Ever try fretless?

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Andrew Producer Joined: 05 Jun 2005 Posts: 336 Location: Texas Ever try fretless?     Ever try fretless? I'm a big fan of frets, they provide a nice margin of error in your fingering, which is even more important in the realm of bass, since the frequency of bass notes are closer together meaning that proper pitch is critical. But fretless basses can have a really nice sound. Jazz guys love them, and obviously it's the only way to go with a standup bass. I've tried messing with them. It's an interesting challenge to adjust your fingering to get the exact pitch needed, much more precision needed. I think one of the hardest parts for me in playing fretless is that, not only are there no frets, there are often no fretboard markers! You really gotta know where you are at to pull that off. I've seen an electric fretless that had little lines painted on the fretboard where the frets would normally be, might be able to swing it with that! Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:29 pm

Justin_Bass-God New Poster Joined: 28 Jun 2006 Posts: 2 Ibanez makes an awesome one if you wanna check into that, its a soundgear that comes with little white "fret" markers great for fretless beginners Wed Jun 28, 2006 3:53 am

RobertP Junior Roadie Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 9 I think one of the hardest parts for me in playing fretless is that, not only are there no frets, there are often no fretboard markers! -------------------------------------------------------- US DRUGSTORE Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:41 pm

iplay4JC Junior Roadie Joined: 30 Sep 2008 Posts: 5 Location: SoCal I demoed a Breedlove A/E bass at a local GC last month. It didn't take too long to get accustomed to playing w/o frets. Had a real nice sound to it too. I could myself using one but for a limited amount of songs I do at church. _________________ Maranatha! Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:27 pm

mikeyBoab Jam Master Joined: 12 Oct 2007 Posts: 163 Location: Glasgow, Scotland I played the double bass in the high school band. I took a while to get used to playing without frets but after a while you just kinda instincively know where to go. Yeah I would agree the sound is great but you need to be able to ensure that you get the note right or it just sounds wrong. Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:12 am

Sime Jammer Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 73 Location: Somerset, UK Fretless, always had an eye for them. Not really a bass player though, as much as I'd like to dabble. Fretless guitar? Hmm, that would be interesting. _________________ Sax In My Pocket . Com Sax In My Pocket is an Eclectic & Intellectual General Discussion Forum designed for quality conversation. Tue Aug 18, 2009 11:39 pm

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