Fretted and Fretless Basses are completely different instruments - Discuss

[Stub Mandrel]

I say they sound different, technique is different, feel different and the difference is pretty profound.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Stub Mandrel

[Beedster]

They can be....

[Mykesbass]

3 minutes ago, Beedster said:

They can be....

This ^

There are things on one you can't do the other, however there is plenty you can do on both.

[songofthewind]

I certainly play differently on each. Currently I’m trying to play fretless as if fretted, instead of mwahing all over the place.

I love them both.

[Maude]

7 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

I certainly play differently on each. Currently I’m trying to play fretless as if fretted, instead of mwahing all over the place.

I love them both.

I'm doing the opposite, I seem to play fretless like a fretted. The trouble is when I try and sound 'fretless' it all gets a bit early eighties and I feel like Alan Partridge playing Music For Chameleons. 

[CamdenRob]

I sound considerably worse on fretless 😕

Especially up the dusty end... 😕

[lownote]

I find fretless way easier and more fun to play than fretted. It sounds better (I very rarely use mwah and have the bass trimmed to avoid it). Even chords are OK on fretless.The only way it's harder is in remembering where the 'in between the marks' notes go, especially high up on the fb - but then I do play unlined. 

Edited January 4, 2020 by lownote12

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

This ^

There are things on one you can't do the other, however there is plenty you can do on both.

True, but you can say the same about mandolin and mandolele

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, lownote12 said:

I find fretless way easier and more fun to play than fretted. It sounds better (I very rarely use mwah and have the bass trimmed to avoid it). Even chords are OK on fretless.The only way it's harder is in remembering where the 'in between the marks' notes go, especially high up on the fb - but then I do play unlined. 

Horses for courses for me.

I find the fretless sound better suited to relatively slower playing where the way the tone changes can come through, on faster passages you can't dig in the same way and some stuff starts to sound indistinct.

[Mykesbass]

5 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

True, but you can say the same about mandolin and mandolele

Have no idea what a Mandolele is, but what I really meant was that sometimes both fretted and fretless just sound like bass. I have (until recently) played fretless exclusively. However, that "fretless" tone has not been part of my sound. I would imagine that with flats on a fretted P bass I'd sound exactly the same!

[Happy Jack]

They're both basses, and they sound like basses.

 

[ezbass]

11 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

They're both basses, and they sound like basses.

 

Good God man! What are you doing? You’re removing all of my arguments for buying new basses in one sentence! Burn him, he’s a witch!

[Cato]

I got my first fretless a couple of years ago.

I'd say at least 90% of the technique needed to play fretless is exactly the same as that required to play fretted.

I can sort of see the 'it's an entirely different instrument' argument but it's not like the difference between say, a piano and a trumpet.

It's not really even the difference between playing a bass and a skinny string guitar.

[lownote]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Horses for courses for me.

I find the fretless sound better suited to relatively slower playing where the way the tone changes can come through, on faster passages you can't dig in the same way and some stuff starts to sound indistinct.

Exactaprecisamundo. That's what I was trying to say and couldn't find the words.  The fretless is IMHO more suited to thoughtful music making, frets can (ah only say can) encourage a more mechanical playing by numbers approach: a robust discussion I was having on Gary Willis's course on SBL until I unceremoniously threw myself off the course.    

Edited January 4, 2020 by lownote12

[ambient]

They don’t necessarily sound different.

[Delberthot]

Unless you have a double neck in which case it's exactly the same instrument 

 

[drTStingray]

5 hours ago, Mykesbass said:

This ^

There are things on one you can't do the other, however there is plenty you can do on both.

Agreed - generally you can make a fretless sound like a fretted. They are certainly the same instrument as far as the role of a bass/bass guitar is concerned, so I think the OP is wrong. 

Dependent on the bass, even thumb slapped playing can sound fretted. A Stingray will achieve this with a skilled player.  Eg Pino with Paul Young (a good example is the performance on Live Aid). 

However there are several things you can do on a Fretless which can't really be done on a fretted - various levels of mwah, step less glissando (especially downwards) and slid harmonics (even in chords - a good example can be heard in Pino's work on Wherever I Lay My Hat is My Home - Paul Young - there's a slid decending 7th chord played in harmonics) 

Mwah can be controlled by playing style and intensity from very subtle to totally in your face - also mid range plays a big role in how much or little you can achieve - having a mid control on your Bass EQ can help you with this significantly. 

The main difference between a fretted and Fretless bass is the need for playing accuracy on a Fretless to play in tune. Even the slightest variation can be very audible. I think most people find this when they first try Fretless bass guitar. 

I play both (in the same bands) but more usually fretted. I did use my Fretless as my main Bass in a particular band for several years.

Fretless can be great fun - well worth the effort, and can sound great. 

 

Edited January 4, 2020 by drTStingray

[paul_c2]

Personally for me, they're sufficiently different (in sound) that its worth owning one of each.

However, regards technique and role, they are almost the same; and the same.

I find fretted easier than fretless, but part of the "fun" of the fretless is being able to play it (I do a lot of (sight) reading too) and make it fit in, most of the time that means it sounds very much like a fretted. The main difference in sound for me is that the fretted has roundwounds and the fretless has flatwounds.

[Stub Mandrel]

47 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

(even in chords - a good example can be heard in Pino's work on Wherever I Lay My Hat is My Home - Paul Young - there's a slid decending 7th chord played in harmonics) 

Pretty please can you explain how he does that, the nearest I can get is just playing the D and G string hsrmonics at the fifth fret. 🙂

[Maude]

In my head sliding harmonics shouldn't be possible, but they are. 

[dave moffat]

Definitely need at least one of each, waiting to send an SR400 to be defretted, SR800 is staying fretted, mostly I prefer fretless. I may have to add a fretless acoustic one day.

[Owen]

For me they are different. Despite playing DB, which is obviously fretless, I just cannot get with fretless. And I have have owned at least 4. 

[dave moffat]

I was paying attention to the DB player last night and thinking that looks fun/interesting and how it underpins even an orchestral piece, then coming my senses and thinking I'd better learn to play what I've got first, anyway it looks a hell of a lump to cart around. I humbly bow down at the feet of DB players. Bowed strings are yet another voicing, I know you can get pedals but they don't come close.

[drTStingray]

3 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Pretty please can you explain how he does that, the nearest I can get is just playing the D and G string hsrmonics at the fifth fret. 🙂

I play it as an F7 shape (F on 8th fret, A string; A on 7th fret, D string; and Eb on 8th fret, G string) - play as harmonics and lightly press the strings as you slide down the fretboard, followed by a Bb note at fret 1, A string. 

Im not sure what those harmonic notes actually are but on Fretless it sounds authentic to me.

Slid harmonics work on fretted Bass but not nearly so well as Fretless. 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

12 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

I play it as an F7 shape (F on 8th fret, A string; A on 7th fret, D string; and Eb on 8th fret, G string) - play as harmonics and lightly press the strings as you slide down the fretboard, followed by a Bb note at fret 1, A string. 

Im not sure what those harmonic notes actually are but on Fretless it sounds authentic to me.

Slid harmonics work on fretted Bass but not nearly so well as Fretless. 

 

So you strike harmonics then press down onto the fingerboard?

Sorry if I seem thick, I'd imagined fingering two notes then striking harmonics with my middle hand while plucking with my right (which obviously requires an excess of hands...)

[Under threat of death if I plug my amp in at the moment 🤬 but despite being surprisingly easy to finger I'm guessing from the feeble amount of volume I'm getting with my technique this might not work for me...]

Edited January 4, 2020 by Stub Mandrel