote name='Shaggy' post='648897' date='Nov 8 2009, 04:35 PM']Got exactly the same on my Ovation Magnum 1. TBH it throws me a bit, as my preference is for 1/3/5/7/9/12 dot markers [b]on[/b] the "virtual" fret-lines, whereas with this system they're of course in the usual "between the fret" positions, but after a couple of minutes I'm fine. [/quote]


Aha! That's what I'm looking for - only cheaper. My unlined fretless 'Ray has side dots where the 3/5/7/9/12 "frets" would be - i.e. where the notes are, unlike where they are on a normal fretted fingerboard. This means I struggle to switch between fretted and fretless boards, so I'm looking for a back-up for the 'Ray that ticks all these boxes - fretless, unlined, side dots where the "frets" would be (unlike many unlined fingerboards that have position dots in the same places as fretted boards), wide P-style neck, costs no more than £350. All suggestions gratefully received.

Steve

[Shaggy]

[quote name='solo4652' post='649922' date='Nov 9 2009, 06:21 PM']Aha! That's what I'm looking for - only cheaper. My unlined fretless 'Ray has side dots where the 3/5/7/9/12 "frets" would be - i.e. where the notes are, unlike where they are on a normal fretted fingerboard. This means I struggle to switch between fretted and fretless boards, so I'm looking for a back-up for the 'Ray that ticks all these boxes - fretless, unlined, side dots where the "frets" would be (unlike many unlined fingerboards that have position dots in the same places as fretted boards), wide P-style neck, costs no more than £350. All suggestions gratefully received.

Steve[/quote]
Buy this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-style-carbon-graphite-fretless-bass-neck_W0QQitemZ280417758642QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item414a336db2"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-style-carbon-...=item414a336db2[/url] - put your own dots on, fit it on a donor Squier (have to be black), and you've got the coolest fretless around for norra lorra cash!

[Davo-London]

I have both and don't mind either way. I think as a starter player lined is really useful and educational. You can see just how far out you can be and give the illusion of being in tune. Or notice how little movement you need above the octave to go out of tune. Yeah I love fretli - either is fine.

Davo

[lightbulbjim]

Unlined with side dots/markers. Next bass I'm going to go dots only.

[bh2]

I had my frets stoned to the tangs...



One has fallen out as you can see. Ahh... it seems the rest of the bass has fallen off as well

Edited November 10, 2009 by bh2

[solo4652]

[quote name='Shaggy' post='650029' date='Nov 9 2009, 08:12 PM']Buy this: [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-style-carbon-graphite-fretless-bass-neck_W0QQitemZ280417758642QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV?hash=item414a336db2"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-style-carbon-...=item414a336db2[/url] - put your own dots on, fit it on a donor Squier (have to be black), and you've got the coolest fretless around for norra lorra cash! [/quote]

Yes, I saw that and it did get me thinking. Then I remembered how I drilled through some wires in the kitchen wall, how I recently managed to wire a plug incorrectly and how my "plastering" in the shed fell down after 1 week. To me, "DIY" = Destroy It Yourself. I need to buy my basses completely built and ready to go.

Steve

[KERMITNT]

i play unlined fretless but i puted some markers on the side at first in order to intonate myself that easy with a black pen you make small dots that come off very easy even with saliva

i made them with korg tuner.. hahahah
now i am in tune and i dont need them.

Fretless bass is so awsome i love it ..

[fatback]

I couldn't understand how anybody could play unlined in tune, until I realised that side markers should be where the frets would be. As soon as I got the side markers shifted to the right places on my lined bb400, I found I wasn't looking at the lines at all.

Mind you, I've seen an interview with Jaco in which he sings the praises of lined boards. Something about how the arm angle changes so much with BG in a way it doesn't with URB.

Also, I like to move about a lot when playing, and that's hard enough with fretless. If you ask me, being in tune is more important than the look, full stop.

fatback

[Dom in Dorset]

"Stoned to the tangs"- sounds like you were prety wasted.
I play a home made acoustic fretless , with lines (black lines on dark brown neck) I would have liked just side dots, no idead what it's like to play such a beast but they do look the part.

[tauzero]

I prefer unlined on the basis of ( a ) it looks kewl and ( b ) there's a chance that the dots will be where the notes are rather than in between. As my Thumb fretless is a defret, it fails on both those counts (although the lines are pretty well invisible now).

[voxpop]

I really like my Fender USA jazz 5 neck profile and couldn't find a fretless that liked playing. So with fender not having a USA fretless 5 now or in the near future I came across a plan.

First is to buy another USA Jazz 5 in black, change the pickups to Seymour Duncan SJ-5 single coils and put on a Black or Pearloid scratch plate.
My change the electronics to an East or ACG.
Next give the neck to The Gallery for them to put on an Ebony board with partial fret lines like the picture ( but only on the top half of the neck not the bottom ).
String with TI flats and I will be in heaven.

[attachment=36070:seiflam5fless.jpg]


The neck is currently at the Gallery and will take another 4 weeks to complete.

[MoonBassAlpha]

I had US Masters make me a lined fretless with black lines on Pau Ferro and side dot markers ON the fret positions on 3.5.7 etc.
From a distance it looks like a plain board, but I find the lines useful when recording for that extra precision on the jumps etc.
The first neck they sent had the markers between the frets, useless IMO, and they let me keep it and sent another. The whole process took nearly a year though!
Masters have a unique neck fixing/pocket so no off-the-shelf neck would fit, but I'm [u]really[/u] pleased with the result.

Jules