The fretless guitar is a guitar without frets (including similarly configured bass guitars known as fretless bass). It operates in the same manner as most other stringed instruments and traditional guitars, but does not have any frets to act as the lower end point (node) of the vibrating string. On a fretless guitar, the vibrating string length runs from the bridge (also called chair), where the strings are attached, all the way up to the point where the fingertip presses the string down on the fingerboard. The acoustic archtop guitar, used in Jazz music, features steel strings. ... The neck of a guitar showing the first four frets. ... Martin EB18 Bass Guitar in flight case The electric bass guitar (also called an electric bass, or simply a bass) an electrically-amplified string instrument similar in appearance to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer-scale neck and four strings tuned an octave lower in pitch... A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... The acoustic archtop guitar, used in Jazz music, features steel strings. ... A bridge is the part of a guitar, bass or other stringed instrument where the strings join the body of the instrument. ...

Advantages and disadvantages

There are two often cited advantages of fretless guitar:

• Unique sound. The fingertip is relatively soft (when compared to solid and hard fret) and absorbs energy from vibrating string much faster, thus, effectively making a pizzicato (more damped) sound.

• Musical freedom. Performer has a relative freedom of positioning the hand and playing by ear, not constrained with particular musical tuning, as in case with fretted instrument. This can be viewed as a disadvantage, as playing fretless instrument usually requires much more training. It also requires much tighter coupling between ears and fingers while playing.

However, acoustic fretless guitars are very quiet and are barely used in practice. Two notable modifications are usually used instead: Pizzicato is a method of playing an orchestral string instrument. ... Damping is any effect, either deliberately engendered or inherent to a system, that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations of an oscillatory system. ... In music, there are two common meanings for tuning: Tuning practice The act of tuning an instrument or voice. ...

• Bass guitars feature much heavier strings and bigger resonant body to amplify the sound, thus sound relatively loud even fretless.

• With an invention of electronical sound amplification, particularly electric guitars, sound can be amplified to the necessary extent.

Martin EB18 Bass Guitar in flight case The electric bass guitar (also called an electric bass, or simply a bass) an electrically-amplified string instrument similar in appearance to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer-scale neck and four strings tuned an octave lower in pitch... An amplifier head An instrument amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed for use with an electric or electronic musical instrument, such as an electric guitar. ... An electric guitar is a type of guitar with a solid or semi-solid body that utilizes electronic pickups to convert the vibration of the steel-cored strings into electrical current. ...

Fretless manufacture

Most of today's fretless guitars are modification of factory made traditionally "fretted" guitars. However, there are also professional builders specialising in fretless guitars.

Fretless bass guitars are much more common than fretless guitars in modern music and commerce, with many manufacturers offering these as standardly available models. Martin EB18 Bass Guitar in flight case The electric bass guitar (also called an electric bass, or simply a bass) an electrically-amplified string instrument similar in appearance to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer-scale neck and four strings tuned an octave lower in pitch...

Notable users

In alphabetic order:

• Steve Bailey has done pioneering work with the six string fretless bass guitar and artificial harmonics.
• Adrian Belew (King Crimson) has occasionally used fretless guitars.
• Jack Bruce (Cream) uses a fretless Warwick bass guitar.
• Les Claypool (Primus) has a Carl Thompson six string fretless bass named the Rainbow Bass.
• Kevin Corren uses a fretless upright string bass made from stainless steel.
• Rick Danko of The Band used a fretless bass for several years, starting from the recording of the album Stage Fright. However, he went back to using a fretted bass around the time of The Last Waltz.
• Steve DiGiorgio is a famous fretless bass user who has played in many bands including Death and Iced Earth.
• Tim Donahue uses self-made fretless guitars.
• Pat Metheny uses a fretless electric guitar on some works.
• Rick Nielsen (guitarist for Cheap Trick) has a fretless six-string as the bottom neck on his famous five-necked Hamer guitar.
• Erkan Oğur makes nearly all his music with self-made fretless guitars.
• Pino Palladino, noted session bassist, famous for his fretless bass method.
• Jaco Pastorius (Weather Report) is considered the most influential on fretless bass. He is acredited for applying a boat epoxy to his fingerboard; not only to protect the fingerboard from harmful roundwound strings, but it gave him his unique sound that he is so well known for.
• Sting used a fretless bass when he was with the Police.
• Andy Summers (The Police) also used a fretless Hamer guitar.
• Steve Vai occasionally plays a three-necked guitar, featuring a fretless neck.
• Lars Norberg (Spiral Architect) uses a fretless bass.

Michael ATONAL Vick http://www.TheMichaelVickTrip.com Steve Bailey is a bassist famous for his pioneering work with the six string fretless bass. ... Adrian Belew (born December 23, 1949 as Robert Steven Belew) is an American guitarist and vocalist (and sometimes drummer), perhaps best known for his work as a member of the progressive rock group King Crimson, which he first joined in 1981. ... The famous cover of King Crimsons debut album In the Court of the Crimson King (1969), painted by Barry Godber. ... Jack Bruce (born May 14, 1943) is a British musician; a multi-instumentalist, composer, singer and, most importantly, a very influential electric bassist. ... Cream (also The Cream) was a seminal 1960s British rock band which featured guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker. ... Warwick Streamer 5-string bass Warwick is a bass guitar company founded in Germany in 1982. ... Leslie Les Edward Claypool is a bassist and lead singer, best known for his work with the alternative rock band Primus. ... Primus is a rock band formed in California in the mid-1980s. ... Carl Thompson (1939 - ) is a luthier specializing in the construction of high-quality custom bass guitars, based in Brooklyn, New York. ... The Rainbow Bass is a 6-string fretless bass guitar owned by Les Claypool of Primus. ... Richard Clare Rick Danko (December 29, 1942 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician and singer, probably best known as a member of The Band. ... The Band on the cover of their second album: Manuel, Helm, Danko, Hudson, Robertson The Band was an influential Canadian-American rock and roll group of the 1960s and 1970s. ... Stage Fright was the third long player by Canadian-American rockers The Band. ... The Last Waltz is the name of The Bands final concert, the Martin Scorsese documentary film about the concert, and the album of the concert. ... Steve DiGiorgio (born November 7, 1967, Waukegan, Illinois) is an American musician. ... Death logo Death was an influential death metal band from North America that was founded in 1983 and dissolved in 1999. ... Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band that combines influences from thrash metal, power metal, progressive metal and NWOBHM. // History The central figure of Iced Earth is rhythm guitarist and songwriter Jon Schaffer, who formed Purgatory in Indiana in 1984. ... Pat Metheny in Melbourne, Florida, USA Patrick Bruce Metheny (born 12 August 1954 in Lees Summit, Missouri USA) is an American jazz guitarist and leader of the Pat Metheny Group. ... Rick Nielsen (born Richard Nielsen December 22, 1948) in Rockford, Illinois is the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick. ... Cheap Trick is a U.S. power pop band from Rockford, Illinois that gained popularity in the late 1970s. ... Hamer Guitars is a guitar manufacturing company founded by Jol Dantzig and business partner Paul Hamer in 1973. ... Erkan Oğur (b. ... Pino Palladino is a noted rock and rhythm and blues electric bass player. ... Jaco Pastorius, born John Francis Anthony Pastorius III (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was a jazz bassist and composer, notable for his virtuoso technique and fretless bass playing style. ... Weather Report was an influential jazz fusion band of the 1970s and 1980s. ... Sting in Budapest, 2000 Gordon Matthew Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951), usually known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician from Newcastle upon Tyne. ... Andy Summers, 1996 Andy Summers was born Andrew James Summers on December 31, 1942 in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. ... The Police was a three-piece British new wave band which was strongly influenced by reggae. ... Steven Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is an American guitarist, composer, and record producer, notable for having received a Grammy Award (along with nine nominations) and being cited as an influence by many guitarists from the 1980s and onwards. ... Spiral Architect is a Norwegian technical metal band. ...

Unfretted - The Fretless Guitar Resource http://www.unfretted.com

See also

• International Society for Creative Guitar and String Music
• Frets on bass guitar