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[gerrit]

Hi,
  I have just got my bass going and have found out the reality behind the fret lines.

this is a frettless bass not a fretted without the frets.

The difference is revealed when you play harnomics.

On a fretted bass the 12 fret harmonic id directly over the 12 fret. thats the way they are setup. The fifth fret harmonic is directly over the fifth fret.

On a real frettless the harmonics are over the dots !!!

so the 12th fret harmonic is over the double dots in the middle of the neck and the 5th fret harmonic is over the dot between the 4th and 5th fret.

If you play on the dot you play in tune. I have verified this with my peterson tuner ( http://www.petersontuners.com/ ) acurate to 0.1 cents. ( 1 cent = 1/100 semitone )

This is good because you can see the dots from the side and there are either one or two notes between the dots. easy to estimate.

If you look at the fretboard then play between the frets.

The fretboard layout is no accident. This is a real frettless.

Cheers,
   Gerrit.

[thumper]

Wow thank you for giving me this info before i actually play mine. i love to play harmonics

[dibbers]

so you play between the fretts as if it was a fretted base?

[encym]

I would also like to know if you actually play it like fretted bass. I've found intonation to be a lot more accurate that way.
Any more input on this appreciated.
ecm

[g1]

When it comes down to it trust your ear not the lines or the dots. If you play in a band it usually easy to hear if something is a miss.

My homemade ash doesn't have lines of dots. Just rough penciled in side markings. I know they are very rough so I've learnt to trust my ear more...

[hsech]

Thanks for the info.  I'm still toying with my new Ashbory and I haven't developed a technique.  This info is really useful.

[Speemo]

["On a real frettless the harmonics are over the dots !!!"]

I don't think so. The frets of fretted basses are put where the harmonics really are.

I play bass guitar since I was 15 (15 years ago..).

Some years ago a luthier defretted an old bass of mine.
In that bass (and not only) I have to play nearer as possible to the line where the fret was.


I play near the paint frets in my ashbory and the intonation, although I bought it 2 weeks ago, is great.
Generaly I don't like to use talco or Slyde-Rite.

[Mike Tavener]

You are absolutely correct, Speemo. When playing a note the string is stopped so its vibrating length is between the bridge and the marker, whether its a line or a fret, NOT the dots. That's also where the harmonic is, the strongest being at the 12th (half scale), 7th (third scale) and 5th (quarter scale) frets.

Ultimately the best guide is your ears..............

Mike

[kidcharlemagne]

On various sites, there's been much discussion of the placement of the fretlines on an Ashbory, and the accuracy thereof, and as a new Ashbory owner (and bass player, both fretted and fretless, for over 20 years), I finally feel qualified to chip in.

When fretless basses have fretline markers, those markers are exactly where the frets would be, and the dots are therefore between the frets. To play these in tune, you fret the string directly over the fretlines.

When fretless basses have no fretline markers, the dots are usually placed where the fretlines would be. So you fret the strings over the dots to play in tune.

An Ashbory is set up like a fretless bass with fretline markers. So one would assume that you fret on the fretlines to play in tune. However, many people have observed that these fret markers must be set up inaccurately, since you generally have to fret in between them, rather than on them, to play in tune. It's my belief, on the other hand, that the fretlines are indeed marked accurately - the issue here is that the strings are so thick that they actually come into contact with the fretboard somewhat further up the neck, rather than directly under the finger. So, on the E and A especially, you do need to fret slightly further back (i.e. between the frets) to compensate for this.

It's a tricky business and I'm still getting to grips with it. But the bottom line is that, as others have said, you need to let your ears guide you!

K.

[Jack K]

I think kidcharlemagne (can we hear a clip of Steely Dan with Ashbory?) has nailed it. The fretlines are in the right place for frets, and might be good targets for our fingers if we were playing with steel strings. But the tone starts where the rubber strings lift off the fretboard, and this is significantly different for each string gauge.

First, just a reminder: there are no dots and no fretlines on an upright bass. But for those of us who need training wheels, I use the dots for general positioning, the fretlines for higher resolution, but, and here's the catch, you need an offset, moving your fingers slightly toward the nut, and that offset needs to be larger as the strings become thicker. Use your ears, but use the other, analytical, side of your brain to notice what you do and reinforce your practice.

And, (of course!) there's the issue of getting the first half-step up from the nut in tune. Let's save that for another discussion.

[Will Zégal]

I agree with Kidcharlemagne. Fretts are not an absolute, but a relative marker as the good finger position depends on the string played.