Fretless bass
Replica of the fretless "Bass of Doom" of Jaco Pastorius, based on a '62 Fender Jazz Bass
Other namesFretless bass guitar
Classification String instrument
Inventor(s)
DevelopedEarly 1960s
Related instruments

A fretless bass is an electric bass guitar whose neck is smooth like traditional string instruments, and like the acoustic upright double bass. As a guitar-like amplified alternative to this large and cumbersome instrument, the Fender Precision Bass was introduced in 1951, with frets to help guitarists which are used to them, to provide precision, and to offer a different sound. This concept is since the standard, as other companies followed with similar electric fretted basses, like the Höfner 500/1 of Beatle Paul McCartney, which looked like a fretless violin yet had frets.

The first fretless electric bass guitars usually resulted from modifications made by players. One of the first (if not the first) examples of this is Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman, who wanted to change the frets of his bass guitar in 1961 to fix a fret buzz issue, but never put in new ones.[1] The first fretless horizontal bass to be produced by a designated company, after several electrified upright basses, is the Ampeg AUB1, first released in 1965, as the unfretted version of the AEB1. However the very 1st Electric Bass from 1935 that Paul Tutmarc invented was in fact a Fretless Electric Bass because it was essentially a Scaled Down Electrified Upright Bass morphed into the shape of a Guitar.

While the fretless bass is played in all styles of music, it is most common in pop, rock, and jazz. It first saw widespread use during the 1970s, although some players used them before then.

Characteristics

Markers laid in the side of the fingerboard aid the performer in finding the correct pitch while playing a fretless bass.

The lack of frets allows for more fluid slides between notes, but also requires greater precision by the player, as the instrument may sound out of tune if notes are not intonated accurately. Like fretted bass guitars, they can have four, five, six, or even more strings. While some have "fret lines" indicating where the players should place their fingers for correct intonation, other basses may have only inlay dots or nothing at all on the fingerboard. While many fretless players use flatwound strings as they are believed to not wear down on the neck as much as roundwounds, some players, such as Jaco Pastorius, are mainly known for using roundwound strings to gain a brighter tone.

Notable players

References

  1. ↑ "A quick history of the fretless bass". 8 January 2020.
  2. ↑ "What Bass Guitar Does Les Claypool Use". 24 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Steve Di Giorgio". 28 February 2007.
  4. ↑ "A quick history of the fretless bass". 8 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Mick Karn - Sculpting Sound".
  6. ↑ "Interview with Sean Malone on Dec. 2015 | cynicalexposure" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  7. ↑ "Pino Palladino, pop's greatest bassist: 'I felt like a performing monkey!'". TheGuardian.com. 6 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Jaco Pastorius musician - All About Jazz".
  9. ↑ "9 of the Best Fretless Bass Performances". 8 January 2020.
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