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Fret Markers on a Fretless


BottomE
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Hi,

recently i have got a bit of a fretless bug after being lent a mates fretless bass. His is defretted and so has nice juicy fret markers on the fingerboard. I have bought a lined fretless bass without fret markers but find it much harder to play as i am so use to having the fret markers as a guide. The upshot is that the fretless with the fret markers is much easier to play - particularly up high on the dusty end of the bass. Would you persist with the bass without fret markers or buy one that has fret markers?

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Probably not any use now youve bought it but I have both a lined and unlined and find the unlined much easier to play. I only have side dots on the fret positions (The usual 3,5,7 etc). I, probably like most people, thought it would be the other way round but nope. Those lines and dots just confuse you and keep you in your fretted 'box'. So if your up to buying another I would go for nothing but side dots. Fretless makes you think about what your doing. Which is a good thing :)

edit: They look soooooooo cool as well :)

A

Edited by apa
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Do you mean the dots when you say fret markers ? i got an unlined fretless a couple of months back and am suprised how easy i have taken to it ,it still has dots on top of the neck so i know where i am at a quick glance then all i have to try and get right is my intonation.

Edited by gub
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[quote name='apa' post='1279965' date='Jun 23 2011, 06:38 PM']Probably not any use now youve bought it but I have both a lined and unlined and find the unlined much easier to play. I only have side dots on the fret positions (The usual 3,5,7 etc). I, probably like most people, thought it would be the other way round but nope. Those lines and dots just confuse you and keep you in your fretted 'box'. So if your up to buying another I would go for nothing but side dots. Fretless makes you think about what your doing. Which is a good thing :)

A[/quote]
+1 to the unlined vote above :)

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[quote name='BottomE' post='1280077' date='Jun 23 2011, 08:07 PM']Thanks chaps. It has dots on top of the neck in the usual places but i never realised i was so reliant on the fret markers on the fingerboard :) If "someone" wanted to put temporary fret markers on the fingerboard how would they do it?[/quote]
I'd say learn to use the side dots, even if it's fretted.

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[quote name='BottomE' post='1280077' date='Jun 23 2011, 08:07 PM']Thanks chaps. It has dots on top of the neck in the usual places but i never realised i was so reliant on the fret markers on the fingerboard :) If "someone" wanted to put temporary fret markers on the fingerboard how would they do it?[/quote]

It can be a bit confusing as those dots on some fretless basses are on the place where the fret would be - on others, it's in the middle of the fret (if frets were there).

Stick with it though. It will get easier. After a while you get used to the dots. And after a while after that, your fingers and brain sync up and you'll wonder why you found it so tricky to start with :)

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I am a cheat. Not fretless, but my Aerodyne has imitation blocks on, so I know where I am.

About £13 delivered from good ol US of A, very quickly at that.

[url="http://www.ccinlays.com/"]http://www.ccinlays.com/[/url]

Karl.

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[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1280095' date='Jun 23 2011, 08:19 PM']It can be a bit confusing as those dots on some fretless basses are on the place where the fret would be - on others, it's in the middle of the fret (if frets were there).

Stick with it though. It will get easier. After a while you get used to the dots. And after a while after that, your fingers and brain sync up and you'll wonder why you found it so tricky to start with :)[/quote]
I think you nailed it. The dots on the neck of the fretless are placed where the fret would be. On my other basses they are in the centre. Amazing what a difference in perception that makes.

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[quote name='karlfer' post='1280118' date='Jun 23 2011, 08:31 PM']I am a cheat. Not fretless, but my Aerodyne has imitation blocks on, so I know where I am.

About £13 delivered from good ol US of A, very quickly at that.

[url="http://www.ccinlays.com/"]http://www.ccinlays.com/[/url]

Karl.[/quote]

They look v cool , can you feel them at all?

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[quote name='BottomE' post='1280121' date='Jun 23 2011, 08:32 PM']I think you nailed it. The dots on the neck of the fretless are placed where the fret would be. On my other basses they are in the centre. Amazing what a difference in perception that makes.[/quote]

Yep! I've not played a lined fretless for many years, so I dunno if they still have the dots on the top of the neck in the same place as a fretted bass. The whole dots thing can be a bit confusing when you go over to playing an unlined fretless but are trying to use some of the same visual clues.

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[quote name='gub' post='1280124' date='Jun 23 2011, 08:34 PM']They look v cool , can you feel them at all?[/quote]


Nope, you can't feel them. Stupidly easy to fit. They also peel off leaving no residue , if you want to remove them.
Catch light in all sorts of ways.
Silddx (Nigel) put me on to them, big thanks to him.
Only thing I would do different next time is just remove the A and D strings when fitting, rather than all 4 strings.
Loads of designs, was very tempted by Ying/Yang dots to be honest, but, 70's jazzes, bound, blocks, what can I say :) .
Karl.

Edited by karlfer
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I had a Fender with dots where the frets would be, and I found after a month of practicing I could confidently gig the fretless on it's own, even on tunes I wouldn't normally use a fretless on.

It takes a while, but I practiced with a tuner at first, and then through headphones along with tunes I knew we were playing at the next gig.

I recorded a good portion of the album with it, and now it's gone I miss it. I also struggle to recall which tunes I used it on as I played it just as a bass, not aiming for the Pino 'Mwah, bwow, Mwahaha' stuff.

Edited by AndyTravis
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[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='1280386' date='Jun 24 2011, 12:14 AM']To practice intonation, play scales & arpeggios against a drone note & let your ears tell you fingers where to go :)[/quote]

I have just spent an hour playing my fretless with headphones and an iluminated tuner in the dark.

You soon get to know and then it's close your eyes and enjoy :)

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[quote name='Blademan_98' post='1280398' date='Jun 24 2011, 12:27 AM']I have just spent an hour playing my fretless with headphones and an iluminated tuner in the dark.

You soon get to know and then it's close your eyes and enjoy :)[/quote]
Thats all well & good but it's not training your ears to hear the note, its relying on your eyes on the tuner. The only benefit I can see from that is muscle memory in the dark.

The method I recommend is all down to ears.

Hold a drone C on a keyboard or on the computer & play a C major scale over it. Your ears & hands should instantly recognise flat & sharp notes and accordingly correct. This method takes reliance on eyes well out of the equation without having to sit in a dark room & look odd to your other half.

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I use the dots on the side of the neck (which on my Wal are where the 3/5/7/9/12 etc frets would be) just as I do when playing a fretted. I realise this makes me reliant on the dots rather than muscle memory but fact is I haven't even got good enough muscle memory on a fretted bass so I have no hope of intonating properly on a fretless with out a visual aid.

So I am the bass player that has to stare at the bass neck frequently when playing, which is not a biggie in my book! After all, I'm only "the bl**dy bass player", not the front man or the guitar hero :)

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