To Fret or Not to Fret.....that is the question. :)

[Bunn]

I played violin for years ...... but that neck is so much shorter and easier to develop muscle memory with .......

My classical has no inlays fret board or top and you get used to it for sure but yeah some times you gotta stop and think ( and count haha ) but when you use it all the time its not bad. The 12th fret is where the neck meets the body... you get accoustomed to it. Learning NEW songs is a bear, but old ones you get used to playing on it are easy

Fretless bass or guitar... ehhh, nah, ill pass........ Im ok with all the dots and frets i can get !!!!! Now that i think about it none of my guitars have had the side dots on em though.......

[Tom Valentine]

Well I dunno, Tim ... as I'm the guitarist of the family, not the bassist (that would be my brother), but for me imagining to be a bassist I couldn't fathom playing something like "Close To The Edge" or anything Funk without frets. They be necessary for that hard *slap* sound.

Granted in my early years, age 6 to 10, I played Violin as well as Cello and was pretty good at it, but those 'bowed' instruments are not exactly in the same league as say, a Standup Bass ... where the strings are pulled. Still, a Standup Bass has a 'soft' sound even when played aggressively, and I know that ppl like Chris Squire and John Entwistle have experimented with fretless Bass' with good results, but it just ain't the same sound without frets.

As far as 'no markings' goes ... heck, I'm sloppy enough already even *with* markings, no need to slop out anymore without them! LOL

-- TV

[jonc]

I think that in part it has to do with attitude and confidence. I remember one of my favorite 3 piece pop bands where the singer/guitar player would be spitting out great fills, chords, counter-lines and the like while singing, working the crowd, etc. His guitars had frets but no markings and it was simply second nature to him. On the other hand the bass player was always "taking a peek" at the board and did not seem as "at ease" with his instrument. Though that could have been my perception as well. A pal at the music store I used to work with was primarily a fretless bass player and he often said that fretless allowed him a wider voice and variations then his fretted instruments but that he also practiced precise targeting so that again, everything was second nature. Me, I like having frets on the guitar but am not as tied to dot markers as I probably "should be." Though I was certainly never one of those "second nature" players either, especially when playing live, though here again, I think some of that had to do with "nerves" or confidence or a desire to be as spot on as possible.

[Muleya]

I agree with jonc that I think confidence has a lot to do with it. I usually end up looking at my fretboard when I play, but occasionally I'll turn off the lights so I can't, or just make myself look elsewhere, and I'm usually pleasantly surprised with how well I do.

I also agree that learning new songs like that could be a challenge.

Personally, I'm working hard enough to improve my abilities with frets, and being in my 40s, don't have the desire to make it any harder! If I ever feel like I've mastered the instrument and need a challenge I may think about it...in other words, probably never!! LOL

[repoman]

I played a fret-less bass many years ago in the high school jazz band. It was a constant struggle to play in tune. If I had to do it again I would much rather have frets.

It's also been many years since I've owned a classical guitar. It was a rather cheap Yamaha and had side markers.
(and I'm glad it did )

[Ken Baker]

Yesterday a close friend of mine stopped by the store and bought her son a G&L Bass. They came in the shop and he's really good (especially since he's like 12 years old ~ which is frustrating from a jealously standpoint! hahaha). But what amazed me is he chose a fretless bass. Now, I don't know about you folks, I can see Fretless in a bass "sorta" ~ but I admit to playing both guitar and bass WITH frets so I can "feel" where I am. I asked him about it, and he said "I don't need to feel them and I don't look so I don't need them." (Another frustrating comment from that young whipper snapper!). He liked the fact it only had ghost lines ~ no dots, no frets.

Do I know that bass? Sounds very familiar.



As to the 12 year old. If he's got the ear for it, more power to him. It takes a GOOD ear and top notch muscle memory to be able to do fretless well, ghostlines or no. My ear can handle it but my muscle memory can't, so frets are required.

As he matures in his playing, he'll probably find a need for both fretted and fretless because of the tone differences. As to only playing one note at a time, you'll probably find that the good fretless players do as many double-stops (chords) as fretted players because the voice of the instrument kinda lends itself to that. Talk to the bluegrass bass players and you'll find that they double-stop a lot.

1) Could you play a FRETLESS guitar or bass?
Bass would seem far easier to me as it's single notes ~ where as chords in a fretless guitar I'd miserably fail at best.

Not well, for the reason above.

2) Could you play without fingerboard inlays or side dots?
I know from experience on my classical there is no way I could play without side dots ~ but I could play without fretboard inlays.

I can do without side dots, but the visual cue provided by the fingerboard dots help for "glance" references.

Ken...

[blargfromouterspace]

I could never play a fretless guitar. Chords would be a major issue. I'd need side dots as a minimum too, they're the ones you see when you look down.

Fretless bass is fine, I've had a go on a couple and it didn't take too long to get the hang of it.

[dareaper8]

It would be very very very hard to play a fretless Guitar because the principals of fretless instruments make it so the energy of vibrating strings get absorbed into the soft flesh much quicker than metal frets = no sustain unless you use your nails or somehting.

But a couple of my friends who play the cello had quiet a easy transition to the fretless bass so i guess if you started with a fretted instrument,
you are not conditioned, physically and mentally, to play a fretless...would b my guess?

[sirmyghin]

Side dots I use, frets for feel not so much.

Fretless basses are nice, however the thing that stops me from buying them is I don't really play styles where I want it. They just sound different. I like BRIGHT, clear, ringing ,bass tones. Fretless is an ear thing, it would come pretty easily I think. I imagine chords aside from simple shapes would be a nightmare on a fretless guitar as you fingers cannot physically always get to that RIGHT place.

As for playing ONLY single notes on a bass, I say to you , slacker .

[yowhatsshakin]

The only fretless guitar I know of is an archtop like guitar built by Linda Manzer for Pat Metheny. He use this instrument on the title track of Imaginary Day. From interview published around the time, I remember that he had to work with the guitar a bit before he could find a use for it. He specifically mentioned sustain of the notes as being rather short which was only solved after the rather conventional metal tail piece with an ebony tail piece. And in the end, he put a distortion pedal in the signal path, to give it the sound used in the track. And unlike many of the other 'weird' contraption Linda produced for Pat, I have never heard and/or seen this guitar ever since on an album and/or tour. It might be fine to play melody lines, but as a chordal instrument my guess is that it is just unwieldy.

For myself, I would love to have a fretless bass (especially one of these new JB models), but never had the guts to get one.