Your Opinions on Fretless Basses

[gothpugs]

Basically i've been thinking of getting a new bass, or a second bass and I've been having a look at a few for sale nearby as much as i love my bass, its a cheap hunk of tree. lol

Anyway there's a fretless bass gone up for sale near me, its not fully fretless but has markers, and its made by Axl.

I like the idea of the fretless bass, a nicer sound and more fluid slides etc. and from what I've read you play a fretless bass ON the fret markers as apposed to inbetween in the area you would play on a fretted...

Any one have an opinion on fretless basses? would they be ok for a beginner?

anything else I need to know about fretless?

are axl basses good? or at least better than my yamaha rbx170

[Tdw]

Ive never heard of Axl basses, im guessing there pretty cheap? Fretless bass is alot harder to play than fretted and personally i wouldn't recomend one for a beginner, but if you like a challenge.....
Also cheap fretless bass's can be pretty unpleasant. Give it a try and see i suppose.

[patch006]

Go for it

some people may find it daunting but the transition is not that difficult.
Becoming a very good fretless player takes a bit more than knowing where the notes are though.
I think your skills on fretted will get better quicker if you also have a go at fretless.

Personally I'm not very good at it yet but I do love the sound I'm getting from mine.

[gothpugs]

[quote name='patch006' post='1372071' date='Sep 13 2011, 04:28 PM']Go for it

some people may find it daunting but the transition is not that difficult.
Becoming a very good fretless player takes a bit more than knowing where the notes are though.
I think your skills on fretted will get better quicker if you also have a go at fretless.

Personally I'm not very good at it yet but I do love the sound I'm getting from mine.[/quote]


What differences can I expect from my bass?

I am a beginner, but I've been playing fingered since the start, never even picked up a plec and I find my bass to be a sluggish, stiff piece of tree

From what I've read the fretless are more fluid, with a better sound though often quieter?

[patch006]

What differences can I expect from my bass?


They are different and it all depends on what you like, what ever sounds good to you is good.

I am a beginner, but I've been playing fingered since the start, never even picked up a plec and I find my bass to be a sluggish, stiff piece of tree

Practise practise and practise, pick a album you like learn it and move on to another one. Stiff pieces of tree's can all be played
. Some are may be better than others. I am lucky enough to have a couple of nice stiff pieces of tree's

From what I've read the fretless are more fluid, with a better sound though often quieter?


A fretted can be played as fluid as anything its all in the skill of the player.

Edited September 13, 2011 by patch006

[hillbilly deluxe]

[quote name='Tdw' post='1372067' date='Sep 13 2011, 04:24 PM']Fretless bass is alot harder to play than fretted and personally i wouldn't recomend one for a beginner,[/quote]
Lots of children play violin,they dont start out with fretted ones.Fretless is no harder,it's just different.

[ead]

I acquired a cheap fretless from evilbay not too long after picking up a bass for the first time, although as a violin player I am not particularly concerned about frets so no major shock. Still takes a bit of getting used to and makes you listen to what you're playing which is good.

I recorded myself playing scales on my fretted bass then played along to that on the fretless to start to stimulate some muscle memory and work on intonation. Never regretted it at all.

My cheap fretless was £90 Yamaha RBX270F/L (lined) now upgraded somewhat as I like the light-weight feel and neck of the RBX.

[Conan]

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1372050' date='Sep 13 2011, 04:13 PM']its not fully fretless but has markers[/quote]

If it has no frets, it's fully fretless - markers or no!

Some people find that the fret markers make the transition easier... others find the opposite. I find that as long as there are fret-accurate markers on the top of the neck it makes getting used to fretless easier. After a while you might stop using them though.

Fretless bass guitar is still bass guitar. There are things you can do easily on a fretless that are harder on a fretted and vice versa. Try one and see! Unless you're Les Claypool (which I assume you are not), you need to be more accurate with your "fretting" hand on fretless. Get it slightly out and the note will be out of tune. Do this on a fretted and it makes little difference except maybe a bit of buzz...

Edited September 13, 2011 by Conan

[BottomE]

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1372050' date='Sep 13 2011, 04:13 PM']Basically i've been thinking of getting a new bass, or a second bass and I've been having a look at a few for sale nearby as much as i love my bass, its a cheap hunk of tree. lol

Anyway there's a fretless bass gone up for sale near me, its not fully fretless but has markers, and its made by Axl.

I like the idea of the fretless bass, a nicer sound and more fluid slides etc. and from what I've read you play a fretless bass ON the fret markers as apposed to inbetween in the area you would play on a fretted...

Any one have an opinion on fretless basses? would they be ok for a beginner?

anything else I need to know about fretless?

are axl basses good? or at least better than my yamaha rbx170[/quote]
You pose some good questions. I know nothing about AXL basses so cannot comment on that. When you say your current bass is "sluggish" what do you mean exactly. Bad action? Woolly sound?

I don't think fretted or fretless is easier - they are just very different. If you are just starting then getting a fretless now might be a good move as you don't know any different. Although i can't qualify this statement i would think that learning on a fretless is harder as you need to be bang on the fret to be in tune (or use a lot of vibrato ). So if you are doing exercises like scales, arpeggios etc you might get more quickly frustrated practising on fretless.

If you have dots on the fretboard of a fretless it makes it easier to play (opinion again) especially if you are used to dots on a fretted bass. This has been my experience. You can get "stick on" dots to put on a fretless neck but i do think that a fretless looks cool cos it doesn't have dots.

I have recently started using a fretless and must admit that its more tiring as it requires more concentration than normal. Find myself watching my hands a lot more than with a fretted bass.

One thing though is try the bass out before you buy it if at all possible. Might be more sluggish than your current bass

[hubrad]

I'm totally biased, inasmuchas I picked up fretless first. If anything, I find fretted bass harder!
Where in Yorkshire are you? You're welcome to pop over and try mine.. work south of Bradford is the most social for turning a decent size amp on!

[gothpugs]

Bought it.... love it, love the action! will post more later x

[gothpugs]

Went to see the bass, tried it, loved it and had to have it!

Its not a top of the range bass, it was only £150 new, but its near mint and along witht the bass I bought a Kraft amp for a steal price.

The sound quality is AMAZING, makes mine look like something out of the middle ages! its so clean sound, I love the way it feels, and instantly took to the playing style, so much so that I'm selling my old bass in favour of this one, and as an extra to boot he'd put some Flat fender strings on for me, a full set £30 worth

[Guest bassman7755]

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1372050' date='Sep 13 2011, 04:13 PM']not fully fretless but has markers,[/quote]

Fretless basses for men dont have markers

[hubrad]

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1372617' date='Sep 13 2011, 10:14 PM']Went to see the bass, tried it, loved it and had to have it!
.....
...... I love the way it feels, and instantly took to the playing style, so much so that I'm selling my old bass in favour of this one, ....[/quote]
RESULT!!

[Tdw]

[quote name='hillbilly deluxe' post='1372259' date='Sep 13 2011, 06:25 PM']Lots of children play violin,they dont start out with fretted ones.Fretless is no harder,it's just different.[/quote]

I think it is harder you have to do everything that you do on a fretted plus the fingering must be much more exact to be playing in tune, theres a huge margin of error permissable on fretted as opposed to fretless.

[gothpugs]

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1372639' date='Sep 13 2011, 10:36 PM']Fretless basses for men dont have markers[/quote]


Good job I'm a girl then isn't it?

[Jerry_B]

This all sounds good! Fretless just takes a bit more care - that said, you'd be suprised at how you don't have to be super-accurate with your playing for people not to notice any mistakes I started playing one not long after I first started to play bass and actually think that helped a bit with getting my head around the whole concept of the fretless.

One thing you might notice when going from a marked fretless to an unlined one will be the dot markers on the top of the neck. Some are on the fret, some are where they are on fretted basses (i.e. in the middle of the fret). It's something to watch for should you ever make the transition from lined to unlined.

[BigRedX]

Fretless is great. Play is also good practice for your ears making sure that you stay in tune. I've always found it best to play along with another instrument so you're constantly checking your note accuracy against something that you know is in tune. Playing fretless by yourself (unless you have perfect pitch) you can easily find that you are a quartertone sharp or flat over a 5 minute period as smaller inaccuracies compound to give you bigger ones.

As for the bass, if your still unsure if your going to find playing fretless feasible or useful then by all means by something cheap. I started with a defretted Wesley acrylic bass that cost me £70 off eBay. It was perfectly adequate for me to discover if the fretless bass was something I could make use of, and I used it with my band for almost a year and I had to spend considerably more money in order to get a bass that was a significant improvement.

As for fret markers (or lack of them) only you can decide what's most useful, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing. Lines can be useful when you're starting as you have an easy visual guide to placing your fingers (but you should always use your ears to decide if a note is in tune) Things to watch are lined boards where the lines are a very similar colour to the rest of the fingerboard as you might find that they become invisible under stage lighting; also on unlined boards make sure that the side dots are where the fret would be and not between as they would be on a fretted bass, as you use these side markers to position your fingers.

Other than that good luck!

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='gothpugs' post='1372050' date='Sep 13 2011, 04:13 PM']............... and from what I've read you play a fretless bass ON the fret markers as apposed to inbetween in the area you would play on a fretted...[/quote]

I'd suggest you try to play just behind the fret on both your fretted and fretless bass, your fretless playing will probably improve quicker.

The plus side of playing fretted bass just behind the fret (rather than in between two frets) is you'll need less pressure on the string to get a clean note with no buzzes or rattles. That'll probably clean up your fretted playing and possibly help you play faster too.

Also you'll get used to putting your fingers close to where you'll need them on your new bass to be in tune.

Lines are optional but try not to rely on them too much, it doesn't matter if your playing looks in tune, if sounds out of tune you're sunk. I prefer no lines so I can't cheat, but occasionally I've had gigs where I couldn't hear myself clearly and it all got a bit tricky

Good luck and enjoy your new bass!

[thisnameistaken]

Nobody should be put off playing fretless just because it looks harder. It is indeed a bit harder to play because you have to be less sloppy, but like anything you'll improve with practice. On the other hand you're unlikely to become an expert fretless bassist by spending more years playing a fretted bass.

The only downside is it can be harder to get a gig, depending on the sort of music you play. I was lucky in that the years I spent exclusively playing fretless I came across a lot of very open-minded musicians to play with, but most guitarists either think it's a poser's instrument or they want to hear that clack and clang rock sound that you only get from frets. It's a versatile instrument though and it can work well in any music, really. It can get tiring on the ear if you're always pushing up the midrange 'honk' though so go easy on people.

[janmaat]

I find that the fingering technique is rather different. On fretted, I use 4 fingers - 4 frets. On fretless, I use a fingering similar to double bass, in that I use index and pinkie much more and ring finger almost never; so a 1:1 transition between the two might be a misleading approach (and is certainly a reason for why guitar players find it hard). Anybody else has something to say about that, would be interesting.

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='janmaat' post='1373081' date='Sep 14 2011, 12:15 PM']I find that the fingering technique is rather different. On fretted, I use 4 fingers - 4 frets. On fretless, I use a fingering similar to double bass, in that I use index and pinkie much more and ring finger almost never; so a 1:1 transition between the two might be a misleading approach (and is certainly a reason for why guitar players find it hard). Anybody else has something to say about that, would be interesting.[/quote]

Maybe depends on the size of your hands? I have no problem 4 fingers - 4 frets on a fretless even though my basses are 35" scale. But then I've got hands like a bunch of bananas that drag along the ground when I walk.

Whatever works best for you I guess!

Edited September 14, 2011 by Fat Rich

[fatback]

[quote name='Jerry_B' post='1372959' date='Sep 14 2011, 10:35 AM']One thing you might notice when going from a marked fretless to an unlined one will be the dot markers on the top of the neck. Some are on the fret, some are where they are on fretted basses (i.e. in the middle of the fret). It's something to watch for should you ever make the transition from lined to unlined.[/quote]


This is hugely important imo. If the dots on the edge of the neck are not on the 'fret' positions, get stick on paper dots and put them there. You could use a marker to dull down the original misplaced dots.

Those dots are very very useful, especially when you're gigging and moving about the stage.

You'll never regret the fretless. Your ears will improve immensely. Just make sure you learn to play with the correct left hand technique or you won't get reliably good intonation. And practice at least some of the time without looking at your hand.

And that's the downside of fretless imo. if you are out of tune, you're worse than useless, you're a major liability.

Intonation is all.

Edited September 14, 2011 by fatback

[Jerry_B]

[quote name='fatback' post='1373236' date='Sep 14 2011, 02:03 PM']This is hugely important imo. If the dots on the edge of the neck are not on the 'fret' positions, get stick on paper dots and put them there. You could use a marker to dull down the original misplaced dots.[/quote]

Then again, you get used to the dots being on the 'fret' with unlined necks. It doesn't interfere with things - you just have to remember what you need to do, which just takes a bit of practice.

[Jerry_B]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='1373066' date='Sep 14 2011, 12:00 PM']The only downside is it can be harder to get a gig, depending on the sort of music you play. I was lucky in that the years I spent exclusively playing fretless I came across a lot of very open-minded musicians to play with, but most guitarists either think it's a poser's instrument or they want to hear that clack and clang rock sound that you only get from frets. It's a versatile instrument though and it can work well in any music, really. It can get tiring on the ear if you're always pushing up the midrange 'honk' though so go easy on people. [/quote]

Yep, some people can get a bit silly about you can or can't do - or aren't 'supposed to do' - with a fretless. When I've tried to join several punk bands over the years, they said no to the fretless - this despite the fact that I prefer to play with a plectrum, and know that I can colour things with compression, overdrive, etc. Bigger fools them really - and it tends to ignore certain players who have done similar things in established bands over the years.