So far all my basses have been 24 fret. It’s always felt kind of cool to have two full octaves on each string.
Recently I bought a 21 fret bass. And I totally did not expect this, but I like it better.
This is one of those things around relative positioning of the fretboard and how the bass fits the body, I think, more than anything about the fretboard. Still, I was surprised that it just felt slightly better to me. There should be little difference in the actual boards so I assume it must be something else about the bass geometry.
No big capability loss either, three notes on the G string. Those were the worst three notes on the bass anyway
Yeah, I have had 21 frets since I started with the Yamaha BB235 and then the BB735. I believe my Ibanez fretless was also 21 frets. I’ve never wished I had 24 frets in any of the songs I’ve learned.
The real win is kind of like with a 5-string but in reverse. You have those last three frets on all strings so you can play up and down in that last position without shifting as much. But I never do that, so no big deal.
And weirdly my bass hero uses those high notes a lot. But he’s always used BB’s so I’m safe.
I never actually looked at this, but I have a
19 (ESP Bello)
20 (Fender/Squire)
21.5 (ESP Rocco - the .5 is a half of a 22nd fret on the DG)
22 (Gretsch mid-scale, MK Fretless)
24 (TRBX305)
So I don’t actually have a single 21 fret bass.
I find it intersting that the 5 string has the most frets, giving maximum notage, and the mid-scale comes in at #2 with 22, and the head banging metal Bello bass comes up shortest.
I was after a 24 fret, simply because I like the symmetrical aspect of two full octaves, but I’ve never played one and if a bass I wanted didn’t have 24 frets, it wouldn’t stop me purchasing it. I haven’t actually considered whether those extra frets would be hard to play or if I’d ever use them, but since I’ve never had them, I’ve never missed them.
Now look at this Jared from Archspire and let me know what you think about using more frets then one. Their music is not really my taste but those players are such beasts.
I have 1x 20 fret bass and 3x 24 fret basses and I don’t think I’ve ever played above fret 17 on any of them. I like playing between the neck pickup and the neck and I wish my pj bass had fewer frets because 24 frets means I often ende up playing over the neck. My Gary Willis bass only has a bridge pup and a ramp so it doesn’t feel like 24 frets has much impact and with the fretless, I’m more likely to play higher up the neck. Realistically I would never chose a bass by the number of frets… I had my Jazz bass for several weeks before I even noticed it didn’t have 24 frets
I’ve got a 20, two 21s, and my Ibanez which is a 24. I thought it would be really useful to have two full octaves just because my brain likes things to be symmetrical… but I use those top three frets exactly 0% of the time so it has made zero difference. Any bass I buy in the future, the number of frets really wouldn’t be a factor in my decision. How the fretboard feels to you is infinitely more important than 3 or 4 extra frets I’ll never use. Unless your style includes playing up there it just doesn’t matter.
The only song that I played up to the 24th fret on the G string was “jerry was a racecar driver”.
You tap on the A and G string 23/24 and 22/23
And tap / slide with fretting finger and hammer on roll with 3 fingers at the end of the riff.
I play up to the 19th for “Whom the Bell Tolls”, the opening bass part that everybody thinks is guitar.
My Stingray’s are 21 (The newer 2018 plus are 22 frets), but my ESP LTD’s are 24 fret. I will always keep my LTD B-4E, and Tom Arraya, so I will always have the option of a 24 fret, but just like you @howard, I am most comfortable on a 21 fret bass, my Ray4 and Stingray SLO special.
Altho, I am not anywhere near uncomfortable on the LTD’s, they are extremely comfortable and playable, I just have the preference #1 for my Stingray’s, then #2 is my LTD’s
our djent god.
Their music is not really my taste but those players are such beasts.
