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Permalink Reply by uncle Lou on July 20, 2010 at 2:06pm

no you don`t . all frets do is make it easier; finger just has to be between frets, Fretless is tougher fingers position has to be very close to exact or the note you want will be sharp or flat

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Permalink Reply by Micah Haley on July 20, 2010 at 2:32pm

No, but one adjustment you'll have to make is that your fingering position is now exactly where the fret wire would be, and not in between two of them like on a fretted guitar.

So if you make fret marks of some sort, just plan accordingly.

It's not that hard to get used to though, classical musicians have been doing it with the viol family for centuries.

Have fun man!

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Permalink Reply by pi_r_squared on July 20, 2010 at 3:20pm

Won't really sound different, some chords will be easy to do fretless, just slide our fingers to where the frets would be, rather than just above them, EXCEPT for chords where you "stack your fingers" on adjacent strings, behind the same fret.

Some simple examples for open chords: C, D, Dm, G, G7 would all be easy to adapt to fretless. But an A, B-flat, even an Am, where your fingers end up "stacking up" a little, they can be much harder on a fretless, because you'd have to get all (2 or 3) fingers that are on the same "fret" actually in line with each other.

Have fun.

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on July 21, 2010 at 12:36am

The note will be the same but it will sound less bright (is that the right word) because you don't have a fret for the string to rest on and your finger will dampen the string some, if you have really good calous's on your finger tips it may not be to bad. I play mine that way and am always thinking maybe I should try fretting.. So in a way yes it will sound different, but it will be the same chords.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Werner on July 21, 2010 at 3:50am

I just built a fretless 2-string... I used the heavy strings from a standard set, and it's quite easy to play. I used flush-mounted brass screws for position markers to contrast with the aluminum "fretboard".
The heavier strings are easy to hold down firmly; I imagine skinny unwound strings might be a little more difficult.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on July 21, 2010 at 3:50am

No you don't need frets. I play fretless all the time. You will probably want some lines indicating where to put your fingers though. Some people use a wood burner to make the lines.

The fretless will sound a little softer, and you can do some sliding up to notes that gives it a unique sound.

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Permalink Reply by Keni Lee Burgess on July 22, 2010 at 2:52am

A Fret cut the string when you press down with your finger providing a crisp tone and accurate pitch. You must take care on a freeless instrument to get the correct pitch. It might be helpful to have fret marks using a pencil so you can hit the notes correctly. Enjoy.

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