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Anyone else play unlined fretless?


lownote

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Do stop me if there is already a thread but I couldn't see one. Just thought it might be good to have somewhere to swap ideas , wrinkles, that sort of thing. 

I accidentally got into unlined after I bought a Revelation off eBay.  The seller's pix were so bad I thought it was lined until I picked up but I decided to keep it anyway (as new, £120, what's not to like?).  I'd always assumed unlined was seriously hard, but it turned out to be much easier than I thought - so long as the side markers are in the right place.  In fact I took to it so much I've since bought another, an active 940FL Vintage (pic) and my fretted Hohner 6 is gathering dust. The Vintage through my Ashdown MAG300 + 15" is such a nice sound.  

So far the upsides are the sound, and having young people at blues jams ask "Are you really playing unlined? Wow" in an awed tone which frankly I don't get very much for .. anything really. :)

The downsides are they're pretty difficult to sell because there are so few unlined FeLlas.      

 

 

 

 

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Edited by lownote12
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1 minute ago, Merton said:

I always found myself relying on the lines on my old Status Groove fretless so when my friend built me this made a conscious decision to go unlined, to force me to listen more and look less. It’s great fun :)

Fiver, nice.  I can't seem to find a cheap 5 string.  There is always this, currently in the Bass Gallery for almost £8000. Its ebony fingerboard is probably worth more than all my gear put together.  

1_354079cd-d9fd-4e8d-aaf8-e2e8d4b83b57_1600x.jpg

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6 minutes ago, franzbassist said:

Yep, I play unlined fretless almost all the time.  In fact I've played unlined for so long now I am completely disorientated on a lined!

Here's my squeeze: a beautiful Franz Sirius from Germany.

 

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Wuff, that is beautiful.  And I just found a clip online so I know its sounds great too.

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I've only ever had unlined and quite honestly have never understood the lined/unlined thing. If you have side dots then I really can't see having lines or not makes things any different.

On a fretted bass surely people aren't leaning over the front to see where they are by using the fretboard dots or blocks over using the side dots, same with fretless. 

I much prefer the look of unlined as well and would always buy unlined over lined if a choice was available. 

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My Wal is lined 'cause I naively ordered it that way back in '83, but at least I had the sense to specify rosewood lines in an ebony fingerboard so they're only visible if you look hard. Anyway, I soon discovered that, for me anyway, lines compete with chocolate teapots in the usefulness stakes. When I look it's at the side dots (don't get me started on dots positioned between the "frets"! What utter madness is that?). And, well, I sometimes wonder what kind of looks an orchestral string player would get from their colleagues if they turned up with, say a lined violin?

Happy New Year

P

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Here are some of mine, I really don't like lined fretless basses because you tend to play with your eyes and not your ears.

De Gier Origin Deluxe Fretless 6

786544684_DeGierOriginDeluxe6Fretless(1).thumb.jpg.75675190627e9b45b5fdf849bd33e170.jpg

Ernie Ball MusicMan StingRay 5 Fretless

1178350641_ErnieBallMusicManStingRay5Fretless(7).thumb.jpg.65a438fb646a693ff27266c5f4f0cda3.jpg

Fender Precision Bass Fretless 1970

1781207050_FenderPrecisionBassFretless1970(1).thumb.JPG.32187e2171e9eba8516da0f896638ed3.JPG

Fender Precision Bass Fretlessised 1978

1208487456_FenderPrecisionBassFretlessised1978(1).thumb.jpg.428968003644120a1da9ed5794034e12.jpg

Laurus Quasar SL 190

850911440_LaurusQuasarSL190(1).thumb.JPG.4a76afcc0ff8e8011bce6aa078e0a52f.JPG

Leduc MP 628 SF AA

1893334393_LeducMP628SF(1).thumb.jpg.5f88346f8448d9c40189bd2fac5dc7ef.jpg

Leduc MP 631 SF

1948215690_LeducMP631SF(1).thumb.jpg.60de37e44815f1d245aa935c6348108f.jpg

Leduc MP 628 SF

35017990_LeducMP628SF(1).thumb.jpg.d1b84bfc38bf5d467066f9f9ad6da3ca.jpg

MTD 635-24 Fretless

906958426_MTD635-24Fretless878(1).thumb.jpg.b006dadf7faf8e72d4b7227a6b4d250f.jpg

Nexus Gom Jabbar Magellan Fretless 6

1195755352_NexusGomJabbarMagellanFretless6(1).thumb.jpg.04d49c75599ac63d1af9e4c8175a300d.jpg

Noguera Fairplay Fretless 6

1307211474_NogueraFairplayFretless6(12).thumb.jpg.f3614f7e1070a623e9802f24990bb1bd.jpg

Noguera YC Signature 8 Fretless

655501684_NogueraYCSignature8Fretless(6).thumb.jpg.7e161fcfb476fa7d5a0a4af90565b493.jpg

Paul Lairat Gabriella 5 Fretless

165600588_PaulLairatGabriella5Fretless(1).thumb.jpg.0c1e84ee933987619d7fb3497af109fc.jpg

Stradi Symphony Bass #6

700330790_StradiSymphonyBassFretless56(14).jpg.0b08687e65a2a4f7cc6b7f4ea410fba2.jpg

 

Most of them have gone...

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Fortunate enough to have had both lined and unlined Stingrays in my time, and much prefer unlined as I tended to overthink/over rely on watching my playing with lined rather than just intonating from muscle memory.

Spookily enough sold my last 2EQ Pino-inspired one to the previous poster, Mr Old Horse of this parish many moons ago...

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