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Post by rickyguitar on Nov 3, 2021 11:00:26 GMT -5
I am kinda thinking of trying fretless on guitar. Tried cello and fretless bass and loved it.
Not inclined to spend several thousand on it though so I was thinking of buying a Squire Tele, replacing the frets with epoxy and using nylon strings. So please give me some input. Am I crazy, stupid or maybe onto something?
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gdw3
Halfnote
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Posts: 81
Formerly Known As: Gordon
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Post by gdw3 on Nov 3, 2021 19:19:09 GMT -5
The only thing I wonder about is the nylon strings. Not sure the neck could be adjusted enough on a cheap guitar to accommodate the lack of tension. Also, I'd have questions about the bridge. But plenty of folks have yanked out the frets and filled them in. One of my old teachers plays fretless, and it is a trip. Do it!
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Post by reverendrob on Nov 4, 2021 9:11:00 GMT -5
Nylon string is going to be an issue with a solidbody - you have no pickup at that point because they're not magnetic.
That said, I had a superstrat clone that I yanked the frets on in the stone age.
It was a neat toy, but...a friend ended up playing it far more than me, so I gifted it to him as I left Chicago.
It genuinely didn't do anything a regular guitar didn't do.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on Nov 4, 2021 10:14:12 GMT -5
I've played several. They're a lot of fun, possibly useful if you like home recording, maybe not too practical. I've often considered making one just for my own amusement, but am yet to do so. It is a fun exercise in ear training. You get a bit more coordinated because you don't have a big space to put your finger, but just a specific spot (as you know). You also have to be more creative with chord voicings because most common voicings are too crowded to be in tune.
No reason to not use electric strings. They sound fine. I haven't seen a fretless guitar with high hours on it, but I'm going to guess that the strings won't be hard on the fingerboard at all. You just don't play these very hard, and normal vibrato and bending goes away. I'd be inclined to use a slightly heavier set with a wound G since the plain G struggles the most with having a clear tone. Nylon won't work with the pickups, nut or tuners.
The biggest calculus would be if you can do all of the work yourself and not have to pay a huge amount of money for something like this...?
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