Ok well for not a lot of money (around 100 quid plus a tenner for shipping) you could buy a fretted Jazz or P bass from Thomann.
Why put an extra hurdle of difficulty in front if you when starting out?
I think it also depends on how much experience you have with music in general. Frets force you to hear specific notes, which I think is big for beginners to music who need to learn to hear the intervals.
The problem with frets is that they donāt force you to listen; a fretless bass forces you to use your ears a lot more. A fretted bass is often not āin tuneā and youāre just stuck with that based on 12 TET but with a fretless, you make adjustments to the note based on feedback from your ears. You donāt need a lot of experience with music, children learn to do this when playing Violin and Cello.
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Absolutely. Thereās also another thing articulations can be very subtle on a Fretless compared to fretted one which almost always have to be exaggerated.
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This is my plan.
The more I play, the more I get in tune with the tone that inspires me to play. I really dig the standup sound, and my chase is to get as close to it as possible on a relatively normal electric bass.
Iām thinking my graduation present to myself will be a Harley Benton fretless Beatbass. Under $200, so I donāt think my sweetie will object. Iāll put some tapewounds on it, and run through the B2B again.
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Inspired me to play more on my fretless which is being sadly neglected
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Of course I find a helpful comment about fretless from you, @Al1885 
So, if the Sire U5 that arrives tomorrow proves to be good enough, I have some $$$ left. And as I have found a way to hide my other instruments in a manner that my girlfriend doesnāt find them, I could get another cheap bass too.
Thinking about a fretless. Donāt know why, to be honest. Just a vanity thing, I guess.
I have my eye on a cheap Harley Benton: Harley Benton B-450FL BK Progressive Series ā Thomann UK
It has no fret markers, but I do have a pencil, so that can be solved.
Your thoughts, please??!
Do the cheap fretless basses actually play well? Iād be surprised if the fingerboards are actually planed flat enough and radiused well enough to feel good on anything less than a like $800 bass. I have some classical acoustic string bias though so I guess I might be being unreasonable?
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If you have side dots, use them. You fret a little ahead of them and eventually you learn to fret and intonate by ear
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No idea, but this is a video about the bass:
Would you advise to get fretless, even for a beginner? I just like the idea of challenging my memory do some ear training.
Also, I like the fretless in āWherever I Lay My Hat (Thatās My Home)ā
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I would not advise a beginner to start with a fretless. You should know what the pitches sound like, so you know youāre playing correctly. But certainly try one after youāve gotten a good handle on a fretted bass.
As far as using the side markers; a fretless has the markers where the note should be. A fretted bass will have those markers in the middle of the fret. So its not going to be significantly helpful to learn to fret a little ahead of the marker.
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Iām not a total beginner - I just feel (and play) like a beginner.
So I know how the piches should sound like - and especially how the should not sound like
Give it a go then. If you want a fun project, and dont want to lay down a ton of cash; find a good quality used bass, and defret it. Iāve done it twice now. Most recently with an SR506. The result is absolutely amazing.
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You had me at ādefret itā
That speaks to my modding instincts!
Would it make sense to defret a short scale? And if so: how do iI defret? Just take some pliers, tear out the frets with merciless brute force and then fill the gaps with ā¦ what?
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Fretless was easy for me to adapt to. Just pick it up and start the B2B workouts. Youāll learn quickly 
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Reminds me to pick up my short scale fretless
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Exactly my plan!
But now @Huth_S0lo got me crazy about converting a bass to fretless myself. Thatās exactly what the doctor prescribed for my mental illness ^^
Also itās another reason to get the Harley Benton MV-4MSB Gotoh. That would be ideal to convert, I guess, and I can explain to my girlfriend that this bass is necessary cause totally different!
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Use a butterknife to remove frets, fill with plastic wood, and seal with marine epoxy.
Then throw it down a flight of stairs and smash it into pieces before painstakingly reassembling everything.
Finally, leave it unattended on a park bench.
I mean, if it worked for Jacoā¦
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I find Jaco totally overrated! I cannot dance to it
Otherwise I will do exactly as you tell me!
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