Fretless: Lined or unlined?

[TBS]

With fretless I feel there's always that element of being effectively in tune but not perfectly 100%. That's what gives it its character

I always thought that the fullness in sound of string ensembles was partly due to the players playing the same notes at slightlyt different Hertz measures.

 

[jamo]

It can be compared to the nuances a blues singer uses.
In many types of folkmusic one can find similar nuances.

 

[saxonbass]

Frets are a bit of a compromise anyway.... think we've covered some of that in another thread... but the science behind it is mind-boggling!

 

[TBS]

Frets are a bit of a compromise anyway.... think we've covered some of that in another thread... but the science behind it is mind-boggling!

I think the most accurate fretted intonation can be achieved with fanned frets, but not so much people use them.

The absence of frets can give you the possibility to get the notes as exact in each string as your hears would let you.

 

[Berin]

How often will you be playing fretless? If you play mainly fretted basses and will only be playing a few tunes here and there on fretless, or are likely to play in situations where you'll struggle to hear yourself, then lined would be the way to go. If you're going to spend a lot of time on fretless and maybe make it your main instrument, then you could maybe look at a clean board if you prefer the cosmetics.

I personally don't own a frettless, but have in the past and it was lined.