A
fretless guitar is a
guitar without
frets, such that fingering its
strings at particular positions on the string is done by pressing the string against its
fingerboard. A "
fretboard" in fact is just a fingerboard with inlaid frets, hence the principles for fingering the fretless is almost the same as the fretted, but with three exceptions :
1) the position where the finger marks the string is not as exact as in fretted instruments, requiring greater finger position precision, and 2) the resonance of strings is different and may require more apt plucking or modified amplification (pickups) to achieve desired volume, and 3) the smooth form of the fingerboard allows for slides between notes which are natural and not notched to particular notes.
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, where the strings are attached, all the way up to the point where the fingertip presses the string down on the fingerboard. Fretless guitars are fairly uncommon in most forms of western music and generally limited to the electrified instruments due to decreased acoustic volume and sustain in fretless instruments. However, the
fretless bass guitar has gained fairly widespread popularity and many models of bass guitar can be found in fretless varieties. Fretless electric bass is particularly popular among
jazz,
funk and
R&B players due to the similarity in feel and sound to the acoustic
double bass.