Fretless Dreaming! [Video]

When is the “right” time to add a Fretless?

Asked & Answered Series

Victor asks:

I’m a beginner and have a medium scale four string fretted bass. When should I add a fretless bass? Do you agree when the time is right, a medium scale four string fretless bass similar to the instrument I’m playing will be the correct one to progress to?

First I would recommend you check your scale length.

Standard scale length (which is what I assume you mean by medium*) is 34 inches.

Short-scales are typically 32 or shorter. Longscale 36.

You don’t want your fretless to have different distances than your main axe with frets. So there is that. But there is more…

Watch this video…

*As one reader pointed out, there are famous 32-scale basses that are typically are referred to as “medium-scale”.
Since the nomenclature for scale lengths can be a bit ambiguous I am including this link for a nice summary of scale lengths: post by stringsdirect.