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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on April 22, 2009 at 1:54am

Congrats.

A dull sound on fingered notes is normal for a fretless instrument.

You have enough sound hole - adding another will cut the bass.

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Permalink Reply by Big Steve on April 22, 2009 at 2:22am

Doc Oakroot said:

Congrats.

A dull sound on fingered notes is normal for a fretless instrument.

You have enough sound hole - adding another will cut the bass.

Do frets tighten up the sound or is it something else? Would metal frets provide a better pitch/tone verses toothpick wooden frets?

Big Steve

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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on April 22, 2009 at 2:37am

Frets allow the string to ring freely. You can actually get pretty much the same effect by stopping the string with the end of your fingernail instead of the pad of your finger (some Asian fiddles are stopped that way).

I mostly play nylon strings, so my results may not be true for steel strings, but I have some instruments with fretwire frets and some with toothpicks - I don't hear any difference in the tone. (But I haven't tried metal and toothpick frets on the same instrument, which would be a better test.)

As long as the string is free to move immediately to the bridge side of where it's stopped, you should get a clear tone. With fretless, the string just to the bridge side of your finger is rubbing against the fingerboard and not free to move.


Big Steve said:

Doc Oakroot said:

Congrats.

A dull sound on fingered notes is normal for a fretless instrument.

You have enough sound hole - adding another will cut the bass.

Do frets tighten up the sound or is it something else? Would metal frets provide a better pitch/tone verses toothpick wooden frets?

Big Steve

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on April 22, 2009 at 3:40am

Doc is right on,,,
Fretless instruments do tend to have a duller sound compared to fretted.
Its an acquired taste.Some folks like that sound and some dont.
But his answer to a partial cure is also right.
I play a bit of fretless banjo and I learned early on that you can almost copy the fuller sound of a fretted instrument IF you practice noting with the edge of your nail.
Also a fretted instrument is less foregiving then a fretted is.
You HAVE to fret exactly where the fret itself would be and not simply close to it. In a fretted you can get lazy and slap your finger about anywhere between the 2 frets but not so on a fretless, it must be dead on or your above or below the note you want.
It can be awkward at 1st but with a little practice it gets easier.
It can be done, its just a matter of how much you enjoy playing fretless,it DOES become second nature though if you give it just a little time.
One more item , if you Do decide to keep at playing fretless, I think you'll find that when you do pick up a fretted instrument again ,it'll seem like childs play to play it.
For me I found that when I played fretless, then picked up a regular banjo it seemed that every note was right there and I was playing like Earl, well maybe not like Earl but seemed like it to me.,,,,,,,,

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Permalink Reply by Doc Oakroot on April 22, 2009 at 5:51am

Another point on playing fretless: sliding into a note will give you a different sound that you can't get on a fretted instrument and makes up for the dullness in the final tone... also more forgiving since you get a chance to correct the pitch by ear, lol.

Roger Martin said:

Doc is right on,,,
Fretless instruments do tend to have a duller sound compared to fretted.
Its an acquired taste.Some folks like that sound and some dont.
But his answer to a partial cure is also right.
I play a bit of fretless banjo and I learned early on that you can almost copy the fuller sound of a fretted instrument IF you practice noting with the edge of your nail.
Also a fretted instrument is less foregiving then a fretted is.
You HAVE to fret exactly where the fret itself would be and not simply close to it. In a fretted you can get lazy and slap your finger about anywhere between the 2 frets but not so on a fretless, it must be dead on or your above or below the note you want.
It can be awkward at 1st but with a little practice it gets easier.
It can be done, its just a matter of how much you enjoy playing fretless,it DOES become second nature though if you give it just a little time.
One more item , if you Do decide to keep at playing fretless, I think you'll find that when you do pick up a fretted instrument again ,it'll seem like childs play to play it.
For me I found that when I played fretless, then picked up a regular banjo it seemed that every note was right there and I was playing like Earl, well maybe not like Earl but seemed like it to me.,,,,,,,,

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