What would I gain/lose from a fretless bass?
The bass player I looked up to in college had a shirt that said “Fretless and Free!”, so that’s where I got my first interest in this. I have a fretted P-bass, and a fretless J-bass, so some of the tone differences are due to the pickups more than anything, but the tones that come from a fretless are still different. The way your fingertip pinches the string against the fretboard dampens the highest overtones without disturbing the middle ones, so you get a “warm” sound that is not “dull”. My column Tone Loco discusses this in more detail. I play fretless when I want the specific tone, or I want to slide. I play fretted when I’m playing fast rock&roll and I want to be sure I stay in tune at speed. I will change basses during a set, or re-arrange the song list so I don’t have to change as often. If I play a “fretless” song on my fretted bass (or vice versa), it feels weird, but I can adjust quickly. I will also play the fretted bass when I’m tired. If you have a good ear (which I don’t)
The bass player I looked up to in college had a shirt that said “Fretless and Free!”, so that’s where I got my first interest in this. I have a fretted P-bass, and a fretless J-bass, so some of the tone differences are due to the pickups more than anything, but the tones that come from a fretless are still different. The way your fingertip pinches the string against the fretboard dampens the highest overtones without disturbing the middle ones, so you get a “warm” sound that is not “dull”. My column Tone Loco discusses this in more detail. I play fretless when I want the specific tone, or I want to slide. I play fretted when I’m playing fast rock&roll and I want to be sure I stay in tune at speed. I will change basses during a set, or re-arrange the song list so I don’t have to change as often. If I play a “fretless” song on my fretted bass (or vice versa), it feels weird, but I can adjust quickly. I will also play the fretted bass when I’m tired. If you have a good ear (which I don’t)
