Today, I picked up my new Fretless bass, so now Rosie has a little brother. I’m going to hold off on putting my trademark rose on him until I’m sure I’m going to keep him. He only has 4 strings, so there’s a good chance I might return him to Guitar Center and order a 5 string fretless.
I played around with him a bit, and was able to play a couple Major and minor scales, plus a couple little riffs that I know. I could tell they were just slightly off, but it’ll come with practice. It real helps to know where everything is, since there are no lines or frets to guide me. The nice thing is, without the restrictions of frets, I’m able to make quick adjustments with my fretting fingers.
DAMN!!! So cool @PamPurrs!!! I want one!! You beat me to getting one!! Im jealous!! Holy Crap Gal!! You KICK ASS!!
So happy for Rosie! Hopefully they won’t have to practice Social Distancing.
Not even fret lines?! You’re hard core. Nice looking family you got there.
@eric.kiser
It’s a no-name (Rogue) bass that was 25% off at Guitar Center. I just wanted to see if I like the fretless bass without investing a ton of money. If it turns out I like it (which I’m sure I will), I’ll upgrade to a 5 string with fret lines. I already have my eye on one
I thought you had gotten it without fret lines to be even more bad ass.
Yeah, I’m a Bad Ass who knows a bargain when she sees one, LOL.
Seriously, even Scott Devine insists one should get a fretless bass with lines, and he’s a damned good bassist.
Some basses have markers at every fret position on the side. That’s fine too. I learned bass originally on a fretless. Fun to slide on.
I’m not sure what you’re looking at for a 5 string fretless but I really like my Ibanez SR375EF.
LOL, that’s exactly what I’m going for… well I’m working the sales rep for a deal but not having much luck.
Wow, that was fast
You liked the fretless feel, but not the bass you had!?!
@joergkutter I love playing on 5 strings. Plus I knew I wasn’t going to keep this one, I just wanted to try it before I spent a pile of money. This one is rather junky actually.
Yes! I love fretless, but I need my B string LOL
that’s cool Pam. I’d like a fretless, I think. not sure. a friend of mine had a fretless guitar, I was more or less unable to make a single note out of this thing. I think it should be way more natural with a bass. or not. well, yeah, 'hope it will be fine
The good news is… I found a 5 string fretless bass I like. The Ibanez SR375EF.
The bad news is… nobody has them or can get any because of the coronavirus. However, Guitar Center has ONE in stock so I snagged it. I should have it sometime next week and then I’ll return the one I have for a refund.
https://www.ibanez.com/usa/products/detail/sr375ef_02.html
be patient ! you have a few month left to think about it, that’s fine
Awesome! I think you’ll really like like it. Do you have some flatwound or tapewound strings for it? Mine came with rounds but I changed them out for flats right away.
It’s odd that they’d put round wounds on a fretless bass in the first place
Yeah, I have an extra set of tape wounds that I’m going to put on it as soon as I get it. I’m also going to lower the action.
These are the same ones I have on my Yamaha 5 string bass
I really like how low you can get there action on a fretless.
@PamPurrs, so this bass has absolutely NO markings at all, not even small dots along the top edge of the neck? Just curious. Seems it would really force you to learn to play without looking at the fretboard I make an attempt to play without looking, but it’s really hard.
Did you get the new bass yet?
All best, Joe