I am selling this fretless because...

Schnozz

...I don't have enough time to learn how to play it, is possibly the most frequently typed statement on a 'bass for sale' ad.

I almost started on a lined fretless, because the frets were in a mess and I had them removed; however, the above confuses me because it's all muscle memory, whether you play fretted or not.

I'd get it if you solo a lot, as at that point I do find myself looking down, where I occasionally can't see the side markings.

Just seems a shame that people ditch the fretless so soon, because I feel a lot more depth to the notes (neck/both pickups) and find the singing quality (bridge pickup) keeps things fresh - If I'm in a rut, I'll go get my Carvin and I'll start coming up with ideas again.

https://i.imgur.com/GGlM80C.jpg

Funkfingers

IMHO, lined fretless or de-fretted and filled fingerboards are cheating. The temptation will be to rely on the visual prompt of the lines rather than to find the pitches by ear.

I vividly recall an open mic night where a young group - who had performed earlier in the evening - were encouraged to return to the stage to close the session. By then, their own gear was packed away. The only bass guitar waiting on a stand was my fretless Stingray. The young bassist froze in his tracks when he clocked its fingerboard. 

Sporky

My cello teacher gave me a very particular look when I said I'd found a fretted electric cello. 

slacker

I played fretted for years before I swapped. My main bass when I was a bass player was an unlined Warwick. Now I dabble and have an Ashbury and a NXT. I don't see the need for speed bumps on a bass instrument.

wrinkleygit

I have two fretless basses, a 32” scale lined and a 34” unlined, I regularly swap between either of them without any problems, my main bass, however, is a fretted 34” five string, but for rehearsals I take whatever takes my fancy on the day, best advice I can give anyone, is to make music with your ears and not your eyes. Happy New Year.

UnclePsychosis

I'm pretty sure they only say that because "i bought this on a total whim and realised that I never want a fretless sound" might make 90% of their prospective buyers snap out of their own whimsy.

Rightly or wrongly they're very much a niche. 

Schnozz

If you switch to the neck or middle pickup and roll the tone off it gets rid of the 'mwah' and you can lose even more of that with some flats. I aim for more of a Jack Bruce tone than Jaco Pastorius.

Slightly separate, but I'd encourage everyone to listen to Aquamarine by Santana. That's a lovely fretless track.

UnclePsychosis

I'm not saying that fretless doesn't have its uses. But I would wager that 9/10 fretless basses that get sold to amateur bassists only get played once in a blue moon. 

ICBM

Many years ago when I hadn't been playing bass long I tried fretless for a bit, and found it embarrassingly difficult to play in tune live, so gave up for a long time. Later, I decided to give it another go and to my great surprise I found it no problem at all - I now play fretless at least half the time, in fact I have two fretless basses and only one fretted at the moment. I don't really know what changed - nothing I was consciously aware of, but I must have just developed a better ear/brain/fingers feedback loop without noticing.

My main electric fretless is unlined but has side dots - I don't look at them all the time, but they're useful when making big movements. My little rubber-band acoustic/'bass uke' one has lines, but you *have* to play it by ear anyway since the intonation is so inaccurate otherwise! (I suspect this is why most of these are fretless, since if it was fretted it would be near enough un-intonatable.)

Personally, I would not use roundwounds on a fretless - they not only chew the fingerboard up, they have that irritating clichéd buzzy tone I can't stand (sorry Jaco fans).

It has to be said it doesn't really suit a garage-punk band though, so I still use my fretted Rick bass for that...

Schnozz

I like Jon Shukers work for fretless inlays - I think he has the best idea if you want them. My sister will pick up my fretless bass because she's a violinist and doesn't like the metallic clank of frets. I have 3 fretted and the 1 fretless in my collection.

Funkfingers

Ironically enough, fretless/de-fretted RIC 4001/4003 basses suck.

ICBM

Funkfingers said:

Ironically enough, fretless/de-fretted RIC 4001/4003 basses suck.

They really do, and I say that as a huge fan of the fretted ones.

Schnozz

How come? Nearly bought one

ICBM

Schnozz said:

How come? Nearly bought one

I'm not completely sure, other than they don't feel right and they don't sound right! Which is odd, considering that most of the other classic bass designs are fine as a fretless, as are almost all modern ones. But having played one once and finding it very weird, I'm sticking to my Aria SB.

Bork

Funkfingers said:

IMHO, lined fretless or de-fretted and filled fingerboards are cheating. The temptation will be to rely on the visual prompt of the lines rather than to find the pitches by ear.

Good luck with that if the on stage mix is congested.  I've owned an unlined Smith but have discovered it's also possible to play out of tune on lined fretless even when you're looking at the fingerboard.  ATM I own a lined Pedulla which is pretty unforgiving but stand next to a loud enough amp and it'll gently feedback, making the bass sustain endlessly and feel like it's alive.  I used to play an India Ayrie tune on fretless and the swell on the notes onstage was utterly fabulous.  It's had the same set of roundwounds on it for the last ten years.  The diamondkote(tm) fingerboard is really made from 2 pack poly but wear has been minimal, partially because I don't play it regularly. 

There's not a lot of call for fretless playing for anyone in a covers band but I wouldn't be without one, nevertheless.

bassbora

My experience of fretless started in 2000.  I bought a MM Stingray (bought it because of Pino), beautiful instrument but I did not really get on with it.  I held on to it for probably 8-9 years before selling it but never really used it.  I think the reason was I had only 1 fretted bass and I had been playing it for quite a few years prior.  It was (and still is) Warwick Thumb 5 and anyone who has played one will know the body shape, access to the top fret  and upper access is totally different from what you would expect from a Stingray.  

Around the time I sold it I got a 6 string fretless Thumb and it was magic.  I think it was just the muscle memory.  My fingers just knew where to go on the Thumb.  I have used it quite a bit over the years in different projects and played if live few times but last few years its not come out much and I am hoping to change that.  I took it to a band practice (cover band) the other day and it sounded great.  I am also now starting to be involved with a country type project and I am hoping to use it there a bit.

It is my best sounding bass and there is just something magical about a fretless sound.

Snags

Funkfingers said:

IMHO, lined fretless or de-fretted and filled fingerboards are cheating. The temptation will be to rely on the visual prompt of the lines rather than to find the pitches by ear.

I vividly recall an open mic night where a young group - who had performed earlier in the evening - were encouraged to return to the stage to close the session. By then, their own gear was packed away. The only bass guitar waiting on a stand was my fretless Stingray. The young bassist froze in his tracks when he clocked its fingerboard. 

I'm stil struggling to parse this. I assume it's not meant to be come across as a smug, superior, gatekeeping post, but ... it doesn't seem entirely unreasonable for a young bassist to be a little freaked out at being asked to play, and then presented with a fretless bass. If I'm performing in public I'm not massively keen on getting up and just blagging someone else's guitar that I've never played before, purely because you don't know what you're getting into regarding action, neck. tone etc. so being presented with a fretless if I'd only ever played fretted and I was wanting to make a good impression would be naturally concerning.

hollywoodrox

I used to think the fretless sound on Paul young & Japan songs was a keyboard at first ,it’s an amazing sound isn’t it 

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Schnozz said:

Just seems a shame that people ditch the fretless so soon

True. But I wouldn't fret about it.

impmann

Hmmm... well, lined/unlined I don't think either is cheating or superior, nor should anyone look down on another player because somehow they can't use an instrument that is very different to play than a fretted bass. It *is* a different skill.

Likewise its along the same lines as the pick no pick bollocks that some smug wankers seem to think denotes a 'good' bass player or not. 

I do know a fair few folks who don't get on with fretless but are killer players in their own rights. I also know a guy who hates playing fretted. TBH, my exposure has been purely studio based - I've never tried playing fretless live, but I guess I'd give it a go. I'd love a decent fretless (I used to 'look after' a gorgeous Stingray that the owner couldn't take home for wife reasons) but I never seem to have the funds...

Funkfingers

bassbora said:
I think it was just the muscle memory.  My fingers just knew where to go

This. 

Fretless bass requires more practice time in order to get the finger moves pretty much on autopilot. It also requires concentrated listening for intonation accuracy - either to hit the notes with the least possible need for correction or deliberately wiggling off pitch by a few cents to create interesting beating effects. (Many popular synth bass sounds involve slightly detuned oscillators.) Due to lack of practice effort, I am currently quite good at producing these artefacts!