Ready for my first fretless

garythenuke · Post by **garythenuke** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 1:51 pm

Okay I'm getting ready to take the big plunge. I have an ATK700 fretted that is awesome, but my son has pretty much taken it over.. I'm also leaning more towards reggae and jazz.
I'm also leaning towards a six string. I had an chance for a used Ibanez BTB 556 locally for about $280. The local luthier, who is an artist, would charge $300 to turn it into a fretless. That's too much.

I have another lead on a six string fretless Carvin. I don't know the model, but it is ebony fret board with active/passive bridge and neck pickups.

My first questions is can you give me an idea as to the price range I cna expect to pay for this?

Then the biggie.... This is an unlined fretless. I'd hoped to get a lined fretless so I would have some idea where the heck I was until I get the intonation dialed in. Can you give me any references for a straightforward (not easy) way to figure out where I am on the neck? It has dots, so I'm not completely lost...

Thanks in advance, and I'm happy to be here.
GTN

FretLessSince68 · Post by **FretLessSince68** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:51 pm

Can you give me any references for a straightforward (not easy) way to figure out where I am on the neck? It has dots, so I'm not completely lost...

I jumped into fretless bass by selling my fretted and then buying my first fretless that happened to be unlined. I was gigging professionally at the time and just dove in to it. The first couple of nights were tense but the fretless knack soon developed. By the end of two weeks of six nights a week gigging and five days a week practicing it was pretty comfortable. That would be about 100 hours of practice time if you don't have any gigs going.

Regarding figuring out where you are on the neck: It is exactly the same as fretted concerning where the notes are located, so I would advise that you know your instrument either fretted or fretless. A well regarded and famous musician once said that playing music is 90% work and 10% talent. So very true. To be good, you must dedicate.

Achieving good intonation is another subject altogether, read other posts on this site about intonation, thumb and hand positions, and scales. In fact, I recommend reading everything you can find on the subject of fretless bass including this site.

If you are a slapper you may have developed some bad habits that facilitate slap but make fretless playing more difficult. You may need to evaluate your skill playing scales. Playing ordinary major scales, or any other scale that you are familiar with, is a great way to build intonation skill. The major scale is where I would start as just about everyone knows how Solfeggio is supposed to sound.

You may also record a scale being played on a piano, then accompany that on your fretless listening for pitch imperfections and making corrections until it sounds musical to you.. Repeat many times.

I hope this helps, and welcome to FretlessBass.com

garythenuke · Post by **garythenuke** » Sun Jul 17, 2011 8:35 pm

Wow!! What a great response. I can't believe you dove right in right in the middle of a heavy run. Props to you man!!

Your post has and will inspire my practice sessions. Now I'll go break out my scales again.