DIY bass guitar: Fretted or fretless?

Question

I am thinking of constructing my own bass, and was wondering whether to buy a fretted or fretless bass neck. I already have a fretted bass (shop bought) so it would be nice to have something different. How much harder is it to play fretless? I listen to rock music, but like to play everything from funk to classical. I like the soft, melodic sound of a fretless.

I'm no advanced player but I can play fairly well on a fretted. I haven't really played fretless before so how much of a lerning curve is there? Thanks.

Answer 1

A couple of companies you might want to look into are Warmoth and WD Guitar.  A good fretless neck alone will run about 300, and thats without tuning keys.  On fretless basses, you have two options on types of necks.  One is a neck that has "fretlines."  While being fretless,. they have thin white lines where the frets would be installed.  A good view of one of these can be found at American Musical Supply.  Once your on that site, select bass guitars. Once that comes up, select fretless basses.  Click on the Fender Standard Jazz bass. This is a fine instrument at $479.  Just purchased one of these a couple of months ago, and feel that in the 800 and under range, there is no finer guitar on the market, and especially at this price.

   The other style of fretless basses has an unlined neck, and only has position markers on the side of the neck. (3rd, 5th, 7th fret.. etc.)  A good example of a bass like this can be found on Warwicks site.  

   As far as "playability" of a fretless, accuracy is the most important factor.  A well set up quality fretless is much easier to play as far as getting around on the neck, but, being as little as 1/16 of an inch off can be discernable by ear as to whether being sharp or flat.  Unlike a fretted bass, where you have the whole distance between frets to play, you pretty much have to be right on the money in accuracy.

    A suggestion might be to start out purchasing a Squire Jazz Fretless to start.  They run approx. 279, and even though im not to fond of any Squire, its not a bad value.  Ive had the chance to play a couple of these at a local music dealer, and was quite suprised.  You can also go to Ebay, type in fretless bass, and theres quite a few out there to be had in the 200 range.  Quality is hit and miss on these lower priced instruments though, so find out there return policy before purchasing.  Ive also seen a few build your own kits on Ebay before going for 179.  

Happy shopping, and keep on playin!

EDIT:  Someone suggested taking the frets out of the neck?  I highly advise against this.  Takes a very skilled person or luthier to do this......if not done properly...(as, you also have to fill in the groves where the frets are set)  plan on using the neck for firewood!

Answer 2

well it sounds as if your interested in becoming a luthier,

not as easy as it looks. but if you google it(luthier) you may find some answers there, check the wikipidia page.

as far as playability try one and tell us what you think.

Answer 3

The fretless bass is a little tricky to play because it has half tones and guarter tones like the violin.

This means that you have to play in the same position as your bass. it gets a little getting used to it, but, the finger adapt quite rapidly. After one week, you will start getting the drift.

What I suggest is to practice the fretless for an hour, drop it, then pickup your other bass and keep changing.

Once you feel comfortable, it will  become second nature to you. As for removing the frets, forget this. The frets are what is keeping the neck from twisting.

A fretless fingerboard is very expensive and is 10 times stronger than a standard neck with frets. It has to be made solid otherwise, it would twist.

Answer 4

Fretless is usually intended for a more experienced player with a good ear. There are two main things to test, in my opinion, to determine if you are ready.

1.  Try to play a song on your fretted bass that goes all along the fretboard, only try doing it without looking. That will help determine if you have a really good feel of where each note should be.

2. You must have a good ear. Here's a good thing to try:  Before you tune your bass, think to yourself if it sounds sharp or flat. Then, plug it into your tuner and see if you are right. If you get this right then you have a good idea of where pitch is, and that is crucial to finding the right note on a fretless bass.

Hope this helps!

Answer 5

well yeah fretless basses are unbelievably hard to play. you need to fret hte note at the perfect place without even knowing where that fret is. and its not really meant for most rock but i mean you could make it work. if you kinda want an easier way to play fretless bass, try taking ou the frets on a fretted neck. so you can see hwere all teh frets should be and where to put your fingers